Clouds Over Longbeach

December 15, 2013

Sometimes you have to remove large portions of a reference photo to create the painting you really want.
I think this photo was taken in Longbeach, WA, but that may not be correct....please let me know if you recognize this view. Anyway, I loved the warm clouds and the feeling that I could see for miles.

Here is the charcoal drawing on La Carte pastel board.

A light block in of the sky and sand masses. The brightly reflective stream in the foreground will be the focal point of the painting.

Blocking in the darkest values that I see in the clouds.

Restating some of the darker warm colors in the clouds (they were too light initially)

Adding details to the distant hills, stream, and grass on the shore.

The completed painting is 12" x 18" As always, the photograph just doesn't do it justice...I may need to re-photograph this painting in muted daylight.

December 06, 2013

For students who can't make it to a week day class
I will be teaching a weekend workshop Painting with Pastels in February
(you can rent my pastels if you don't have your own).
Please go to http://cuttinggarden.com/events.html for more information and to register.

More Clouds

November 20, 2013

Today I am painting the same clouds and mountains subject on 8" x 10" watercolor paper with a watercolor underpainting

Cad red under the mountains, oranges, blues and greys elsewhere.

Blocking in the pastel shapes

Here's the finished piece - somehow photographing pastel isn't all that successful. The cloud colors and values are much more pleasing than this photograph conveys.

November Clouds

November 18, 2013

Back in the studio after a most enjoyable break teaching watercolor....time to reaquaint myself with my pastels! This reference photo was taken a few nights ago with my phone camera. Working on Kitty Wallis Belgian mist support, I sketch the main shapes including increasing the height of the foreground.

I block in the main shapes with the darkest values I see within each shape.

With just a couple of later additions this is the palatte for this painting.

Further refining shapes I add some lighter values and soften almost all the edges and transitions.

I now realize that as usual I have made the mountains a little too tall and wide, so I carve some clouds into their shapes to make them a little shorter and narrower. My awe of the mountains creeps in to my drawings.