Today I worked on a pastel painting of some balloons and am adding the crowd watching. This is very far from being done. Many more balloons and people to go. It is square format. Something new to me. It is on Amersand Pastelbord, green, 12 x 12 inches.
I did the under painting with pastels and water.
Then put in the sky with several colors of blue pastels, blending with a plastic bag and a hard pastel. The plastic bag saves the fingers. (An idea from Richard McKinley's demo at the Austin Pastel Society Meeting). Other ideas for blending are styrofoam peanuts, foam pipe insulation, tortillions, fingers, etc. There won't be much blending except in the sky. I hope to end up with the early morning look. The balloons take off at the break of day.
I continued by putting in some darks where people will be standing and starting on some balloons.
The man is just about done with the child on his shoulders. The balloons still need work.
It is exciting to start a painting, so much enthusiasm. It is hard to keep it up after you leave it and come back, but I will try. All artists work differently. I read in one of the art magazines a few years ago about a watercolor artist that took about 150 photos of a still life and painted on the painting for six months. Not for me. I do not have patience for that. No sir. I can see why the baseball players and other competitors loose concentration when they wait in between turns, etc.
I will try to post more tomorrow, there is a baseball game in the evening. Hook-em!
I'm posting before midnight! Wheeeee.
2 comments:
I love these work-in-progress things. For a non-painter like myself, it's just astounding that you start with that streaky mess and end up with something bright and colorful. Not to mention that it actually looks like something other than a streaky mess when you're done! If I were doing this, it would still be a streak mess at the end. Heh.
Well, Joanna, it is always a surprise to me as well. :) Maybe I shouldn't admit that. Ha. I keep trying to use a minimum of strokes so it looks fresh. I think I succeeded on the man. The shape of the balloons is a little harder to do in one swoop. I keep trying.
Mom
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