On the Road to Jackson, 16 x 20 Pastelbord
I seem to be all over the map these days–from Maryland, Maine, and Massachusetts–to Wyoming! This is a case of having exhausted my recent shots and being in a real painting mood. This photo is one I’ve had in the photo book I bring to classes for student use for several years. Having just received my set of 50 Girault greens (and not having much green outside right now), I decided to try them out. I worked on a new, white Pastelbord. The clouds and sky were done with Blue Earth pastels. There are a lot of different tones of grayed blues in them, but they look a little peaked. Using the new Giraults on the hard Pastelbord was a little daunting. They felt hard and I did a certain amount of scribbling with them. But in the end, I really liked the soft effect and the lack of cakey buildup. One of the things I’ve always liked about the photo are the blues in the background and the combination of light blue green and yellow grasses in the foreground. Using several blue violets and the greens from my new set was perfect for achieving a wide variety of greens. I began this painting with charcoal wash, followed by a hard pastel/alcohol underpainting of reds, oranges, and lavender.
I could never grow to like Pastelbord. I found it much to rigid and it seemed to “fight” me with every attempt I make. But, I found that it did wash off very well and I use it to practice. The successive layers of pastels and washings have colored the surface. I have painted my son’s portrait on it 3 times already [the same portrait by the way]. I am never satisfied.
I love your paintings and especially love the “out of the box” red landscape.
Marie–I have found that each new surface is a challenge and also that the surface is the key to a successful painting. I started with Canson and had a hard time moving to Wallis. Then I moved to gatorfoam with coated gel and this was completely different and I went through a lot of angst! I only discovered Pastelbord when a local art store went out of business and I bought a lot of it to sell to my students. But when I did a demo on it and realized how much better it took watercolor than the gatorfoam, I kept it all for myself! So I keep moving from one surface to another. As soon as I say “this is my favorite surface”, I discover another!!! Now, having tried so many, I try to concentrate on the composition and my vision of the picture and what it can become. By doing this, I can chose what I think will be the appropriate surface and technique to accomplish what I envision. Some artists always work on the same surface, but I can’t do that. It’s too boring. And one of the real joys of pastel is the ability to have a different experience with each painting. This isn’t great for consistency, but it’s much more interesting from my perspective.
Thank you so much for your ongoing series of blogs, Jean. I read them all. I found this demo particularly helpful because it is a western landscape, which is what I love to paint, and the underpainting is so bold. (You have posted previous under paintings, but off eastern landscapes in which your end result is very different greens and offer few distant vistas.) I have printed your underpainting and finished painting in my studio to keep me focused on your lessons. Can’t wait to see you at IAPS!