Old Path

 Pastel over watercolor - Arches paper

"Old Path" 5x7 pastel over watercolor. This is a color / value / composition exercise for a possible larger painting. I have tied to a create a nealy-abstract landscape.

Broken Surf - Study

 Pastel - 5x7 on UArt 600

When the winds come from on direction and them move to another, the waves can get confused and broken.  They come in and break across each other and the surf becomes choked with foam and breaking waves.

This is the final image of a process that started with a limited palette and a 20 minute timer.

I began with a simple line drawing to guide my composition.

Once I was satisfied with the basics, I selected a limited palette of mostly greens, blues, and grays of different values and intensities.

With my drawing in place and my palette selected, I set my timer for 20 minutes - 20 minutes with 20 pieces of pastel - and this is the result.

As you can see, I did very little revision from this initial painting other than to add some color and texture to the waves and foam.  

Private Sunset

Pastel, 6x9 on UArt

Number 09 of '21 in 21' Karen Margulis' challenge

As the day comes to a close, the clouds seem to fall to tatters of wisps and puffs.  The crowds of the day have gone leaving the peace and beauty of this late hour to the few who remain for a private showing of the glories of the evening.

Passing

Pastel, 5x7 on UArt

Painting 04 for Karen Margulis' Challenge

Before the big thunderstorms of summer, small brief showers tumble across the salt marsh as they gather and build.  The broken clouds and wispy rain brings a relief from the mid-day heat.

Breaking

Pastel - 9x6 on UArt

Painting 03 for Karen Margulis' Challenge

This painting was inspired by the breaking clouds after a storm.  The surf was up and the reflections of the early morning light were broken and scattered.  The sun had risen above the break, but the sky was still painted with golden light. 

Early Morning Shadows

Pastel over Watercolor & Ink, 5x7

As the sun rises above the low clouds in the early morning, the light casts the dunes and the ridges in sharp contrasts of light and shadow.

Beach Way, A Study

Pastel over ink and watercolor, 5x7

Along Neptune Beach, the low dunes are punctuated with paths that have provided access to the beach for years, the paths are well marked with the footprints of others who have come this way.  With the breaking clouds, the beach beckons with a clear invitation.

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Gray Day, A Study

Pastel over ink and watercolor, 5x7

This is my view of the walkway to the beach from Walnut Avenue in Neptune Beach.  The day was gray and mostly overcast and the wind was steady and strong from the south west.  The waving sea oats and the soft light give the scene a feeling that heavy weather is coming.

Bright Passage, a Study

Pastel over ink and watercolor, 5x7

This pathway through the dunes blazes with the brightness of the early morning sun.  Before the sea breeze comes up, the air is calm and clear.  Daily study as a potential for a larger work.
After I posted this, I realized that the lower left corner had some issues with small clumps of grass that were acting as "eye catchers" - these have been fixed, and the photo updated.

Expectations - Revision

"Expectation" Pastel on UArt - completed February 2014.

This painting, though pleasing, seemed to lack something. It was just there with nothing special.

I started my examination by creating a smaller, 5x7, with ink and watercolor on paper to explore new colors, forms, and values.

My first step was to do an ink line drawing from the original.

 

Over this ink sketch I added watercolor indicate the continuation of the pinks and lavenders into the salt marsh to replace some of the green.

 

Adding the color to the clouds, pointed out another basic difficulty with the original piece - that is that the bottoms of the clouds are all too flat.  The study, however, was too far along to make changes in either the drawing or the watercolor, so I sprayed the watercolor with fixative and applied a layer of clear gesso. This will help support substantial revisions when I apply the pastel.

 

 

"Evneing Clouds" - gave this 5x7 and new name.

This is the final rework of the 5x7.  I reduced the clouds by about 1/3, softened all the edges, expanded the water in the foreground, and reduced the colors to 3 - blue, orange, and purple (with just a touch of pink). Then I added just a little green for contrast and punched up the colors and values in the salt marsh.  Took a new photo which is much better.

Fence Row

Pastel 5.5x7 on Richeson White

This is a veiw of a fence row that caught my eye because of the dramatic forms and spaces with the craggy tree and thicket.

This was done with the 12 minutes/12 colors PLUS 2 minutes/2 pastel pencils.  I added the 2 minutes to get the details for a larger work later.

Geen on Green

 

Pastel on Richeson White, 5x7

This is a new effort for me.  Painting in 10 minutes was a good exercise, but I wanted just a little more time, and though I like the limited palette, I felt I needed more than 10 colors.  So I'm trying out 12 colors for 12 minutes.  This is the first effort under those rules.

The photo behind this was all green, but I wanted to experiment with colors other than green.  In this I used purple, mauve, and yellow.  I like the color and values that resulted.

"Pond Colors"

Pastel on Sanded Arches - 5x7

Sold

This painting started life as a watercolor that needed help, so I coated it with sanded gel and redid the problems with pastel.  I am very pleased with the result.

The scene is one from a sketch and reference photos from the Arboretum paint out.  Early and late in the day, the sun casts the background in shadows but pours bright sunlight on the outer and higher branches of the trees next to the pond.  This gives me the opportunity to deal with values by changing the colors, using deep purple for the dark greens and grays.