Rock Reflections, C&O Canal

So here is the picture I originally planned to do as a demo for the university women last Saturday. Boy–was I NUTS!!! Given the way I ended up painting this, there is NO way I could have done this as a demo. So thanks to all of my students who kept telling me to just frame the charcoal and do something else! Anyway, this painting is a departure from other pictures. It’s not a big shape picture–it’s a really DETAILED center of interest picture. I decided to start it out with charcoal and water to get the dark pattern set. Everyone loved it! However, I really didn’t want to frame a charcoal drawing, so I spent Monday and this afternoons painting it. I didn’t do an underpainting–just went directly from the charcoal to Giraults. I used a lot of grayed violets in the rocks. I really didn’t want these to appear too purple. So the color is pretty much what I call “observed”. The highlights in the rocks were done with warm neutrals in soft pastel. The only real color is the greens and oranges of the grasses and bushes. I really do love doing paintings like this from time-to-time. It’s close to doing a still life. And I love working with reflections. I wanted to get more on my recent trip to the canal but there wasn’t much.

Just registered for IAPS. My workshop is full!!! Can’t believe it. Most everything is already full. It’s going to be the biggest convention yet, I’m sure. If you aren’t going and live in Massachusetts, I’ll be doing a similar one day workshop on Cape Cod some Saturday in April. We haven’t set the date yet. It’s for the Pastel Painter’s Society of Cape Cod. And I’ve been invited to give aworkshop next October in Marlborough, MA, so I might be back then.

I go to Massachusetts tomorrow for a quick trip and private demo/lesson. May report back.