I took the plunge at the last second and decided to paint and enter the Austin Pastel Annual Juried Show. I haven't been painting with pastels or painting very much so it is a learning process all over again. Enid Wood encouraged us to enter. enidwood.com She is so energetic and supportive that I couldn't say, "No."
A landscape seemed to fit in my painting world. I had a 12 x 12 white Ampersand Pastelbord which wasn't too daunting in size. I took a few photos along the way to post here.
A white canvas or board is intimidating. I decided to do a watercolor and pastel under painting.
I chose colors thinking about what would go over them and to locate my dark shapes.
After starting with a very light touch I could see that the road was very centered and straight. Something to work on for composition. I was liking my colors.
Looking better but the sky was still centered down toward the road. I also wanted a bit more depth.
I added the big tree on the left to push back the other trees and bushes. Almost done.
Puddles, Pastel on Pastelbord, 12 x 12 inches
Signed and entered.
I named it Puddles because of my dad. This is a scene near our home here in Texas, but as a teenager I spent time on the ranch in New Mexico with my dad. We would take off in the pickup to see where it rained and check on the cattle. Wouldn't you know ... he could get the pickup stuck in a puddle about like these. We spent a lot of time walking to get the horses to help us out!
After I finished this, I realized the entry fee for the show is $45 for one painting or three paintings. So why not paint three? Only a couple of days until the deadline so flowers were chosen as a subject to speed up the painting process.
Here are the other two paintings:
Potted Reds, Pastel on Pastelbord, 9 x 12 inches
My process for these two paintings was similar to the first. I did the under painting with pastel and water. Oops, no photos. The deadline was coming quickly......
The paintings are entered. We will find out which paintings were chosen for the show on January 14. The show will be up February and March in Austin. I will post the info about the show soon. Entering shows can be nerve wracking. I decided a long time ago that every judge has his/her own criteria. The judge's likes and dislikes can change daily. Different judge, different results. You can't take it personally.
I usually get out some Christmas cards during this time, but was working on these. Now I'm off to work on cards and hopefully take down the Christmas tree and decorations. Have you done that? Oh, and I need to sketch for the Scavenger Hunts!
7 comments:
Jo in my humble opinion all three of these should be selected. They are gorgeous. Your landscape is so beautiful. Hope you are successful. Hugs!
Debbie, thank you so much. We’ll see what the judge thinks. There are some really good artists in the APS.
good luck with the show!
I'm glad you did three paintings. I have done some shows where they did the same thing...one or three for the same price. I love the one of the puddles. They really lead you into the scene! Nice pieces!!
Jennifer Rose, thank you so much.
Joan, yes, it is good that I painted. I'm learning all over again. Thank you for your nice comments.
I like all three of your paintings. The under painting on Puddles worked very well.
Bag Blog, thank you. I usually do an under painting, especially on a white canvas or board. It saves on pastels with coverage and also a blank canvas is intimidating.
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