Fall Is Just Around the Corner

Pastel on PastelMat, approx. 12 X 16 in.

Fall is approaching fast here in the northern hemisphere. I'm sad to see summer go, but pretty soon we'll be able to see the fall colors. A photo from the Wet Canvas reference image library caught my eye a few weeks ago and I new I would be painting it sooner or later. The photo was taken in New England, but fall colors can be just as beautiful here in Minnesota

I Love Waterfalls

Pastel over watercolor underpainting on PastelMat, approx. 16 X 12 in.

Today's painting is another tropical waterfall. Who doesn't love them? My inspiration was a photo I took on my vacation in Hawaii.

As with Tuesday's painting, I painted a watercolor underpainting first, then finished with pastels. The surface is PastelMat, which grabs the pastels quite well, considering how velvety smooth it feels. I was able to put down quite a few layers of pastel, which is quite helpful when you are painting water. For Tuesday's painting I used Grafix Double Tack to adhere the PastelMat to acid free foam core, then did the underpainting. I noticed a slight amount of bowing due to the PastelMat swelling a bit from the water. So today I stapled the paper to an art board, painted the watercolor, then adhered it to the foam core after the watercolor dried. The staples left impressions in the paper, so I probably won't do that next time.

For what it's worth, here is the underpainting:

Tropical Paradise

Pastel on PastelMat, approx. 16 X 12 in.

My latest pastel painting -- a waterfall in the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. This is based on a photo I took while visiting my nephew Bryan when he was house-sitting on the Big Island. I tried for a looser approach in this painting. The view is from above the waterfall. This is the first time I have painted on PastelMat with the benefit of a watercolor underpainting.

Pastels Again, Work in Progress

Watercolor underpainting onPastelMat, approx. 16 X 12 in. 

No, this is not the finished painting. This is a watercolor underpainting on PastelMat, in preparation for a pastel painting. I like how the colors bleed on the PastelMat. My intent was to block in the major areas of the painting with colors that will be compatible with the finished painting. I am taking a big leap of faith posting this. I will post the finished painting, good or bad, when it is complete. In the mean time you can take your best guess as to the subject of the painting.

Pastel Paper -- So Many Choices!

The single smartest thing I did since starting to learn about pastels was buying the sample papers and boards from Dakota Pastels. Before buying the sampler I had not tried painting with coated/sanded surfaces. The sampler packs really opened my eyes to what is possible with pastels. I have been working my way through the samples and have found a number of surfaces I really like (and a few that I may never use again). Here is a sampling of the results:

Canson Mi Teintes Touch paper (black)

I had already tried the Touch board for the apple still life. The paper is the same surface without the rigid backing of the Mi Teintes Touch board. I really liked this surface. Not my most favorite, but I can imagine using it again.

PastelMat (yellow)

I loved PastelMat. In fact I loved it so much that I invested in a multi-sheet pad of PastelMat. I'm looking forward to trying some underpainting techniques on it.

Art Spectrum Suede (gray)

Sorry for the bad photo (I took it after it was framed)! Art Spectrum Suede is similar to PastelMat in texture. I had some problems with the lightest areas of the sky -- I had difficulty covering the gray paper with the yellow pastels. I ended up doing a lot of blending with my fingers in the sky (which I rarely do on the textured or sanded surfaces), and that helped to improve the coverage of the pastels.

Sennelier La Carte pastel card

This was a very quick "sketch" done on yellow La Carte. This is loosely based on a photo I took of palm trees in Hawaii. I just wanted to see how much layering of colors I could do. It responded quite well to multiple layers. One of these days I want to revisit this photo and make an effort to really do it justice. I liked La Carte and ordered a multi-colored pad. The one notable drawback to La Carte is that it does not tolerate water (although I have read that you can do Turpenoid underpaintings on it).

colored pencil on Velour

I had read horror stories about pastelists completing a painting on Velour then giving it a good rap or two to shake off loose pastel, only to lose most of the pastel to the dust bin. So I decided to do a colored pencil drawing on it. This was my first attempt with colored pencils and I am pretty happy with the results.

Richeson Gator Foam (gray)

The Richeson surface is coarser and eats up the pastels, but it does a great job of grabbing the pigment. I liked the rigid backing. Not my favorite surface, but I might try it again in the future.

UArt 500

UArt 500 does a great job of grabbing the pastels, and the grit is fine enough to allow more detailed work. This is a surface that I will probably use again in the future.

St. Armand Sabretooth (brown)

Sabretooth has a very noticeable texture that I do not like. After I did this painting I found some documentation from St. Armand that says you can sand some or all of the surface to smooth the texture.

Wallis Museum

I did this painting over a watercolor underpainting. The Wet Canvas Florals and Botanical forum's June "plant parade" challenge was to paint a peony in a loose style to give the impression of the flower (vs. more photo-realistic). If not for the challenge, I probably would have spent some time blending the colors in the peony petals. I may do that yet.