One More Pastel Painting

This is another soft pastel painting. This one will join the other in being framed and hung in the gallery. The only thing I love more than looking at red rocks is painting them!

Step 3: Details and Edges

The last step takes the longest. Finishing up details and edges can make or break a painting. I'd say this painting is about 95% done. At this point, my eyes are too accustomed to looking at this picture. I'll revisit it in a couple of days with fresh eyes in order to fix any problems. But I decided to post this today since I said I would have it posted two days ago... yeah, life got busy. Anyways, I'm pleased with where this is going and I can't wait to get it finished, framed, and hung in the gallery.

Step 2: Some Color

Now in Technicolor! Today involved laying down some color. Basically I'm just trying to block in major shapes. I got a little carried away in some places and put too much detail too soon. Oh well. I just get so excited! With pastels its best to lay down mid-tones and then add highlights.

The fore-ground could use some resolution... More tomorrow or Saturday!

Step 1: Value Study

Behold! I paint landscapes in soft pastels. Yep, I'm granola. Mostly I like to paint them on-site or "En Plein Air", which is French for "in the open air". Anyways, it's really cold outside and snowing so I'm painting from a photograph. The location: Kolob Canyons. It's part of Zion National Park in southern Utah. Its BEAUTIFUL! Google it, I dare you.

I like to start my paintings with a basic layout sketch and value study. From there, the rest is just coloring within the lines. I use "Belgium mist" toned Wallis paper. It's basically a big sheet of sandpaper and it's awesome! For sketching I use Nu-Pastel. And for the coloring I stick with Rembrandt and Sennelier brand soft pastels.

I'm going to finish this by Saturday, so you'll see updates daily ( I hope!)