Winter 2016 Pastel Class

Winter 2016 Pastel Project: Week 5 Cozy Cottage

In the last class I really didn't do much more that go over my painting to see where I could add contrast or a bit of detail here and there just as each of you should finish your own projects to suit you. If it feels done then let it sit for a few days without looking at it then look at it again with fresh eyes, if something jumps out at you then fix it, otherwise call it done.

Below are a few things I worked on to make my painting seem finished to me. If you have finished with your project you will need to find something to work on for the rest of the semester and I will help you get started.

This was the previous week

This was last week, I brightened highlights and darkened shadows
as well as added some suggestions of detail

I added some warmer more golden grasses but only where I thought
they might be in the sunlight.

Previous week. I couldn't see the separation between the
foreground and the background.

I added some shadows behind the front post and snowcap
to shape and define it better.

WINTER 2016 PASTEL CLASS Project : Cozy Cottage Week 4

This week I pretty much finished our project I may come in in do some more detail work but for the most part I think it is finished so I hope that you have gotten your paintings to this point.

The first thing I wanted to do was to lightly draw in where I wanted my branches to be coming in from on the left hand side of the painting. From there, I could tell where I was going to put snow and leaves and the branches. To draw them in I used a light lavender color that could easily blend in with anything that I was using just in case I put a branch where I didn't really want it,  remember that when you are having to draw things, using a color that will blend in is a lot easier than trying to erase a dark color.

Once I knew where I wanted my branches I used a medium grey brown and lightly sketched in my branches this is not to say that these are all going to show but it helps me put my snow and leaves on.

Next I wanted to base in the shadow color of the snow on my bush, remember this side of the bush is in shadow so there will be no white in the snow only cool colors. I used a medium blue color for the snow and making rounded shape with my chalk, I created clumps of snow along where I had the branches. I didn't make a long, even shapes I made clumps of color just like snow clumps onto a bush or tree, you can combine some of these clumps you can skip over places, just look at the reference photo of the holly bush to see how snow clumps on a bush.

Once I was happy with my branches and my snow I took my dark green color and I started making leaf shapes. Most of the leaves will show underneath the clumps of snow but some of these leaves will pop out the top and sides of the snow which was one of the reasons why I wanted to put my snow in first so that I could pull leaves out of the snow as I was going. I also came back in later, after I had put my dark green leaves in, with my indigo color which is a very dark blue and added some even darker places mostly up near the corner or right underneath clumps of snow but not too far out to the end this just creates a bit more shadow and dimensions in the tree on the side.

To finish off the bush I took a dark red color for the berries - it should be on the maroon side or purple side - because all of these berries are in the shadows, they will not be a bright flaming red more of a cool red, and I just place them mostly underneath the clumps of snow in between and around the leaves.

I also came back in with some darker shadow colors across the bottom foreground of my snow, I wanted this to be in shadow it helps focus the eye back to the cottage. I blended this and being mindful of where I was, whether it was in the ruts or on top (remember shape of your strokes). I added a few highlights to parts where I thought there might be some scattered light and I went back through and added the brightest lights that I could to the foreground like on the fence and on the tops of some of the clumps of bushes along the road and in the roadway. With that done I came back in with a golden brown color and a darker brown color and added some weeds along the sides by the fence and under the bush and also in the roadway. To some of the weeds I added touches of white like frost or snow and also some highlights at the base to settle them into the snow.

This is basically my painting. I think I will go back in and make some more adjustments and put in some more detail next week but I could just stop right here if I want to so if your painting is to a point where you want to stop and call it done, then you will need to find something to paint this these last few weeks so keep painting and I will see you in class.

Winter 2016 Pastel Class

Winter 2016 Pastel Class : Cozy Cottage Week 3

This week I started getting into some of the finishing details of this painting. I started adding highlights in some of the snow, I filled in some of the fences and added some of the bushes in along with front road, also, highlights on the house and snow in the trees so I hope that you have gotten your paintings up to this point and we will continue on.

I added snow to the pine trees behind the house using a soft very light blue gray if you don't have any really light colors like a soft grey or a soft blue or lavender you'll have to use your white you can take your stumpy or if you have a color shaper and blend the white into the color of the trees which will soften the white and make it look not so white.

When I put my color on the trees I wanted to make sure that it looked like snow sitting in my trees, not just little clumps of color, think about what you're doing and what it is you're putting down, create smaller shapes as well as bigger shapes but they have to follow what would be the limbs of the pine tree if you need to see what snow covered pine trees look like you can google it and come up with a lot of examples.

Remember I am working on sandpaper so my paper can take a lot of color before I need to do anything to it I did find that it didn't want to take some of the lighter colors on the roof because I had too many layers on already but rather than spraying my paper I chose to remove some of the chalk using a stiff bristle brush and just dusting it off. You can spray sandpaper but remember every time you spray your painting it loses some of the color that you just put down which is why I chose to dust it off.

Mostly I was using my soft light blues and lavenders for highlights but along the top of my house I was using white. I wanted it white to draw attention to the house, I may need to put on more in my final detailing to get it as bright as I want it. I also used the soft blues and purples to create highlights on the drifted snow around the base of the house on the back wood pile or windbreak whatever that is and also for highlights on the road in the background around the pond area that might be getting some sunlight and in the area is right in the same plane or level of the house as I came forward I used my white instead so there's white on parts of the road and white on top of the snow on the fence in the front and on some of the plants around the road.

I also used the white for the smoke coming out of the chimney. I put most of it down next to the chimney and then blended it up into the sky so it looks like it's disappearing.

On the pond I put some chunks of snow or ice that are floating or sitting on top of the water with a little bit of a blue and then highlighted them with the white I also took my indigo color and right around the shoreline and right underneath some of these chunks I put a very thin line of this darker color and then blended it with my color shaper so that it’s just barely there, this gives separation from the shore and clumps of ice with the water and makes it look more three dimensional.

I suggested some of the bushes under the clumps by the road using a dark grey green - the same color I used for the pine trees in the back - by just making some odd shapes, they don't have to be anything else they are covered in snow so you can't see any leaves or any other details at this point you can do some later but I don't think I will.

I also came in and put in the fence post with a dark brown in front and a bit lighter brown in the background.

Lastly I worked on more detail and texture in the snow I'm not going to bring the sunlight all the way to the front that will be in shadow but I did have some Sun on my road just past the end of the fence in the road, I will make some of that middle ground lighter next week because, like it or not, we're going to have to start on the holly bush that comes in from the left hand side. Please try to get as much of this done to this point as you can and keep painting, I will see you in class.

Winter 2016 Pastel Class

Winter 2016 Pastel Class: Cozy Cottage Week 2

In our last class we got started on the underpainting for most of the snow in the background, along with distant trees and under painting the cottage, this week we continued to get under color for the rest of the painting and working on the reflection.

The first thing I did was I took a cream colored chalk - it's not quite white but it will look white in the distance - and I went over some of the area behind the house in a sketchy way. You don't want to cover up all the softer purples and blues that you have there you're just adding a little bit of a lighter color then gently blend in, we need to do this before the next step.

Next, I put the two bare, deciduous trees that are alongside the cottage into my painting. I used a very grey, medium brown for the base color of the tree and then I took my indigo, which is a dark blue grey, and put in the shadows side. You might want practice this first drawing the trees and the branches if you have hard pastels they may work better or if you have pastel pencils you can use that but practice before you get on your painting, remember: it's not a nice carved statue it is a natural tree and the branches go in all directions.

The reflection in the water takes a bit more explaining than adding the base to the snow. First off, a reflection that you see in the water is not like a mirror reflection: It is reflecting what it can see that is above it so only parts of the house may show up in the water but none of the pine trees that are behind it. To determine what is going to show in your reflections either by measuring with your fingers or by using the handle of a brush or pencil put the end of the handle at one point on the cabin’s roof like the chimney and then mark the bottom of the house with your fingers then move the top end of your brush down to the bottom of your house and see where your fingers touch in the water area, that will be where the top of your chimney will show in the water. The pine trees are on a different plane in your painting then the house, the bottoms of the pine trees are probably, if we could see them, about midway up the house if you've made your tree is very tall use that same way to measure but make sure that you stop the bottom of the tree about midway of the house and then move your handle down to midway of the house and see if the top of the tree is going to show over the top of the roof, probably not but if it does you can put it in.

You may want to put a general shape in the water area where the house is going to be it doesn't need to be exact this is frozen water it's going to distort the image above it so don't worry about putting an exact replication in your water it will look a lot more natural if you don't.

You want to use similar colors that you used for your house and in your sky in your reflection but instead of trying to do an accurate drawing just pull those colors straight down very vertical to the sides of your painting to create a general shape of the house. Also pull the colors of the sky straight down they can even blend a little bit with the house because of the distortion from the ice. Once you have gotten your colors in gently blend again very lightly, pulling straight down with your fingers or a stumpy. Lightly blend the sky and the roofline of your house together so there are no hard edges we can come back in later if we need to, to brighten colors but remember anytime you have a reflection it is going to be a little bit darker than the thing it is reflecting because it is polarized light.

Next, you need to base in the rest of the snow shadows in the road, around the house, over the bushes and the fences and you're going to need the lightest blues and the lightest purples that you have. I have some very light soft blues and lavenders but if you don't have those you will need to use white. You can start with white and add in little bits of the blues and the purples and then blend them together to create very soft pastel colors or you can put the color down the blue or the purple just a little bit just not too heavy, blend them together it get softer colors. If you have some soft grey colors you can also use those as well look, at the picture and note where you see the shadows such as around the house, behind the house, in the road the ruts, on the road are shadows… Be aware there is also the shape going on: There they are long flat shapes around the house and road; also there are “U” shapes in the ruts of the road as well as lumps and bumps along the sides of the road. Your strokes need to follow the shape of what you are trying to paint, the more and varied strokes you have the better your painting will look.

I had a basic watercolor sketch on my mat board to follow and for the most part I am following it but if I need to make changes I do so don't feel if you have put a drawing down or a water color sketch down that you have to follow it exactly you do not, if you need to make adjustments go right ahead and make adjustments but try to get as much of the shadows for the snow in we will be working on some of the detail next week and this needs to be done so keep painting and I will see you in class.