Day 31: Red Barn

January 31, 2012

Red Barn, a soft pastel on 9.5x9.5 slate gray PastelMat.

1. I scumbled in all of the primary shapes with NuPastels.

2. After switching out to the Great American pastel set, I built out the outbuildings, barn, house, and trees. I really like the sky at this point, and wish I had left it more like this. But NOOOO, sometimes I do not leave well-enough alone!

3. For the windows and doors on the barn and the house and the shading of the silos, I used subtle pastel pencil marks. I wanted to keep the corn field between the viewer and the horizon filled with a hint of the winds swirling around. I don't like the amount of turquoise that I used in the sky, so I'll be fixing that in the next step.

4. Here, I've brightened the sky, covering over most of the turquoise that was overwhelming the mood. I can't wait to go back and shoot photos of all of these pieces under optimum lighting conditions!

Day 30: Sailboat

from January 30, 2012

Sailboat, a soft pastel on 9.5x7.5 inch yellow/cream PastelMat.

1. All of the composition thus far was built with NuPastels and finger-blending. My main goals in today's piece are to get the architecture of the boat (mostly) correct based on abstracting the single boat from a sea of docked vessels and to make sure that I don't get bogged down in all the minute details, but rather the afternoon lighting.

2. Adding in the greenery surrounding the dock area helped define the negative space around the boat and turns the cream into a color perceived by the viewer as a bright white.

3. After making the draping on the sail feel believable, I wanted to add in the fenders and the railings on which they were hanged.

4. After building the fenders, their shadows needed to be cast onto the boat and in the reflections in the water.

5. After refining the details in the fenders and the engine, I added in the ladder. I used pastel pencils to refine the fine-line details, and did a little restructuring of the shape of the stern.

Day 29: Japanese Garden

from January 29, 2012

Japanese Garden, a soft pastel on 8x10 sage-colored Sabretooth sanded and textured surface.

1. I decided to challenge myself again with the Sabretooth surface. The focal point of my piece is the Pagoda statue, but the three groomed bushes in the foreground became my supporting players throughout the composition.

2. I added the pathway in the background to bring the viewers following the deep shadows back into the piece, and continued building the 3D structures of the statue and the triplet of bushes.

3. I used by silicone blender to push the pastel into the crevices of the paper. In many ways, this turns everything thus far in the painting back inot an underpainting.

4. Time to bring in the highlights, enrich the shadows, and fine-tune the needle details on the piney juniper tree. I added reddish shadows on the top of the triplet bushes, fully intending to adjust them in the next layer.

5. This is the final piece, with a new spattering of highlights on the bush trio and the foreground stones. Ultimately I had forgotten the shadow that would be cast by the juniper tree. While this piece looks fantabulous from across the room as the colors blend, the broken color formed by the pitted surface is still NOT my favorite surface on which to work. On the other hand, using the near-perfect groomed foliage in a Japanese garden allowed me to work on creating wonderful ovoids and their shadows.

Day 28: Volo Bog

from January 28, 2012

Volo Bog, a soft pastel on 8x10 tan Mi-Tientes Touch.

1. After a quick sketch with a Conte pencil, I blocked in the water, grassy masses, and the dead tree in the foreground.

2. The second layer involved adding a few bare tree branches, scumbling strokes to build the masses, and extension of the grass patches.

3. As the tooth of this Touch paper fills up quickly, follow-on strokes ultimately need to be quite intentional and heavy. My tendency is to build a piece up in all areas relatively equally, and for this step, I was working at filling in midtones.

4. Following the midtone application, I applied a few more of the darker and lighter values to build up depth. I also opted to use stippling to create the foreground leafy foliage that carries the full range of fall colors and the glancing rays of sunlight.

5. To finish out the composition, I added in more tassels on the tops of the grasses, a few more colors spattered around the composition to tie it together, and more heavy stipples in the foreground brush.

Day 27: Chicago Harbor

from January 27, 2012

Chicago Harbor, a soft pastel on 7x10 blue Colourfix sanded pastel paper.

1. Today, I just took the NuPastels to paper without a sketch, using the side of the pastel to sketch in the breakwater and the waves on the containing side of the wall.

2. To build up higher whitecaps, I switched out to strokes with the tip of much softer pastels with a little bit of finishing work with pastel pencils, primarily for the finer details of the lighthouse. I miss living in Chicago (but not driving there).

Day 26: The Opening

from January 26, 2012

The Opening, a soft pastel on 6x6 white Wallis professional sanded paper.

1. Despite an injured thumb (that is wrapped in tape and protected from moisture and dust by a little finger condom-or cot, if you prefer the real name), I must create and complete a pastel today! Here I've blocked in a close-up view of a pink tulip showing the translucence of the petals and how the overlap decreases that capacity.

2. I really was having difficulty after laying in the first layer, as I used the softer pastels to accomplish that, which quickly fill up the tooth of the paper. Having a stubborn streak a mile wide helps me get to places where I can ultimately overcome those issues. Saturating the composition with SpectraFix certainly helps settle the particles into the crevices and gives me a chance to add more pastel.

3. I pulled out some of my NuPastels to add some light dusting of a variety of colors and stick-based blending. As I built up the color patterns on the petals, I used my little finger to accomplish the soft blending I wanted to achieve in each of the petals. I also worked in the reproductive organs of the tulip with both soft and hard pastels, as well as a few pollen granules that have fallen into the cup of the flower.

4. After only a few touches of color here and there in the petals, I applied heavy dabbles of color as the pollen granules and repaired some of the value issues in the center of the flower. I needed the brightness this flower brings on (yet another) dark day.

Day 25: Barn Life

from January 25, 2012

Barn Life, a soft pastel on 5x10 olive Colourfix sanded paper.

1. I've been using photo references for everything I've done in this series, and RARELY compose anything entirely from imagination or memory, so I assumed that perspective for today's project. I grew up in a barn. Yes, really, from age 4 to 18, I lived in a barn that my paternal grandfather converted into a duplex, where my family lived in the bigger half that included a third floor (where I spent most of my teenage years), and tenants lived on the other half. While we lived in the village of New Tripoli, we were kind of isolated on our own acreage away from the town. If I were a bird, flying in for some food always provided by my mother, I imagine this as the kind of viewpoint that I'd see.

2. It's quite different drawing from memory than from photos and in a much looser, albeit perhaps a more primative style. It feels way, way more creative and less restrictive. Back to the story of the house (also see part 1 description). The shed out in the back left was on the property where our family lived before we moved to *the barn*, so my older siblings have great memories of life there. The blue foreground area represents the constantly replenished loads of crushed blue stones that dad brought home in his truck to groom our driveway. I never fully understood the integration of a metal spiral blue staircase on the enclosed porch side of the house, but realistically, this was ultimately was the main entrance (which was extremely dangerous in the winter). The top and left sides of the extra large yard butted up against corn or hay fields in the summer, and the little white birch tree (there were 2 evenly spaced ones) has since grown large. The dark green patch is where the garden was planted--there used to be a building there, so it never fully matched into the yard. Thanks for indulging my PA Dutch girl memories...

Day 24: Colombus

from January 24, 2012

Colombus, a soft pastel on 6x6 white Pastelbord.

1. The first step of my process is either a color block in, or, as I've done repeatedly, just a quick sketch in with anatomical reference points for this colombus monkey.

2. I blocked colors in first with Great American pastels, and then did a little "hair flipping" with a silicone-tipped blender. The main planes and contours of the face began to shape nicely into a primate. I used a Carbothello violet pencil to bring in the deep shadows on the left side of this critter's face. The vacant eyes here are actually interesting enough to think about using in the future.

3. I used the zoo *branches* to set a triangular frame around the monkey. Note that the colors in the face are more purple than my camera can capture under indoor light. I continued using a side stroke with the pastel pencils to create the smooth transitions in the contours of the face, and the tip to push and pull the hairs framing the face. Ultimately, I tackled the eyes, having them look directly back at the viewer. The zoo discourages visitors from direct eye contact with these monkeys, as they consider it a sign of aggression. While I was shooting reference photos, I figured it was okay to look with just one eye through the camera's eyepiece because my lens wouldn't look like a normal eye. To be honest, I didn't realize how closely this one was tracking me until I was processing the reference photos in Photoshop. Back to the pastel-of-the-day: I generally don't necessarily connect well with people, but truly appreciate the affinity that I have for animals (and usually they for me). This is just one small way I show my respect for these amazing creatures.

Day 23: Right Field

From January 23, 2012

Right Field, a soft pastel on 6x9 brick Colourfix sanded paper.

1. After working and reworking my white Conte pencil sketch of this composition, I blocked in colors. Initially, I really, really wanted to love this "as is" as an abstraction. I could do it for the left half with just the purple tree (it probably looks blue on your screen) or for just the right half. I think if I had more time on which to work and ponder, I might have been able to regroup overnight and figure out a way to leave this as an abstraction. I do think that I'll come back and do just that another day, after I've had time for iterative versions.

2. I began trying to extend the abstract plan to the trees by using just a few colors to create depth, and then trying to build something that would work as an overgrown shore line next to the meandering stream.

3. One of the main aspects of the composition for this piece was the foreshortened oval field and the concentric ovals contained within the stream edge in the foreground and the dense foliage in the background. I continued to build the shore structure and reflections in the water with colors to match.

4. At this point, I settled in to this piece not necessarily remaining as an abstraction. I did want to keep the very warm field colors, as this was summer in the South, where only a few patches of grass remained for the cow. The water is beginning to look like it flows, and little tick marks of bright green at the top of the composition give the impression of a canopy of leaves high above with part of a cast shadow affecting the colors in the midground.

5. I continued to refine and enhance my tic-style mark-making, with some rich green plants spilling over the shore line into the water and solidifying the background foliage. The composition and field structure ultimately took on the feeling of a baseball infield, and hence I named the piece Right Field.

Day 22: Footprints

from January 22, 2012

Footprints, a soft pastel on 9x12 buttercup PastelMat.

1. After a quick sketch of the composition in white Conte pencil, I began blocking in the piece with the same palette used in yesterday's composition--with the exception of the addition of two blues for the clear skies I saw in yesterday's snowshoe adventure. The vantage point is different, but the water tower at Badger Prairie Park in Verona still plays a prominent role in the horizon.

2. The snows are deep enough to cover the grassy areas and the bike trails, but not the longer prairie grasses and leftovers from the summer's foliage. I intentionally left a few bare spots in the leaves of the tree for the leaves that are catching the most sun of the day.

3. At this point, I began concentrating on the snow in the foreground, including the wavy and tiny wind sculptures.

4. Each time I sprayed the snowy areas with SpectraFix, I wanted the spatter pattern to be retained. To accomplish something similar, I pulled out a cotton swab and daubed it with some of the older, gunkier fixative that I retained for a future project. Little did I know, that "player-to-be-named-later" project was today's. No time like the present, I believe, to try something new!

Day 21: Badger Prairie

from January 21, 2012

Badger Prairie, a soft pastel on 6x10 white Wallis professional sanded paper.

1. I used the side of two sticks to sketch in the undulating horizon and the ominous sky, then used the brush end of a pastel blending tool to push the color into the tooth of the paper.

2. I wanted this to have a painterly feel, so my "brush" strokes, as applied with stick pastels had to be inconsistent and applied in a variety of stick positions...side, end, spattering, on-paper blending, tick marks, and a broad swath or two. The sky is actually more violet (see part 3 and 4 photos for images closer to reality.

3. I continued working the strokes in the sky, trying to get the clouds to swirl and hold their masses, lights and darks, and ominous qualities.

4. Here I've applied just a few corrections to the composition, add detailed foreground marks, clean up around the road, and a little more play in the sky. All-in-all, this is representative of my mood for the evening...a little dark with some light on the horizon.

Day 20: Retrieving (another oil pastel)

Retrieving, an oil pastel on 8x10 Art Spectrum Colourfix paper.

1. I blocked in the primary structure by using the flat end of the Holbein oil pastels in a range of tans and reds, then built up the shadows in the hair and began adding the waves to the water.

2. I loved the reflection of the ball in the water in the source image, so I've brought that broken reflection into the idealized waves. I continue to build and correct the anatomy of this happy little golden retriever.

3. I've fixed the lip of the dog so that it better overhangs the ball and work on the forehead. I continued adding variety to the colors in the water, being sure to leave the paper color show through and work with smooth strokes to match the fluidity of the waves.

4. In this part, I brought in the canine's canines (I HAD to write that) and a couple molars in the back of its mouth, as well as adding structure to its gums, lips, nose, end eye. If you're never seen (or heard) a retriever breathing as it swims back to shore with it's lovely tennis ball prize, it sounds a lot like an steam engine, so as it exhales, there is water spritz.

5. I added back some of the shadows for the tennis ball and the reflections from the dog's coat. I'll leave this sit for a little while before coming back to it and doing some final touches, but I had a lot of fun creating this little piece. Woof-woof!

6. In this final part, I focused on correcting anatomical and perspective sniglets. The lower canines were originally placed too close together, the nostrils needed some adjustments, the slope of the snout was slightly off, and the eye was a little wonky. In making those corrections, I also noticed that the wet hair needed to carry a little more weight and get a little bit curly around the ears. Subtle, yes, but necessary! Can you imagine this happy guy bringing the ball back, coming out of the lake, and totally shaking all that water off? I can!

Day 19: Ballerina Tulip (an oil pastel)

From January 19, 2012

Ballerina Tulip, an oil pastel on 8x10 navy Canson Mi-Tientes Touch.

1. After a quick sketch of the petals in white Conte pencil, I began blocking in hues.

2. Here, I've added this tulip's stem and one for its taller neighbor as well filling up the rest of the petals.

3. I was convinced I needed to do something more interesting with the background than the the original paper blue, so I went a little nuts with the tints of the colors used in the composition thus far. After I was finished with this part, I decided, no, no, no, this is too busy and too complex.

4. I pulled out my Turpenoid and a brush, to gently smoosh (yes, that is the technical term) the colors together. Needless to say, I still was not pleased with the background.

5. Here I opted to darken the shadows , refine some of the contours, and pull the Turpenoid out again to meld the background. My reference photo has a poorly lit white wall behind it, and ultimately this mixture well represents the value of the wall. Unfortunately, it feels way to flat for me. After all, it's a bit of pebbly, irregular surface.

6. For this final adjustment to the background, I used light, irregular scribbles, again with the tints of hues used in this composition plus white. It almost carries the glowing characteristics of a frosted glass window. It was fun to pull out the oil pastels as a slight change of pace for the day after several weeks of working solely with soft pastels. I am a little rusty with the oil pastels, but I like their feel and forgiveness.

Day 18: Daffodil

January 18, 2012

Daffodil, soft pastel on 8x10 pale yellow Sabretooth sanded paper

1. I used the Sofft tools to apply PanPastels to the paper after a brief sketch with a white Conte pencil.

2. I rarely use grays in a pastel, but in this instance, I used several tints of Payne's gray to build up the shadows on the petals and several greens to build the depth of the leaves and the interior of the flower's trumpet.

3. I continute building up the shadows and hues of the flower, still working solely with PanPastels.

4. Here I began stroking in some of the veining on the petals with a variety of PanPastel tints.

5. Now that the entire structure of the flower is built, I whipped out the white Conte pencil to firm up the points and highlights on the petals and a few sticks to manage some of the kinds of strokes that I just can't (yet) achieve with PanPastels.

6. I extended one of the large blade leaves up above the flower, and continued using pastel pencils to firm up the fringed edge of the trumpet closest to the viewer and add some veining to the interior of the trumpet.

7. Here I worked on some of the shadows and the structure of the trumpet.

8. My shadows were too harsh and too gray on the back petals, so I used a white PanPastel over the top, and did a little corrections on the interior of the trumpet. The flat background was just too flat for the piece, so I added some shades of the same color in a fanned structure to mimic the shadows that might be cast on a wall behing--and to add a little more energy to the piece.

Pastel-a-Day Number 17: Chilly Sunset

January 17, 2012

Chilly Sunset, a soft pastel on peach-colored 7x10 sheet of Saint-Armand Sabretooth sanded pastel surface.

1. I did a quick scumbled sketch with the sides of pastel sticks before finger-blending to tone the paper. This surface has bigger spacing between the hills and valleys of the structure, which is typically the kind of surface I avoid...

2. I erased some of the blue in the sky to help reveal the native color of the paper, to try to give the richest oranges and peach colors in the sky. Because of the extreme texture of this paper, I continued to finger-blend colors to try to minimize the dappled effect. Isn't it ironic that I dislike the stippled effect when it gets generated by the paper, but am so proud of it when I create it with my strokes?

3. I began bringing in tree and brush between the individual fields with just simple vertical strokes in a variety of colors, and enriching the structure of the out buildings on this little farm, working to get the silo to lean less to the left.

4. After focusing on the ground for a little while, it was time to get back to brightening the sky and adding more variegated colors to the tree line in the distance.

5. With each additional layer and Spectrfix spray, the buildings in the foreground reveal more and more of the texture of the paper. In this case, it sure looks live I've spent hours stippling that roof.

6. I came back with some more pure hue in the sky, including the addition of darker blues higher up in the sky, making the oranges and yellows regain their glowing characteristics that have been cast in color onto the snow-covered fields. I'm going to let this sit for a little bit before I decide on adding another layer or calling this one done. For my eyes, this is a piece that definitely looks better from a distance than close up.

7. I used a few PanPastels in the sky and the snow, and completely worked the tree on the right side (cheating with pastel pencils to go back to bare limb basics. There isn't enough tooth left on the surface to put in more details, so I have to count this one as "done", and a lesson on using Sabretooth!

16: A sandhill crane study in soft pastel

January 16, 2012

Sandhills, a soft pastel on a 6x6 sage-colored Canson Mi-Tientes Touch, a new sanded surface.

1. Using a white Conte pastel pencil, I sketched in in outlines of the main characters in today's production.

2. To ensure that I didn't overfill the tooth of this new paper (especially for the birds), I did some initial terrain contouring with NuPastels, using the side of the sticks to lay down just touches of color.

3. Here I began adding in the main structural details for the birds, building up shadows and working to retain the late afternoon highlights. Almost as soon as the red went in on the head, these critters started to take over the composition, as intended.

4. Because I have no interruptions coming through today,I was able to step back from the piece at regular intervals to do value checks, which were essential to build these birds into the terrain while still retaining a bit of their natural camouflage characteristics.

5. With yet another composition based on harsh afternoon sun, I also wanted to make sure that some of the longer grasses were well-represented as being well lit by the sun, including the yummy piece that the lead Sandhill carries in its beak.

6. I used a silicone shaper to do a little blending on the birds to minimize the chunks that tend to disrupt their natural curvatures. I also wanted to pull in some very thin grasses in the foreground, using careful strokes of the Great American sticks.

7. Here, I've resurrected the vibrance of the highlights and darkened a few of the shadows to bring more dimension to the pieces (better exposure of the digital image also helps). I am apparently getting more efficient with each passing day, which means that I can now turn a little piece like this out in about 2.5 hours. I guess that sounds amazing to me, since I usually don't have that big a block of time on any one given day to devote to this pursuit. I most definitely envy those of you who can spend every day in their studio immersed in their art!

Day 15: Moonscape abstract

From January 15, 2012

Moonscape, a soft pastel on 9x12 black Colourfix Suede

1. I sketched the moon, the focal tree, and the terrain in with a white Conte pencil.

2. This photo represents two layers of PanPastels applied primarily with the palette-knife-type Sofft tools. Using a limited palette that included white, yellow, turquoise, violet, tints of magenta and ultramarine, and a shade of violet, coupled with the white Conte pencil, vine charcoal, and a little bit of black Sharpie, I worked out today's simplified abstract composition.

3. I dabbled more blue into the sky using scumbline on the left half and light sketching between the tree branches. I finished the piece with a few touches of ultra light blues and purples in the snow and dark purples at the contour interfaces.

14: Abandoned, a soft pastel

From January 14, 2012

Abandoned a soft pastel on 9x12 terra cotta Richeson Premium Pastel Hardboard.

1. Using the terra cotta of the surface, I left the rooftop as the "paper color" and brought back a rich red tree trunk on this late afternoon composition. I've mostly used just the side of the pastel stick to block in the initial structures, allowing the structural buildings to bleed through the overgrown trees.

2. One of the interesting tidbits about this house is the year-round faded wreath on the front door, which I've added in here. I've built up the shadowed textures, the weathered wood panels on the front of the house, the terra cotta roof tiles, and the overgrown lilies in the front. A few more details to add, and I can call it a day!

3. I've built up the foreground tree, using mish-mashed strokes of the sticks, pushing as much of the end of the stick onto the paper as it would take. I really like being able to get the light to dance off the foliage, and feel like the values are quite good. I could probably lighten the value just a touch more on the front of the house if I wanted it to match the color of the reference photo, but my memory of the house on that day is that the building in the back was getting direct sunlight and the front of the house getting some filtered light, so this may be closer to the details of the day.

Thirteen: Dual Ring Ceremony

Dual Ring Ceremony, a soft pastel on 5x7 charcoal grey Clairfontaine PastelMat.

1. Today, I'm sticking with a mostly neutral palette to capture a snowy day in Verona. I've quickly blocked in the angular snow-covered roof structure, the stone wall facing the viewer, and the bell tower structure in the foreground.

2. In the second step, I corrected some of the structural angles and used the side of a stick to scumble in a pale aqua sky, taking care to allow some of the background gray to peek through.

3. I chose a few more higher values to add more variety to the sky, using angular strokes and a few stipples to show the falling snow. I left some of the dark of the paper bleed through around the stiles of the bell tower and in the shadow areas of the building structure. Ultimately, I pulled out a white, black, gray, and dark brown pastel pencil to firm out the structure of the bells. I used my SpectraFix fixative again today after several days without it's use. I need to repair the extra wide swath of cream under the second bell.

4. To finalize this piece, I made a few minor corrections to some of the snow-covered areas and to the flakes falling under a mild, but constant wind. I ever so rarely work with pastels in mostly neutrals, but the way snow mutes everything, this seemed like the perfect approach.

Day 12: The Apple

January 12, 2012

The Apple, a soft pastel with Conte pencil sketch and watercolor and gouache underpainting on 6x6 Art Spectrum Colourfix sanded brick red paper.

1. In today's adventure, I wanted to do more of a value/hue underpainting with pigment that soaked into the surface of the paper before I began filling it up with pastels. I really like how this underpainting looks, especially for the apple and the two main leaves. The highlights are just about as light s they need to be, and there's an opportunity to lay in some rich darks to get the background to recede.

2. I got in "the zone" working on this without taking lots of photos along the way, but making tremendous progress. To build the structure of the apple, I did lots of blended layers, working to get both the matte and shiny portions of the apple to come to life and retain the itty bitty spot across the lit and shadowy portions. The tree branches in the background are heavily laden with lichens, which is an interesting texture to try to represent. There are parts of this that are absolutely finished and some that are less so. My left brain wants to take all of them to completion and my right brain is screaming no, no, NO, leave it alone just as it is! I believe today I will happily defer to the right brain.