A Walk in Exmoor, 16 x 20, Pastelbord

I have finally been able to do a painting from England.  I attempted to do this one before with no photo available using the Rives in a large format and I really didn’t like it. So yesterday I powered up my Samsung and used it to get the needed detail and the coloring. I also decided to work smaller and on a trusty pastel surface–Pastelbord.  This was our first real walk in the open moor and I had read a lot about the beauty of Exmoor. Unfortunately, we had our cloudiest weather there and the photo had a fairly dark cloud cover. But at times the sun came out and I used my photos and memory to give the sense of light on the distant hills.  (For anyone who knows the area, this was a bridle path at Dunkary Beacon, the highest point in Exmoor.) We had it to ourselves, with the exception of one lost lamb who had gotten over the fence from where there were many sheep.  (He wasn’t in this photo; I added him from another reference photo.)  For the painting, I decided to first tone the board with watercolor, using a green gold that reminded me of the overall tone of the painting. It actually was quite light,  but still gave a sense of warmth and glow.  I began the lay in using hard pastels and pastel pencils (something I rarely do). The background detail was a challenge. There were defined fields and hedge rows, (really gorgeous) but they had to be softened. I started with various grayed greens, then added a grayed violet over them. I finally picked up a medium blue hard pastel and added that and it helped push it back. The other challenge was the foreground. The photo a lot of tall grasses, without much heather.    The color and placement of the path were one of the things that attracted me to this particular scene, along with the dark bushes behind.  I did not try to add the little stones and rocks as I was afraid I’d ruin it!  Painting the sheep was another challenge. I drew him in with a pastel pencil, then I used various Giraults, adding and removing pieces of pastel. All of a sudden, I had an eye and his head turned a bit to the right and I was very happy with him. Since the field curves down to the right, I think the placement of the sheep at this spot arrests the downward motion and provides a focal point and something of interest.