Pastel Painting, Cola in Blue - Sketches and Flower, tree photos

This morning I finished this soft pastel painting, Cola in Blue, 5 x 7 inches on Colourfix sanded paper mounted on illustration board. It will be in a wooden frame, navy blue with gold trim. I will try to remember to take a photo. Colourfix is made by Art Spectrum. (an Australian company) This sanded paper is very popular with pastelists and comes in 16 colors. It is very durable, you can use underpainting with water or acrylics. It holds many layers of pastels which is very desirable. Sometimes I call it just Art Spectrum, I use both names to confuse you, I suppose. (See if you are on your toes.) I use a variety of pastel brands. The color is most important. I usually start with harder pastels, like Nupastel and finish with something very soft like Ludwig. I also use a hard pastel to blend sometimes. The glass is one of my favorites and Diet Caffeine Free Coke is my drink. I usually just use a coozie/koozy (sp?), but do enjoy it over ice as well. The glass is about 35 years old, really! Susan and Regina think I should do a series. Regina suggested this a while back when we were practicing at her house and I painted a coke and chips. So if this comes to be, it will be the "Regina Burchett Memorial Junk Food Series". There you are then. (When you get to looking at all the wonderful pastels and paper, don't forget to come back. **Warning: Pastels are addictive.)

This painting is to put up in my show at Daddy's Grille. You can stop by there and buy a raffle ticket and eat a bite. This one is not a raffle prize, you can purchase it there or send me an e-mail. It will soon have a "Buy now" button on my web page to pay through your Paypal account or with a credit card. If you buy it at Daddy's, tax is included and no shipping. A bargain, right?



These sketches are for the Scavenger Hunt on wetcanvas.com. #4 Something you wear, my shoe #5 Something you drink, wine #6 Something you eat, Kisses, Candy Cane flavor and #7 Something wooden, a pencil. Done with a Micron 05 pen in my generic sketchbook. About 45 minutes, total. I don't erase, so covered some of the ellipses on the wine glass with white out and tried to give it a little shine. Ha. I could have used watercolor or acrylic paint for that. Hmmm. Next time. These are not my best effort, but I am sketching and that is the plan. This Hunt runs until April 2. Some of the sketchers have nearly finished the twenty-six items. I just try to sketch and have not completed a Hunt yet. Whew.



This was a full day. We golfed nine holes, well, walked nine holes and hit the ball around. It was a pretty day. These photos are from yesterday, Tuesday. (This will be Thursday by the time I post, it is almost midnight. But, this is my Wednesday post.)
Wine Cups and little Star Flowers, I think. The wine cup is about 1 1/2 inches across so the white ones are very tiny. So pretty.


The primrose is the first one I have seen this season up close, they are so delicate.


The tree and puddle look so luscious.


If anyone would like a copy of a photo (for a reference photo) in larger format, just send me an e-mail, jo@jocastilloart.com