Winter 2015 Pastel Class

PASTEL – Class Project “Safe Harbor” Week 1

Watercolor version of Safe Harbor

I am working on a colored Canson paper. Colored paper is an option and it can be any color but it is best to choose a neutral color such as white or gray or a predominant color that will be in your painting. Since there will be a lot of blue in my painting this is why I chose blue.

I transferred my design to my paper by going over the lines on the back of my design with white chalk then tracing over the lines of the design when I laid it on my paper. The lines are only a guide so you know where you are going, they are not chiseled in stone so if you have to go over them do not hesitate you can always go back and re-establish your design later.

Starting at the horizon, just above the water, I took a soft yellow and worked it on to my paper about a third of the way up the sky, going around some of the larger elements in my design such as the boat house and dock buildings but went over the masts and pipes on the back of the boat. I can put those back in when I am done with the background.

Next I took a reddish orange and starting just inside the top of the yellow and working up

about another third and down about half way into the yellow, I blended with the chalk.

Pressure is everything when you are blending or applying your pastels. If I want a good solid color I press harder, if I want a soft blend like the transition between the yellow and orange, the pressure is very light. I like to leave my chalk blends when I can as opposed to blending with my finger or a stump because it gives a more pastel look to the finished painting, sort of the pastel equivalent to a painters brush stroke, it is the artist’s choice and I also let the subject dictate how much or how little I blend. For now I am just blending with the chalk.

I did a similar thing with the next color which was a deep pink color, blending down into the orange only then up into the rest of the sky. The last color I used was a deep blue such as ultramarine, blending with the pink then going off the top. This gives you a nice transition between the yellow to the blue without creating any green or brown in your sky. I then LIGHTLY blended areas together with my finger being sure to use a clean finger between the different bands of color so I didn’t contaminate the yellow with the blue and visa versa.

I then took a light warm gray and suggested some clouds. This is also another way to blend your colors, just don’t overdo it, you only want a suggestion of clouds.

Finally I took a medium light, warm gray (it should be just a value or two darker than your sky) and right along the horizon I just a variety made shapes. This could be anything from

the rest of the harbor to distant hills or mountains to buildings to whatever you want but mainly it is just random shapes in all sizes to suggest that there is something back there, it doesn’t matter what, it just makes your painting more interesting.

I will continue basing in the water and the boat next time, see you then.