Evening Calm, Port Clyde Wallis 16 x 12
Those who have studied with me know that I discourage a lot of finger blending. I find that it dulls the work and the pastel doesn’t sparkle. But selective smudging and blending can be a real boon to a painting and I’ve been doing more of it lately. In this painting, I began by following the photograph too closely. The boat was very detailed, the background trees were green, and there was little unity. As I got down to the rocks and splashing water, I knew that this was where I wanted the eye to go and that I had to do something to fade out the background. My first solution was uniformity of color. Using a blue violet Girault, I cooled down the distant trees and added this color to the dock at right. I twas already in the boat. Then I got rid of most of the details in the boat, leaving only a few pieces of light. Finally, I took my finger and smudged the bottom of the boat into the water. At this point, I was really pleased with the picture! The center of interst is clearly the white, frothy water and rocks, but the background forms an interesting shape of dock, boat and hillside.
Thank you Jean..
I am so paying attention to these posts ..and truly enjoying and learning great points in using pastels.
Hello Jean,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your “The Joy of Smudging” and I was encouraged to read that you also find yourself becoming too caught up with details. That has been so much of my problem. I am almost obsessive about details but that obsession does not lead me to good paintings because there is just too much detail. I am taking a clue from your blog and determining first what is my focal point and where I want to lead the observer’s eye. Also, I am going to use the smudging and toning down to fix paintings I have set aside. Thank you
Marie–This was a case where I had a pretty clear focal point (once I figured out!). One of my challenges often is figuring what IS the center of interest! I focus more on shapes and colors, as I’m doing with the painting I’m working on now. But I DO think it is a good idea to go back and reassess and see if we can soften some areas and bring another area into clearer focus.
The finished painting is gorgeous and an inspiration! This blog is a good lesson for those like me who put in every detail. Thanks Jean!
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