Canadian Rocks 2009

I always loved the photo I took of the rocks on our beach up in New Brunswick, Canada several years ago. In fact, back in 2005 when I first began to learn about using pastels, it was one of the first pictures I wanted to paint. So I tried and tried, and I was so frustrated as I *knew* in my mind what I wanted to create, but just could not seem to get it down on paper. I just didn't have the skill or the learning or the experience to be able to create on paper what I could see in my mind's eye. 

But after four years of working with pastels I decided the time was ripe to try it again! I still wanted to do that rock scene! And this time it seemed to flow so much more easily. I felt happier with what I was doing, and more confident that I could achieve a result that pleased me. 

So I created the above on a 9x12 sheet of Art Spectrum Colourfix, and I'm much happier with the result than I was with my original 2005 attempt. To show you the differences, here is the 2005 attempt below, back when I was a fledgling artist, rather than one who is slowly coming to be happy with my own style.

The Beach at Barachois

Now that I'm back in the painting mode I had to do another one! I keep returning to Atlantic Canada, and this one is from a photo I took on a gray and moody day at Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, when some friends and I went for a stroll on the beach at Barachois. This is my new usual of a 9x12 sheet of Art Spectrum, and this is also a quickie, about 40 minutes. 

We were so chilled afterwards that we stopped at a small café to get some warming drinks, and that was when I learned that ordering a "bowl of coffee" produced a drink that was actually served in a large bowl like a soup bowl!

Shades of Gray

I really thought I'd get to paint a picture or two last week while visiting my dad in NC, but it just never happened, alas. So it's been a while since I've posted here. But finally I got back to Art Class tonight.

Christina had an interesting still life set up which was quite monochromatic, primarily shades of gray, black and white. Some of the students were doing it just with charcoal, but I'm just too much of a colorist to enjoy that, LOL.

So my challenge to myself was to try to achieve the muted tones of the actual setup, but without using a single white, gray or black pastel! So that's what I did here - no white, gray or black was actually harmed in the creation of this picture. :-)