Winter 2018 Pastel Class Week 1

Class Project: Desert Oasis Week 1

I really hadn't planned to get started on the project the first week since I usually have at least a couple new students to go over supplies with but my new students didn't show up and I decided to go ahead and start.

I am working on a sheet of sanded black paper that I am reclaiming. It was a sheet of paper that had a painting started on it when the previous owner passed away and I inherited it. Rather than throw away a sheet of sanded paper, I took a stiff brush and dusted off as much of the pastel that was on the paper as I could, it didn't all come off but most of it did and doesn't seem to bother what I am putting over top of it. Good thing to know.

The paper got scratched in transit so I just made the area I will be working in smaller (12 x 16) by using masking tape as a boarder but I left the other part of the paper attached so I could test the chalks before applying them. It is always a good idea to have a piece of similar  colored paper handy to test colors, it will save you time n the long run.

I have not created a template for this painting, I just sketched the design on my paper free hand with a light blue pastel. The blue won't cause problems as I paint and the light color on the black paper lets me see my design so I know where I'm going.

Here you can see the lines from the sketch as well as how far I got in class.

The sky was first. Starting at the bottom and working my way up, I used 3 different colors of blue: A light blue violet, a middle value blue, then finally a middle dark value blue. I can only give general colors and values because everyone's colors are different.

I waited to blend my colors until I had all 3 blues applied. I usually start in the light color first then work my way into the darker colors. I usually blend large areas with my fingers moving them in not only a circular motion but also up and down as I mix the different values together to create a smooth transition between the values.

The mountain in the background posed a bit of a problem because there is a mix of dirt, rocks, cliffs, bushes along with shadow areas.

I was playing around with colors until I got something I thought was close to the dirt color a mix of a medium gray/brown, lavender and a medium grey then blending them together. In the shadow areas I have an indigo blue that I worked into that previous mix.

I saved most of the larger areas that had cliffs or large outcroppings of rocks so I could get a purer color and used several different colors. There were 2 or 3 light warm tans and a couple of lighter grays to make the rocks and cliffs. Please note that these are just quick shapes with the chalk - dashes and dots if you will - I did not do much if any blending of these areas so they kept their rugged good looks. Follow the direction of the rocks so you don't just make vertical or horizontal strokes, some go at angles, some are wide some are small some are broken...The more shapes and angles you have the more natural it will look.

Once I had the distant mountain more or less the way I want - at least for now - I started putting in the closer rocks and boulders. The bright areas are my lightest and warmest tans and some light gray, the shadows that I just got started on have indigo, a dark brown and the medium light blue/violet I used in the sky. All shadows need blues and violets to make them look natural.

These are just roughed in at this point, I won't do any finishing until I get the rest of the rocks and water also roughed in and this is where I stopped for the day.

If you are going to be working on the project and weren't in class or not prepared to work don't worry, I will catch you up in the next class. So keep painting and I will see you in class.