Spring Tree in Pink Study

I completed this study after getting the new Ludwig Vibrant and Maggie Price Essential Grays pastel sets and find that those vibrant pinks take some getting used to. I’m learning to like the colours but they are so different than the softer earthy tones that I usually use, but I wanted to liven up my pastel palette a bit and this set certainly does the trick. The Essential Grays is a very nice too although those lightest colours still aren’t light enough for me; however, it is an endlessly useful set.

Spring Tree in Pink Sudy, Pastel of Uart Paper

The painting itself is composed mostly from a few colours from the Essential Grays, Vibrants and Plen Air set. I wanted to capture the mighty size of this tree which can be difficult in such a small space but I hope that I managed to capture the majesty and some of the beauty. I don’t know what kind of tree this is although it might be a crabapple; however, the beautiful pink and burgundy colours attracted my eye.

My new sets of Terry Ludwig Vibrants and Essential Grays

Sentinel’s Blue Haze, Update

 I decided that this painting needed some improvement since it was very unbalanced due to having so many trees in the darker values on one side so it seems to work better with another smaller tree on the left side as well. I also took the picture using the flash and it turned out much cooler which worked nicely for the blues in the sky and distant land mass and unfortunately not so good at picking up on the warm values in the shrubbery.

Sentinel’s Blue Haze, Pastel on Wallis Paper, 12×18”

Himalayan Blue Poppies (Meconopsis grandis)

The Himalayan Blue Poppy is one of those plants that every gardener wants to try however; it is also one of those things that is oh so easy to kill. I’ve tried to grow three different plants and even tried to start them from seed, and I still don’t have a single surviving plant in my garden even though they are supposed to be hardy here. Guess I’ll have to settle for a pastel painting of this stunning blue poppy. I used a reference image from the free reference image library on Wet Canvas. For some reason the picture is a little dark and flat looking, so some of the flowers and foliage don’t come across as well as they are in reality but the blue color is fairly accurate.

Himalayan Blue Poppies, Pastel on Paper, 9×12″

Oregon’s Silverfalls Study

There is something very beautiful about waterfalls that does make painting a few a must for most landscape painters. I’ve been researching the most notable waterfalls around the world and came across Silver Falls in Oregon, US and knew that I just had to paint this one. Hopefully research will yield more lovely pictures of this area, regardless, I will be returning to this subject. This particular waterfall is the Lower South Falls so one of my next waterfall subject will be the North Falls. I used Girault’s, Unison’s and Ludwig pastels on Uart paper.

Oregon’s Silverfalls Study, Soft Pastel on Uart Paper, 9×12″

Sentinel’s Blue Haze

That camera won’t pick up on the pale blue color so well that dominates the landscape beyond the outcrop where the viewer is standing overlooking the valley below. Wish we had landscapes around here in Southern Ontario; it is so beautiful and rugged at the same time. This is another scene painted from one of Johannes Vloothuis’ picture download and I’m fairly happy with the outcome. Not sure that I like the row of shrubbery around the edge of the rock face but it helps divide foreground from the landscape below. Still, I might brush them out in the future. What do you think?

Sentinel’s Blue Haze, Pastel on Wallis Paper, 12×18″

I used a few colors from the Girault Warm & Cool Set which arrived just after I nicely got the darker tones down in the trees and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to mix the Girault’s with the softer Unison and Ludwig pastels. The three seem to work well together. I think the Girault’s might be more suited to floral work since they are very small and harder than the others and yet they  have a softness about them that makes them friendly with the softies. They also get along nicely with the Wallis paper, which is an excellent development since this is my favorite surface.

Autumn Gold

I thought that it was time to paint a landscape featuring the Cottonwoods or the like as seen in works by masers such as Clyde Aspevig and Scott Christensen. Not that I can come anywhere close to their talent but I’m pleased enough with this one too call it my favorite of the year so far. Funny how I end up painting an autumn scene in the spring, but go figure, I never did make sense. I’ll get back to spring/summer theme when the mood strikes me, which will probably happen soon considering all the cool, overcast spring weather we’ve been getting in this part of the world.

I used the usual Unsion and Ludwig pastels on Wallis Pro White paper, based on a reference photo from Johannes Vloothuis picture download. I didn’t have to change the picture much other than suggest the distant hills a little more, edit out those dragon’s teeth evergreen trees and modify the tree to the right so it would be one large plant instead of two. Simplify where ever you can.

Autumn Gold, Pastel on Wallis, 12×18″

The reference Photo:

Wetlands Study

Living near the Grand River has given me an appreciation of the beauty and serenity of the wetlands and all the wonderful species that rely on the wetlands. The reference picture could be anywhere but it reminded me of this area and I loved the evergreen trees since they have so much character. I was growing tired of dominantly blue skies, so I painted this one mainly a pretty shimmery pink which didn’t translate through the camera so well, neither did the trees. Cameras and artwork just don’t always cooperate with each other so well. This was meant to be a quick study using a new surface that I created from Colorfix primer on Canson Board, and have to say that I’m very happy that the container is now gone and only three more Colorfix surfaces left to deal with before I can say a final ‘so long’ to this surface. I’ll be very happy to return to Wallis and Uart for my pastel surfaces. I used my usual Unison and Ludwig combination of pastels.

Wetlands Study, Pastel on Board, 9×12″

The Mighty Waterfall

I seemed to have waterfalls on the mind lately and decided to do a little picture research and discovered the majestic Lauterbrunnen Falls in Switzerland and just knew that I had to give it a go. I haven’t actually painted a waterfall in many years or at least not a representational interpretation of one. I decided to revert to a moody downplayed ‘winter’ palette or neutral colors and hope that the composition is strong enough to hold its own; therefore, this piece is more of a value study. I also find rocks and rocks faces to be very challenging since there isn’t a lot of opportunity to create separate forms so I had to rely on texture and value changes to create an interesting surface. Overall I hope it was successful. Water isn’t scary in of itself unless it’s in the form of a multi-tiered falls…I modified it so many times…oh enough said there. Sometime is best to just leave things alone even if they don’t look ‘finished’.

The Mighty Waterfall, Pastel on Wallis Paper, 12x18"

I used my usual Unison and Ludwig sets of pastels; I’m thinking it’s time for some fresh sticks. Another Ludwig set, perhaps the Vibrants…those pan Pastels that Johannes Vloothuis speaks so fondly of have also captured my interest. But first maybe those Giraults are calling my name. You know that your artistically stumped when new materials are calling.

Etsy Listing

Spring Serviceberry Study

Spring Serviceberry, Soft Pastel on Uart/Canson Board 9x12”

With spring just beginning to emerge here in Southern Ontario, I thought that it would be a great idea to do a study of a sparkling white Serviceberry tree which is a native tree or shrub in this area. There are several beautiful trees growing nearby and a few of the shrub form including one that grows on the north side of my house. The juicy red-black berries are just adored by the local bird population including my favorite pair of cardinals. It’s always a treat to look out the living room window see them sitting in the shrub devouring the berries as fast as they can before the bossy robin shows up to spoil their fun.

I found a beautiful picture online somewhere, probably Flickr, of a large specimen and decided to try a study despite the fact composition of the picture was less than impressive, hence the reason for this only qualifying as a study, that and it’s pretty small. I tried to use as many of the soft warm pink, violet and blue tones to make the white flowers stand out as much as possible without creating too much contrast. Once again this is Ludwig’s and Unison’s on Uart paper mounted on Canson Board.

Early Spring Morn

It was time to paint a larger pastel landscape, in fact it’s probably the largest that I’ve done to date. With spring just around the corner it seemed time to create a pastel landscape based on my river/trees theme and I wanted to feature both deciduous and coniferous trees. The cooler pinks, violets, yellows and greens seem to be the best choice for a softer spring color selection. I also used low key values since the sun is just thinking of peeking over the trees on a cool overcast spring morning.

Early Spring Morn, Pastel on Wallis Sanded Paper, 18×24″

This is the original picture; I decided that there was just too much water in the foreground and the composition was just too symmetrical so I cropped it:

Original Reference Photo

I used Wallis Belgium Mist which certainly does take many layers of color providing a chance to create a rich and textured tapestry of color, something only the Belgium Mist will allow. I hope Kitty Wallis will continue to make this paper for years to come.

The original reference picture came from a collection of high quality photo’s that I downloaded from Johannes Vloothuis for a minimal fee of $20. He has over 700 pictures of various landscape scenes and buildings including scenes from Mexico and Cape Cod. Worth checking out especially if you’re as bad at finding pictures with a descent composition to work from as I am: http://www.improvemypaintings.com/Reference%20Photos.html