Spring 2019 Pastel Class

Pastel Project: Pink Umbrella Week 3

This last class I was working my way down my painting trying to finish what was above so I didn't mess up what was below where I was working. 

I added the suggestion of rocks and dirt a few lighter highlights to the bushes but I kept things as muted as I could because this is in the distance and I needed it to look like it was far away using an indigo but smudging it with my color shaper to soften the color. No real dark shadows, no bright highlights all the while suggesting light and shadow to show contours. A balancing act to be sure.

On the middle ridge I added brighter colors and more of a suggestion of rocks and bushes. The shadows were a bit darker - I was using an indigo color and lightly touching it with my color shaper to soften the color - and a soft blue green for shadows under the bushes.

I strengthened the color of the poppies with a Indian yellow for lighter areas and a red orange for shadowed areas. The yellow for the mustard was a bright yellow green, not a true yellow.

I want you to notice something in this image: notice how now that you can see the darker foreground against the middle ridge, that middle ridge has been pushed back visually because I kept the colors softer and grayer and less detail.

Now that I was working in the foreground my colors become darker and more colorful. I started by adding paths and patches of dirt then doing a darker under painting for the bushes. I have not done anything to the lady yet but notice how she stands out against the middle ground because I have enough value and intensity of color behind her.

When you are painting the bushes, be sure to add variety of size and shape, have them over lap plants behind them and don't line them up like someone has planted them there you want to break up the dirt and paths so you don't have stripes going across your paper. 

I just got started on the foreground in class so I have some more work to do but I may finish this in our next class.

Keep painting and I will see you in class.