Day Two at the Studio

Ok...Day Two at the studio was absolutely heaven! It was nearly 60 degrees here today, beautiful sunshine and the birds were chirping out the windows at the studio. I spent the whole day there and just really could have stayed all night if I had a pillow and a blanket!


I finished "Autumn" but forgot to photograph it, so will post that it the next couple of days.


This afternoon I started "Hay Bales", 9 x 14" on Colourfix sanded paper...I think the color is called Eggplant...a dark purple.


I started by blocking in the large shapes....

"Hay Bales" - Blocking in Shapes and color

I'm doing this piece as part of a challenge on WetCanvas.com in the Pastel Forum. The challenge is not so much the image but using an underpainting as a tool. You can use watercolor, rubbing alcohol and a few other things, but I chose water...right out of the tap. It was a scary process and thought I might have to start over as everything looked dark and soppy......until it dried!

"Hay Bales" - after the underpainting is "smooshed with water"
using a paintbrush

The nice thing about the underpainting is it fills the annoying little flecks of paper that often show through when using pastel only. Next time I might get a little more wild as to the colors I use for the underpainting. For instance, I could have used the complements, especially in the trees which would be a dark red.

"Hay Bales" - Starting to apply color and texture using NuPastels

Tomorrow I will be putting more form and greens in the trees, warming up the fields, and working on the foreground a bit more. I'm sure it will be another heavenly day at the studio.