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Saturday, August 09, 2008

Pastel Plein Air Painting, Rest Stop

I painted a plein air pastel while Gene was biking 49 miles day before yesterday. There is a very nice rest stop between Hurley and Deming with a nice picnic area with covered tables. It was cloudy so I just sat on the tailgate of the pickup. I taped the board, a new surface - Richeson's Unison Hardboard Premium Pastel Surface, to a piece of Foamcore like I did the Cholla Blooms. When finished, I just covered this with another piece of Foamcore and secured this with masking tape. I usually just clip them together which is neater and easier to open, but I had no clips. This is one of the easiest ways to carry finished pastels around and to store them. You can put several paintings on paper between two pieces of foam core with glassine between the paintings. (Interesting definition of glassine on Wikipedia.)


Rest Stop
Pastel Plein Air, 9 x 12 inches

I didn't take any photos while I painted and had only one lady and some kids stop to see what I was painting. The mom said, "Oh look, someone is painting or drawing." The son, about 10 years old said, "She is using pastels," in a very stern voice. She asked how long I had been painting and I told her on this painting about two minutes but otherwise most of my life. Ha.

The Richeson board is somewhat like Pastelbord, but a more textured surface. It is perhaps lighter weight as well. I put the sky on about 4 times, wiping it off with a towel and then spreading it around with water and a brush. I'm pretty satisfied with it now. In the fist couple of attempts, the texture of the board made the sky look very stormy and violent instead of just cloudy. Using water filled the tooth of the paper with the darker sky color. The board was a dark burgundy color so I felt that the board shouldn't show through. In the foreground green grass, the burgundy acts as a nice complement and I left it to peek through the grasses. Red in the green always looks more natural.



This photo is not quite the same angle I was painting and the sky had cleared somewhat. The spot in the sky is something in my camera. I noticed it some time back and wonder if it has been there since the camera was new or has appeared after my rough handling of the camera. Hmmm. I need to go check some of my first photos.

11 comments:

Joanna said...

'Love the painting, Mom!

Susan Carlin said...

Plein air painters astound me. This is super nice, Jo.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Jo: Very nice painting, wheres the UFO in your painting. Your camera saw it and you didn't.

Jo Castillo said...

Thank you, Susan. My plein air life isn't too glamorous, I just sit on the tailgate and paint, in nice weather. I'm not one of those Minnesotans that paint in snow and freezing weather. Ha.

Jo Castillo said...

fishing guy, You are so funny! We aren't that close to Roswell ... but who knows?

Jo Castillo said...

Joanna, thank you, too. :) I was waiting to tell you in person. Right?

Bag Blog said...

You are always an inspiration with your sketches and plein air paintings. At the lake yesterday, I thought, "Jo would be painting." I should have brought my watercolor travel set.

I have put colored pencils in my bag along with my small sketch book at your suggestion. I usually carry the sketch book, but the pencil idea is great.

Jo Castillo said...

Bag blog, How cool is that? I'm happy to be of service. Sue Modrak, my Michigan friend with no web page, was my real inspiration to sketch. She and Regina Burchett (on my sidebar) are always supplying me with new sketchbooks. :)

Regina Calton Burchett said...

As always, your light is so wonderful!! I like that the light is in the middle - it has a great feel to it.

Jo Castillo said...

Thank you Regina. It was fun to do, but as I said the sky took a while. I have another piece of that Richeson board and will try it again.

Joan said...

This one is lovely!!! I'm glad you put that rest area to good use!


About Me

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Bastrop, Texas, United States
I Grew up in a small town , Magdalena, New Mexico. I enjoy art and the pleasure other people get from my work. I always donate some of my sales and art to charities, especially for children. That started in Bolivia with Para los NiƱos. "I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns." -- Winston Churchill

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