This study of a pear was done on “Leaf Green” Colorfix pastel paper. The sketch was done using vine charcoal.
Pear Study on Green
Author: cathmary1030
New Pastels!
Some of the pastels I ordered arrived today — yay! I now have some Blue Earth (21 Portrait), some Unison (16 half-sticks Portrait), Richeson Hand-rolled Yellow #1 – #20, Richeson Hand-rolled Portrait (mid-values), Sennelier Landscape 30 half-sticks, and of course the 120 half-sticks of Blick Artist’s soft pastels.
Thinking in Terms of Thumbnails
One of the exercises in the beginner online workshop is to get into the habit of making thumbnails, starting first with value thumbnails, before doing any painting.
I practiced creating some thumbnail sketches based on landscape photos.
Rembrandt Pastels on Fisher 400 Paper
The Fisher 400 paper was one of the sheets in my sanded paper sampler. For the heck of it, I was laying down thick color using my 10-piece basic assortment of Rembrandt pastels. I love the look! Appears like deep rich paint… Luscious!
Pear Study
This study was done on Canson Mi-Tientes Touch paper, one from my Jackson’s Art sampler.
I like the contrast of the blue background with the orangey-yellow highlighted side of the pear. I don’t particularly care for the way the pastel doesn’t “fill in” the paper.
And since I did this study, I’ve learned that the pros often do underpainting for numerous reasons, one of which is coverage and a unified tone. I had thought that using toned paper in itself might be enough. It’s okay but it looks more like a drawing than a painting.
Value Exercise
This exercise in values is from the online workshop for beginning pastel painters.
Fruit Study
This fruit study was my take on an exercise from Marla Baggetta’s “Making Your Mark” online workshop.
I used Fabriano Ingres pastel paper — one of the papers in the sampler I bought from Jackson’s Art — and am dissatisfied with the vertical lines in the paper.
Espresso Study
Today I painted my espresso cup.
What I like is my color choices: I think they closely resemble the cup in “life”. I’m especially happy with the crema color(s). I’m somewhat pleased with the actual drawing of the cup. I am least pleased with my mark-making, especially with regard to the crema. Perhaps I would be better off using NuPastels or even pastel pencils to render the detail more finely.
Or, be more impressionistic in my painting, and use blurry strokes instead of trying to match the reference so closely.
Blue Pear
This study was done on Colorfix Smooth “Blue Haze” paper.
BetterLateThanNeverArt 