SUMMER 2016 PASTEL CLASS Project: Working the Steps Week 3

Last week I got most of my underpainting done this week I worked on detail looking at my photograph and my watercolor I looked for the cracks and the structure of the rocks and cliffs as well as the colors.

I have several colors I love to use when I'm working in shadows one is an indigo blue the others are several shades of soft lavenders ranging from a dark lavender to a lighter lavender. When you are working in shadows you must use blues and purples because shadows are cool and the blues and purples are your natural shadow colors learning to add these to your shadows will create some very interesting and realistic shadows in your paintings.

I also worked on my water I created some small waves coming in by using a darker color for the front of the wave and a lighter color for the top and back side of the wave. For the foam I used my light lavender to create the underpainting for the foam so that when I put white on the tops it would show. Be careful when you are doing the foam on the front parts of the wave they need to change direction they go from flat water to a curve of the wave this will give your wave structure.

In the dark rocks that are in the water I used my Indigo and some gray and some darker Browns to create the idea of shapes in those dark areas I also did this on the backside of the peak and in other places where I had some very dark areas that creates a little sense of light and structure to those dark crevices and holes that are part of the cliff.

I used a golden ochre color for the sand that is eroded in the front corner as well as some darker colors and my indigo's for the shadows I suggested the little rocks at the base using various shades of grey, also some lavenders and blues. These are just marks they are not individual rocks they have highlights they have shadows but all they are is  just smudges; just lines and dashes and shapes... I lightly blended them with my finger when I was done because I wanted them to be there but not draw attention away from the cliffs.

I only used a little bit of white were I absolutely needed it on those dark rocks along the bottom of the cliffs and the wet rocks near the water. The other highlights were soft greys and blues for the water and rocks and light ochers and some lavenders for some of the cliff rock highlights.

I believe I am done with this painting so I will be letting you either finish up your class project or you can start working on your own painting and I will come around and help as needed as well as demos where needed as well. I do suggest that you try to work the steps by doing sketches and value studies before you work on your final project because it really does help you understand the subject better when color isn’t involved.

Keep painting and I will see you in class.