(Disclaimer: I'm grateful to Blogger for providing a platform for my blog, but I am so frustrated by its software. The layout you see published is VERY different from the one I painstakingly put together each time I post a blog. I cannot figure out how to have it show up as I create it, and it makes me crazy sometimes! Today is one of those days. I've spent at least an hour trying to get this post to look good with the images, etc. Eergh!)
It's pretty wonderful to have an entire morning in the studio! I got out here by 7, had a bit of breakfast at 10:30, then dashed right back out. That gave me time to re-work a piece I'd thought was finished AND begin - and, I think, finish - a new piece. Various stages of completion are below.
As I've done in the past when I've returned from Iceland, I work on images from Iceland for a while because there's so much more I want to say about Iceland, and I want the images in front of my eyes. Then, at some point, I realize I need to accept the fact that I am, in fact, living in Virginia, and it would be helpful to my psyche to accept that fact.
To help with that acceptance, I went through my images of the James River by Pony Pasture to see what might call to me. This image popped out immediately. The trees are part of the ropes course just a bit east of the Z-dam. I don't walk through them often, but I walk past them 2-3 times/week. Based on the feeling I get with them, I'm calling this piece "Sentinels Along the Path." It's a pastel, 18" x 18". $450 unframed until 2/8/19 when it will revert to the normal price of $650 unframed.
It's pretty wonderful to have an entire morning in the studio! I got out here by 7, had a bit of breakfast at 10:30, then dashed right back out. That gave me time to re-work a piece I'd thought was finished AND begin - and, I think, finish - a new piece. Various stages of completion are below.
As I've done in the past when I've returned from Iceland, I work on images from Iceland for a while because there's so much more I want to say about Iceland, and I want the images in front of my eyes. Then, at some point, I realize I need to accept the fact that I am, in fact, living in Virginia, and it would be helpful to my psyche to accept that fact.
To help with that acceptance, I went through my images of the James River by Pony Pasture to see what might call to me. This image popped out immediately. The trees are part of the ropes course just a bit east of the Z-dam. I don't walk through them often, but I walk past them 2-3 times/week. Based on the feeling I get with them, I'm calling this piece "Sentinels Along the Path." It's a pastel, 18" x 18". $450 unframed until 2/8/19 when it will revert to the normal price of $650 unframed.
1. Before this stage, I created an underpainting with pastel, then wet the entire thing with isopropyl alcohol to help spread the pastel thoroughly. Then I create the trees in the background on top of a neon yellow-green. I worked my way forward from there.
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2. My set up in the studio. I sometimes paint from physical photographs, but more often these days I paint from the images on my computer monitor. My pastels are to my right, then, as I work and use various pastel sticks, I put them on the tray of the easel so I don't have to search for them each time.
3. Here I've added some details to the dominant tree in the middle and some to the left.
4. By this time, I'm almost finished, having added subtleties to the bark of each of the trees and creating transitions between shadow and light. I've also added some color to the background.
5. The finished image, "Sentinels Along the Path", pastel painting, 18"x18". Details done, ground texture, light and shadow added.
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| Sentinels Along the Path pastel painting 18"x18" $450 unframed until 2/8/19, then regular price of $650 unframed |
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