Pastels #25 & #26

Another one for the September Pastel Strokes at WetCanvas.

8"x10", Flannel Gray Canson Mi-Tientes.


This one was for the October Landscape Challenge at WetCanvas.

8"x10", Flannel Gray Canson Mi-Tientes.

Not happy with either one, so I will count them as more practice with pastels.

Pastel #24

Done for the September Landscape Challenge at WetCanvas. I thought it would be good practice for clouds, but pastel soup ensued.

8"x10", Canson Mi-Tientes.

Pastel #23

Done for the September Pastel Strokes at WetCanvas.

9"x12", Canson Blue Mi-Tientes.

Oil Painting #16

This is for the August Landscape Challenge at WetCanvas.

My first instinct when there is a lot of green is to panic first then to mix up a green and use it everywhere there is green. Anything beyond that is progress for me. Guess I could work on branches too.

8"x10", oil on canvas.

Oil Painting #15

Another Landscape Challenge from WetCanvas. This one was for July, but I did not get around to it until the first of August.

5"x7", oil on canvas.

Pastel #21

This one is for the WetCanvas! July Pastel Strokes. I'm not pleased with it, but it's done.

Pastel #20

This is a WetCanvas! Landscape Challenge from last year that I never got around to doing until now. I need to try this one again with more time and patience.

5"x7", Steel Gray Canson Mi-Teintes.

Pastel #18

This pastel was done for the WetCanvas! June Landscape Challenge. I usually do the landscape challenges in oil, but the pastels were handy. I didn't think I could manage the scene in either medium, so it didn't matter.

It came out much better than I expected, and the water blues are much more subtle in real life.

8"x10", Steel Gray Canson Mi-Teintes.

Pastel #15

Another WetCanvas! Pastel Strokes for May try. It is not what I really had in mind, but it is okay. My mechanics of using pastels must be improving because this one is on Canson Mi-Teintes, and the several layers of pastels behaved beautifully ... or I got lucky and don't know how.

8"x10", Canson Mi-Teintes.

Pastel #14

A WetCanvas! Pastel Strokes for May. Mostly Rembrandts on Colorfix sanded paper. I used a couple of Schmincke pastels around the sky and water, but the paper chewed into them too much to suit me. A lighter touch for applying the pastels is needed, or the paper could be sanded down a little.

About 9"x12".

Pastel #13 - Cloud Practice

A little cloud practice is needed. Looking at clouds is a pleasure, but rendering them scrambles my brain. Based on a photograph from the Image Library at WetCanvas!

8"x10", Canson Mi-Teintes.

Pastel #12

A different paper! This is done on Colorfix sanded paper with Rembrandt pastels. I had tried the sanded paper once before with just marks on a half-sheet and made a horrible mess. So far I have used Canson Mi-Teintes or similar pastel papers, but I needed something that would hold more pastels.

As a beginner, a lot of my problems with pastels are simply lack of experience. I have seen many beautiful paintings done on the Canson paper, so I cannot blame the paper. Cannot blame the pastels either. It's me!

I pulled out the other half-sheet of the Colorfix sanded paper yesterday, made some pastel marks on it, and suddenly everything went well. I even tried some watercolor on the paper and added pastels over the watercolor after it dried. Nice. Time to try an actual painting.

This scene has been done before, but it was easy to choose for my sanded paper experiment. I went so far as to use watercolor for the first layer. It was very pretty and rich in color, but it made it difficult to determine where and how much pastel was used. I'm not ready for a watercolor background.

The pastels were so easy to apply this time around. Only Rembrandts were used because they were doing great on the sanded paper, and I did not plan to take this farther than getting used to the sanded paper. The Rembrandts work so much better than on regular paper. I'll add the softies on top next time.

This one is 9"x12". As usual, the colors are a little off. I fool around with the color adjustments, but I get bored with learning how to do them and give up. The best I can do is to pick a white point, usually with the aid of a value card to the side in the photo, and leave it at that.

Pastel #11

Another for the WetCanvas! April Pastel Strokes. I keep trying. Colors are a little off but close enough. I'm still focused on the mechanics of using pastels, and the Pastel Strokes is giving me lots of practice material.

8"x10", Canson Mi-Teintes smooth side.

Pastel #10-1/2

Revised painting.

Original painting.

Some changes were made to the painting in my previous post, mainly to emphasize lighter and darker areas. I was actually testing a new pastel fixative, SpectraFix, to see how I liked it, so the changes were done quickly and with more thought to the fixative than the painting. I prefer the revisions (thanks, Paula, for the suggestions), and I like the SpectraFix.

The photo adds brown to the orange area, but the other colors are close enough.

The SpectraFix is odor-free, and that alone is enough to be fond of the product. Other fixatives have a toxic, strong odor, but the SpectraFix is not toxic, and there is no odor. It's in a pump-spray container, and I need to become familiar with the distance to use for spraying and the least amount to spray at a time. Now I won't avoid fixing the base layers of pastels.

Pastel #10

Another for the WetCanvas! April Pastel Strokes. I keep trying.

8"x10", Canson Mi-Teintes smooth side.

Pastel #9

Done for the WetCanvas! April Pastel Strokes. The only thing I managed here was to get the pastels on the paper. I took an interesting photo and made an uninteresting painting. Maybe next time will be better.

8"x10", Canson Mi-Teintes smooth side.

Pastel #3

Another for the Pastel Strokes February 2009 at WetCanvas!

This time the pastels were much easier to handle! A long way to go, but the touch-and-feel part of pastels might be starting to register. Very little mess on my clothes and me this time.

Though I am horrible with foliage, I think I did a decent job with faking it on this one.

Oil Painting #12 - WetCanvas! February '09 Landscape Challenge

Yup, tried another Wetcanvas! challenge.

I have noticed that I have the same sequence to my artwork.

1. I can do this.
2. This is not going the way I want.
3. Keep trying.
4. This is awful.
5. Keep trying.
6. Hmmm. There are one or two acceptable areas.
7. Keep trying.
8. It's not getting better.
9. Fiddling does not help.
10. Give it up.

5"x7", oil on canvas pad.

Oil Painting #11 - WetCanvas! January '09 Landscape Challenge, Second Choice

Several photos are usually offered in the WetCanvas! Landscape Challenges, and I decided to try another of the photos offered this month. If anyone is interested, the Landscape Challenges can be done in any medium.

I must be learning to chill out about painting with oils. If I'm not pleased with my color mixtures, the composition, or how I painted something, I look at it as practice and a learning experience and move on. I wish I could get the same attitude with drawing and watercolors with which I still freak out when the least little thing goes wrong.

5"x7", Artisan oils, canvas pad.

Oil Painting #10 - WetCanvas! January '09 Landscape Challenge

Another WetCanvas! Landscape Challenge try. Done enough! After cleaning my palette, I spotted a few more things to do, but it was time to give it up. This is my tenth oil painting, and I am still amazed the oil sticks to the canvas.

There's so much to remember at the same time, but it's easier than my first oil painting. Some of the how-to's are beginning to sink in.

They offer a total of three landscapes to try, and I may try another.

5"x7", Artisan oils, canvas pad.