"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.
"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. 
