"Up the Creek" 9x12 Pastel

I was certainly up the creek while painting today...Thanks to the hurricane, and Unitil...my power went out and I literally painted this in the dark with a flashlight. I was going to work on my oil painting, but I have a difficult enough time mixing paint with light, so I opted for pastels instead.

I was actually inspired by one of my favorite paintings while painting this...VERY impressionistic in my opinion. I focused on placing a stroke and leaving it. Look at it closely and you can see the chunks of pastel sitting on the canvas. I love that! Focused on bold earth tones and some touches of colors, you may not expect in certain places. (something I've tried to emulate, but have not done yet) I've been working on this for a while and I'm happy with the result. I don't really feel I captured the water pouring over the rocks, but I am somewhat happy with the rocks. The water...does it even look like water? I think the values are wrong. Wrong with the rocks...maybe the creek? Not sure. I really love the trees...I've been enjoying doing trees with pastel...I think I'm going to tackle an 18x24 pastel landscape with trees. That will be challenging. I think I'm done with oils, at least for a while....Hope you like it.

Sunset on Plum Island

I couldn't wait to get out and check out the sunset last night before the hurricane arrived. I knew the sky would be breathtaking so i went out and did a little plein air painting on plum island. From this picture you can see how amazing the sunset was last evening. Funny how you can feel the the change in atmosphere when ominous weather is approaching. It was a beautiful night...very peaceful...calm before the storm I guess.

The Replacement...

Oops I did it again...All week I've been looking forward to Friday class so I could work on my oil painting...I almost walked out of the house without my painting and sketchbook, Then I get to class only to realize after I set up, put paint on my palette that I have forgotten my picture. As always I tend to look for the easy way out. I was going to gesso some boards or read a book, but Robin talked me into doing a "quick" pastel. She gave me a small 8x6 board and a picture of a beach, so the "bang it out" process began. (Remind me to post some day regarding my arrogant "bang it out" comment) Thanks for not letting me do something else and believing I could paint a quality piece in such a short time.


I guess I spent about an hour working on this painting and I am very pleased with it. I love beaches, and I love painting them. Some day I may even do a series...who knows. One of the things Robin had us do in class was to talk about the one thing we love about the painting we worked on. I of course, came up with a couple...but I thought that was a great idea. The two things I love about this 1. I love the beach part of the painting...the sand, the water, the tree line...I love them. My favorite part of the painting. I'm even pleased with the clouds. I feel more confident each time I paint clouds. Clouds continue to be ONE of my nemesis'. 2. I'm very proud I was able to produce a painting in a short time, that I'm happy with.

More importantly I received the seal of approval and that is a great feeling.

Oh, as always it's untitled...I guess I'll call it the replacement until I can come up with something better...

Marsh at Sandy Point

NEW


OLD




I posted this painting a while ago, signed and complete...at least I thought it was. Probably a cardinal sin in the painting world, but I couldn't help it...Everytime I walked by it, it drove me crazy. The foreground of the marsh was too light to be backlit by a setting sun. When I completed this painting I knew the foreground was too light, but I liked the way I captured the floral brush so basically I left it. So I decided to wipe out my name, redo the whole foreground and I like the results. I think I found a good middle ground I'm pleased with. Not too dark, not too light, still showcasing some of the gorgeous flowers blooming on that day.

More importantly I tackled a fear of mine...sometimes I really struggle with doing something twice, regardless of what the previous result is. I have a fear of not doing it as well, or making it worse. This was a big step for me and I'm happy with the results.

Oh, and yes, it's still not signed ;-)