I am participating in the 31 day challenge for World Watercolor Month in July, but I am still painting with other mediums too
You can see my most recent daily watercolors on the right sidebar and on Instagram here
One of my art goals this summer is to learn more about pastel painting…I have a love/hate relationship with pastel, it is ironic that it can be one of the hardest mediums to master {in my opinion}, yet it’s one of the most forgiving in that if you make a mistake you can rub it away and redo
The initial sketch defines the 4 main areas of the painting, sky, water, grass and sand
One of the challenges of pastels is the dust that is constantly created, I work vertically, and start at the top
This is a sanded light ochre pastel paper
I am still experimenting with when to blend, and actually used my fingers {wear gloves} to blend the clouds and parts of the sky
You can see the dark blue dust covering the paper as I color in the water
I often tap the paper on it’s edge to get rid of the dust build up and remove excess gently with a rag
Once I was fairly happy with the water I began to work on the grasses, establishing the darks first
Next came the lighter tones of greens
Then finally the sea oats and shadows on the sandy path
Sea oats are a tall subtropical grass, protected by law in Southeastern coastal areas, they are of upmost importance to keeping the sand in place on our coastal beaches and promote the growth and stability of sand dunes
“Sea Oats” after Laurel Daniel 9″ x 12″ pastel on sanded paper
This was a joy to paint, and I am looking forward to my next experience
An oil painting by Laurel Daniel was the inspiration for my pastel interpretation
Just for fun, try something out of your comfort zone
Be Fearless!
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Dishing it & Digging it, Between Naps on the Porch,
Merry Monday Make it Pretty Monday Celebrate and Decorate,
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday