Spring 2017 Pastel Class

Farmer's Market: Week 1

I am working on a sanded piece of mat board that I made myself. I toned it in a charcoal gray.

I had to freehand the drawing for this painting because I left my template at home. This was probably better because I did leave out a lot of detail focusing on the major subjects. Detail can come later if I want.

Next, I did a tonal under painting using using just my black, white and grays to base in changes of color and changes of value, then to set my sketch and values I took Isopropyl alcohol and a soft watercolor brush and went over all of the chalked areas rinsing my brush between values.

At this point I am not worried about detail, I am thinking of shape and value. If I don't like what I have, I can change it using a stiff bristle brush to dust off the chalk.

Be very aware of the perspective in this painting it is very important to show depth.








Whether it is in the under painting or when I am doing finishing touches, I am very aware of the shape of the object I am trying to paint. If it is a round object, I add my chalk onto the surface in a circular motion as I did with the fruit. The under painting of the pineapple reflects the spiky nature of the top of the fruit. The boards of the table holding the fruit are long and angled, so are my strokes.

 When I started putting color on my board, I still was not looking to create a finished product, I was more interested in finding the right color, value of the color and basic shape of the area, again using a circular motion to lay in the color and lightly blending in a circular motion as well.

I did mix colors like I did here with the oranges using a medium yellow and a soft orange, always thinking of the shape of what I am painting as I add my color.

The background behind the worker is very suggestive, I did not spend a lot of time worrying about exact shapes or detail it is just there to show a place.

The under painting for the worker at this point is just light and dark - the shadows on his face and arms. I used a soft golden color for the highlights of his shirt and a soft lavender for the shadows,

Having the alcohol wash under painting helps keep my sketch in place as I work around my painting. While it will brush off with enough effort, it holds up well to casual touching that you do as you paint.

This is as far as I got during class, I will continue from here in our next class.