"Early Light, Scituate" 5 x 10 soft pastel

"Early Light" is a recent and early exploration with soft pastel.  I wasn't sure where to begin, but knew I wanted a dark ground. I squeezed some burnt sienna, viridian and ultramarine gouache onto the board, and spread them out which provided a very dark ground with some cool and warm components.  Turns out the gouache dries with a nice matte finish with tooth!  Great for the application of the pastels.  My plan was to build up the lights, leaving the ground in places.   You can see a few transitional images to the left.  I'm pleased with the result and encouraged to keep exploring.  One of the challenges for me was that when I wanted a neutral violet of value 4 with hints of ochre in it, which I could make quickly with my oils... I had to hunt and open another box, and lay color next to other color to approximate the color I was looking for.  It's a puzzle, an exciting puzzle.  Looking forward to more exploration.  
Every couple of years, North River Arts Society holds a fundraiser, Outside the Box (OTB).  The public is invited to create art, this year on a 5 x 10 inch board.  Nothing is signed, and each participant is invited to make art that is different from their norm. The resulting hundreds of pieces of art are displayed for a month as silent auction.  Visitors bid on the art they love, without knowing who created it. "Early Light" was my entry for this year's OTB.