After a busy time with the open studio I treated myself to lunch at Pillars of Hercules. I had intended to do outdoor painting when I was out and about. As soon as I sat down I knew I wanted to sketch the view in front of me. Fortunately I had my pastels in the car and a board to work on. This was the sketch I worked on. Lunch was excellent as always, great place to relax.
This painting is a demonstration which I did last week at Cupar Art Club. I arrived with a prepared underpainting in watercolour. I talked through why I had prepared a watercolour underpainting in complementary colours. I then proceeded to apply the local colour of the scene leaving some of the underpainting to show through. This had the effect of making the colours sing and can lead to a more realistic looking painting. Multiple colours working together can give a greater sense of reality. Degas was aware of these techniques and experimented with a variety of undertones and underpainting techniques to get the effect he was after. It was useful to have my home made colour wheel at hand as shown above.
The first image shows how I started this painting. I blocked in a selection of complementary colours onto Pastelmat card which can take watermedia. Next I sprayed some pastel liquefier to soften and fix the colours to the card. Such a fun way to approach a new painting. I then did some light drawing with charcoal.The top layer of pastel was then applied in colours true to the scene.
Recent cycling trips through the woods at Morton Lochs have inspired this painting. Pastels are a good medium for capturing the luminous light through the trees.
A few weeks ago I did a study sketch of this little girl heading to the beach. I shared that as a blog post. Here is the finished painting.
Preparation is underway for the Pittenweem Arts Festival 2013 from Sat 3rd August until Sunday 11th August. I will be at my usual venue, 18 West Shore. I look forward to seeing folks there!
I have not long finished this painting it is now at the framers. When we were leaving Shetland and on our way to the airport this dramatic sky caught my eye. The image stayed with me and I just had to paint it.
Recently I did a demonstration at Stirling Art Club. This was the pastel painting I did during the evening. I had prepared a sketch on mid to dark green Canson paper along with some tonal sketches and colour studies. This enabled me to explain how I would approach the painting.
When I visited Barra I found all the beaches had a different feeling. This one had a calming experience on me. I sat and sketched the scene undisturbed and soaked up the atmosphere. The sketch evokes the memory of the location really well. This painting was done with reference to my sketch.
This is a study for a larger painting I intend to do. I have not decided what medium I will use yet. The grasses always surprise me how tall they are. I love the sand dunes on The West Sands St Andrews. They always inspire paintings.