Misty Day, Chincoteague, 24″ x 20″, BFK Rives and Colourfix Liquid Primer
Quiet Flight, 20″ x 16″, UART 400
I spent today in the studio completing my third painting from our May trip to Chincoteague. Last week I completed a 20 x 24; today’s is a 20 x 16. They were done on different surfaces using different approaches to color and technique. The first, Misty Day, was done on Rives using a gold-toned Colourfix liquid primer base. I used direct application of pastel onto the toned and textured surface. I like the soft edges that are produced and it fits this subject matter very nicely. For this painting, I used 3 black and white photos, finally settling on one to use as the primary image. I added three small ponies in the back right from one of the other photos. I chose not to use greens, instead, making this more of a fall scene.
The painting I did today was done on UART using an underpainting and the color photo. The colors pretty much match those in the photo, but I pushed the foreground grasses a bit. I added egrets in the far distance and a hint of birds in the water–it needed them and there were many birds everywhere–just not in my photo! For the underpainting, I used violets, pinks, oranges, and reds from a new Holbein set. I like using these pastels for underpaintings–the colors are really gorgeous. The bushes were done with Blue Earth greens and the foreground grasses are all Girault.
Your paintings are lovely.
You mention here and in other posts your use of an undercoat or underpainting. Would it be possible to post some examples (photos) of the process you use to create that dimension of your work and show how it supports the completed project? Such explanations would be very helpful to those of us who are just learning to work with pastels and would appreciate having a fuller understanding of how you create your beautiful paintings.
Thank you.
Thanks for the comment John. Not sure whether or not you have my book. If so, Appendix D explains the process of making a surface. But I can do a post on this. I think it would be a good idea. I do have a picture of the underpainting for the second painting but I’ll have to retrieve it from my cell phone.