Week Number Three of Pastel Class

Last week we had a couple of new folks making for a very lively group of six. Deb asked us to set up a still life and then we discussed how a painting can be more dynamic if the painting reads from left to right with the focal point/center of interest being on the right side (preferrably in the Golden Mean....another topic for another time).

Of course as the class went around and looked at how we all set up our still lifes, my center of interest was on the left. So we worked with getting it on the right.


Deb asked us to paint the still life for the rest of class, about 90 minutes. She asked us to approach the painting as we normally would so she could see where she could help us. Fortunately, I am a "put in the darks first" person.

Here is what I wound up with....I felt like I was chasing a freight train as I work very slowly and I'm not used to standing up to paint for that long.

I think my biggest problem was painting in a dark studio. To get good lighting on your still life we turn down the lights. I will probably take a small can lamp to light my easel this week. As you can see, I was pretty wild with the color. The values looked good in the dark!

So much to learn!!