PASTEL 2015 FALL CLASS Project: Cool Refuge

I hope everybody was able to get their project transferred to their pastel paper. I want to remind you that I am working on sanded paper that I made myself, I wanted to color my paper but it is not necessary for you to be working on a colored background or a sanded paper, it is just one of those “artist’s preferences”, it is not a requirement.

Starting with the wall in the back I used a lemon yellow and a very light yellow for that back wall starting with the darker yellow first. My strokes were going in every direction, this is an old stucco wall so I don't want nice neat strokes, I want it to look messy because that creates texture I want, and here's where my colored paper comes in, because any places that I miss it will show through and have an overall warm tone. If you are working on white paper that white becomes highlights if you are working on gray paper the grey becomes shadows so it's not really that important it's just preference.

First I covered the area with the more colorful of the two yellows and then I took the lighter yellow and went over it loosely again. In theory there should be both colors visible but when you stand back they blend together visually to create the sun lit color of the wall. If you don't have a light yellow and you only have a medium to a medium light yellow for the first color you can use white to lighten it but be sure that you are leaving texture and chalk marks so that it looks like old stucco.

The wall behind the chair is probably the same color as the sunlit wall but because it is in shadow it is a cooler color so you will need to find a cooler more ochre yellow for this wall but not too dark you can blend colors to get this if you don't have an ochre color, use a darker yellow with a touch of Brown in it and put it on the wall. Negative paint around the chair it doesn't hurt the chair to go over it but painting around the chair you'll know where your lines are for the chair.

Once you have the first color down the other color or the blended ochre color, you want to find a light purple. You don't want it to light but you don't want it too dark either, somewhere in the middle value and then lightly go over that whole wall with this purple once you have done that then you can blend in.

I like old dirty nasty ugly things because they're very interesting to paint and one of the things I find interesting about this photograph is the mold growing on the wall behind the chair you don't have to put it in but if you do, you want to find dark, ugly green and to that you can add some purple and some orange and some blue and just kind of muck it all together. Remember to make it an irregular shape because it's something that's growing naturally, it won't have a nice even pattern and just have fun with it. This adds character to your painting.

On the sunlit wall where the door is you can use that same medium purple that you were using on the shadowed wall in the recess where the door is and also where the window is. Use the chalk itself to blend the colors this leaves bits and pieces of the colors that are being mixed and it gives a better pastel look to your painting. The red door was two different dark reds: a darker one and a richer, lighter one. The darker red goes at the top because it might be in shadow, the lighter one starts about a third of the way from the top of the door. If you only have one red use what you have and then use blue or a darker purple up at the top to make the red appear to be in shadows.

I used a Siena color to base in the window frames and the planter box underneath it. I used

a blue grey for the window panes I will be doing more this is just the underpainting for the window. I did a demo for the little pot that sits by the door, I used a dark brown, a sienna color and orange starting with the dark side, I did about a third of that in the dark, switched to the Sienna color mixing into part of that dark and towards the sunny side and I picked up the orange and blended into the Sienna color then to the outside edge.  You can take a little bit of yellow or white to create a highlight on the pot. I did a similar thing with plants in that pot but I use greens instead, so it was a dark blue green, a medium green, and a light green. For the flowers on the plant are used a bright orange red for the sunny side, a medium red for the transition into the shadows, and then the dark red I used on the doors for the flowers that are on the shadowed side.

I started to do the walkway back near the door where the sun is shining using a golden ochre color it should be a nice bright, warm, light orange color and the strokes need to be parallel to the top and bottom but slightly rounded on the top to give the look of stones or flagstones that our walkway is made of. I came almost to the edge of my paper with this color and I was aware that there is a shadow being cast from the wall onto the walkway. That transition shadow is a bit warmer and lighter than the shadows around the chair for that shadow color I used a soft brown as well as some soft blues and purples. I went into parts of the light part of the transition and shadow colors for the walkway because I want a soft uneven edge where that shadow is falling over the rough texture of the walkway. See the example of how shadows follow the surface of what they are falling on.

In the darker areas around the chair, I was using dark browns, blues, purples throwing in some greens and blended them together. This is just the underpainting this is are going to be the shadow parts dark parts between the rocks or flagstones it will all have some nice texture once done you are done. You might want to leave the area where the plants are growing underneath the chair so that they don't get muddied up and that is where I left off for the day try to get as far as you can keep painting and I will see you in class.

Pastel Project: TJs Bouquet Week 3

This week I started the finishing process to my painting I put in background color I detailed out flowers and leaves added more shadows added more detail so that it is virtually finished at this point.

Pastel is a rather frustrating subject to teach because there aren't any absolutes when it comes to color we are all limited by the colors that we have in our boxes so my best suggestion is to try to simulate the colors as best you can. For instance, in my background I used 5 different colors to create the background I had 3 very similar colors but different in value - light to dark - and then I used a blue and a dark purple to finish it off. You may only have 2 colors that are similar and one dark color so you are going to have to improvise for a lighter version you may have to use white or light cream color blended into it, then in the darker colors you may have to mix a dark blue with a dark brown or purple and if all else fails mix in a bit of black to deepen the color.

It is best if you test this on a separate piece of paper and not on what you're working on, you will be very upset with yourself if it doesn’t work the first time. Also learn to blend colors together using the chalk itself: put down one color and then near the edge of that color take your next color and blended into the first color you may have to go back with your finger and blend but you will get some very nice blends using this chalk on chalk technique.

Have your reference photo in front of you before you start, this is your guide.

In my background I had 3 teal colors: a light, medium, and a darker plus my dark blue and dark purple. Starting near the flowers with the lighter color, I colored in areas around my flowers and if I went over the fern or something else, I didn't worry about it, I can always put it back in later. I switched to the next darker color and starting just inside the outside edge of the first color, I started laying down the second color blending with the chalk as I laid the color in. I repeated that process with all of my colors until I got to the very darkest purple then I took my finger and blended from the lightest to the darkest occasionally wiping my finger off so that I wasn't dragging the colors too far into the next color but softening the blend so that it looks almost seamless.

I did a similar thing on the table starting with a lighter color, I used a very light lavender color, followed by a darker lavender/blue color, followed by an indigo blue and then a purple doing the same thing as I did above and then blending them lightly together with my finger.

I went back in and finished up details in my flowers and, once the background was done, I could go in and add ferns or fix any I smudged. I used light colors where they were against the dark so they stood out. I added in darks where I thought I needed them for contrast, looking at my photograph to help me find where I needed to add some dark. I also detailed some of the insides of those little flowers by adding little touches of dark around the center where you can see into the flowers, if you look at the photograph you will see little bits of dark between the petals of flowers. I also used reds to detail out the edges of those flowers. Lastly, I took a very light yellow and in places around the flowers and the leaves were I wanted to have a glow I added touches of this very light yellow.

 

Basically my painting is finished I will look at it for the next few days and see if there's anything else I need to add to it or would like to change but I could stop right here without too much trouble. You are going to need to get to the point where you feel that you are done, to finish your painting. Until then, keep painting and I will see you in class.

Pastel Project: TJ’s BouquetWeek 2

We got pretty far along last week with our underpainting now we're going to start doing some of the detail on our flowers and leaves.

You are going to have to look at your own pastels to see which colors will be a close approximation to the colors you need, it is unfortunate fact of life that in pastel I can't be any more specific about color but you will learn how to find these colors or blend to them with practice.

Use a medium dark yellow, you don't want a bright light yellow but more towards the orange side, to start shaping and filling in the petals of your sunflowers. Use this color in most instances but have your photo in front of you so that you are using for reference in front of you. The photo will tell you all the information you need to know about what colors go where, you want to look for places on flowers that have bright light areas those areas you will use your light or lightest yellows because this is where the sun is shining through the petals and creating that glow.

Also at the same time I am looking to see where the shadows and curves are on the pedals, for those areas I was using a reddish orange and a darker red for the shadows. The reds are for the darkest part of the shadows it's not like our traditional shadows where we use blues and purples because that won't quite work when we're dealing with yellow. Try blending the dark color with a lighter color using the lighter color with little pressure.

On the roses I needed to start creating that look of all the folded petals as they are unfolding from the outside in. You don't want to use white to create the lighter reds this will only make pink so instead you can use a light red if you have it or orange and tiny touches of white or pink to create the lighter edges of the rose. Be sure you are looking quite often to your photograph, please notice that all of the flowers look in several directions some look up, some look to the side, some aren't even looking at us at all and you have to keep that in mind as you are painting. Think ovals not circles.

For the darker colors in the roses you can use a darker red and/or a very dark blue to create those deep dark shadows that you see inside the rose and in between the petals of the roses. Make sure the as you are painting these roses that your strokes follow the natural growth of the petals, most of your strokes should go from the outside then you curve down towards the bottom of the rose where they attach to the stem, even if it's only a short stroke it needs to follow the natural growth of the petal.

I also started adding in more dark green into the leaves and using that darker green to shape some of my flowers and flower petals right now we are kind of filling in where we may have missed with our underpainting be sure to blend lightly from time to time and try to get as much of this done as possible and we will work on it next week.

Keep painting and I will see you in class.

Summer Pastel 2015

Pastel Project: TJ’s Bouquet Week 1

To begin the last class I did a demo to show how easy it is to create your own sanded paper using “Golden’s Acrylic Ground for Pastel”. I had prepared a piece of light gray mat board by first painting the back side of it with white gesso to seal it also to help it lay flat when dry. You can use any acrylic medium or varnish to seal the surfaces of your paper or board gesso is nice because it also has a bit of “tooth” to add. If you use gesso to seal both sides of your board you might want to lightly sand the side you will be applying the acrylic ground to get a smoother surface. You can add color to the gesso as you seal the board to get a colored background or paint a color using watercolor or acrylic to get a toned paper or board which is what I did to the board I was working on, I had black gesso I used to seal and tone it first then applied the ground.

When I applied the ground, I had thinned the acrylic ground with equal mix of water and ground and mixed well then applied it to the surface of my board. You can use it straight out of the jar but if you dilute it first you can get the kind of texture you want to work on. Let it dry and if needed add another layer of ground.

You can use this process on almost any surface you want to do a pastel on though I do suggest that you use heavier paper like watercolor paper or Bristol Board, it can go on Masonite, wood panels, mat board, foam core, the choice is yours you just need to find what surface you want to work on and experiment with it.

To start the project I showed how to transfer a design on to my board by chalking the back of my design then tracing over the line once I’d placed it on my board. You can also draw directly on your board using a color such as a light blue or lavender or gray that will not interfere with the other colors you will be applying.

Once I had my design on I started filling in the basic shapes with color starting with the basket. I looked in my colors for a soft warm gray for the base color for my basket, I also looked to see if I had a darker version of it and a lighter one but if you don’t have other versions of colors find a warm white like a soft yellow or orange for the light color and use a lavender or blue with the base color for the darker color, then base in the basket starting in the middle with the warm gray and work to your left adding and blending in touches of the lavender or blue and to the right adding in the warm white color. Use the base color with the warm white for the handle of the basket. I did a bit of detail on the basket using a sienna color for the rusted paint and a very dark brown for the deeper rusted metal.

You should have your photo in front of you as you paint so you know where you are going and what you need to do next, I am constantly looking at my photo as I paint no matter what medium I am painting in my reference material is where I can see it.

The yellow flowers I based in with a medium yellow, not my lightest yellow. The centers of the sunflowers were a dark brown with a little sienna in the centers. My roses were 2 different reds one a bit brighter the other a bit darker and cooler like a dark crimson, the leaves had 4 different greens from a very light almost yellow (you can use yellow for the very lightest green if you need to) to a medium light green to a mid-value green to a dark green for shadowed leaves. I am just placing color at this point not doing detail not worrying about anything other than the overall design. If I need to make changes at this point I can no problem or I can start getting more detailed if I don’t see anything I need to change. I am far from finished at this point so don’t panic if you are still figuring it out.

Last but not least, I wanted to separate the basket from the dark background because when

I added the dark brown to my basket it was hard to see. If you look at the photo you will see that there is a bit of light shining on the counter, it is not a bright light but it does help separate the sides of the basket from the dark background please note the shape of the light there are angles to it because the basket is blocking some of the light casting a shadow on the counter. I used a soft lavender blue for this light area and I made go back later and add more “light” but this will do for now.

Try to get you painting as close to this as possible and I will see you all in our next class.

Pastel Garden Fantasy Update

Last week I considered my pastel finished but after I looked at it for a while I realized I had some areas I wanted to rework I didn't like the right side of my stream it looked a little too unfinished so I added in some plants coming in of the page I worked a little bit on the water I went back in an added some lighter areas around my trees. I added some ground cover in between more of my rocks so did it look a little more natural and just touched up a few areas that I didn't think either had enough color or were not bright enough. It is okay to go back in re-work the painting if you not satisfied with it, just be sure to have a plan when you do because if you go in trying to find something that doesn't need to be fixed you're only going to ruin it. However, I saw areas I thought we're lacking and I had to re-work those parts of my painting rather than destroy what I already was satisfied with.

Another thing I did is I have color that was close to the color of my paper and I went in around the edges of my painting with that color and just blended colors of the things that were there with this paper color and then vignette it out into the color of the paper to give it a more ethereal look and that was it this time I think it really is done. So have something new to paint in class and I will help you get started keep painting and I will see you next time.

Pastel Garden Fantasy Week 3

I have sprayed my painting at least twice with workable fixative to this point. I have everything

under painted so now I'm going to start the finishing process. What that means is that I am going to come in and make things darker for the shadows more intense in color more defined I want this to pop.

You must have the photos of the pagoda and the stream from the Botanic Gardens so that you can see where you are going I use these reference photos just as a matter of course I would not know where to go if I didn't have them where I could see them, they don't help you if they're at home or in your bag. You need to see where the shadows are; you need to see the changes in color; you need to see the changes in shapes. This is why we have reference photos.

Most of the time at this point in my painting I try to blend with the chalks and not my fingers or a

stump because this leaves chalk marks that gives pastels their unique look. However, if I need to I will break out my stump or use my finger to blend I also have what's called color shaper and that works really well getting into smaller areas for blending.

When I am working in shadow areas I want to make sure that I am using the darkest colors. I have I have an indigo color I also have some very dark browns and greens and I will often use the Indigo color with these other dark colors to create darker versions of the other colors. This is so that I avoid using black unless I have absolutely no choice. Black will dull your colors and make shadows look rather harsh so try to use the dark versions of the color and add dark blue instead of black.

I do occasionally use a purple in my dark colors but I find that in pastel purples tend to be more of a reddish purple and I don't like the results I get. Its probably just the colors I have but I don't like the way they mix with my other colors so I prefer to use my dark indigo blue.

I will probably finish my painting in the next class so try to get your painting as far along as you can if you have questions let me know but keep painting and I will see you in class.

Spring 2015 Pastel Week 3

Pastel Garden Fantasy week 2

I wanted to be sure that I had my underpainting well established in my pastel before spraying. I added more colors into the side areas that suggests trees. In the red tree I added some orange as highlight to suggest the tops of branches and I added the suggestion of another green tree in front of it. I made sure I had all of my pine tree and the background behind it established and then I started in with some lighter colors to start the highlighting process. Once I had all of that done then I sprayed my painting.

When the spray had dried I started working on the pagoda. I used warm shades of gray, some lavender and a soft ochre color. The pagoda and the rock it sits on are very warm in tone so I wanted to be sure that the colors I used were very warm yet on the grey side.

In the stream I used some of my cooler (blue) greens to under paint the water. I will go back and add other blues and greens later, this was just the under painting.

I also found color in my pastels that was similar to the color of my paper and in some areas along the outside edges I blended this into those colors that were there and smeared them together so they fade out into the margins better.

I also under painted the pine tree's trunk and branches with a darker warm grey it wasn't a dark grey more like a medium dark grey so that I can come back in with darker colors to suggest bark and texture on the tree. I have not sprayed my painting again I still need to do some work before I will spray my painting again and this is where I left off.

Try to get your paintings to this point in class so we can continue. Be sure to have your reference photos where you can see them and refer to them often. Keep painting and I will see you in class.