SNOW PATCH

For Alphabe - C
For This or That

Notes

This snowpatch was of a photo we made during our hike.

The mountains surrounding Big Bear Lake go up to 9000 feet

 and is about 2 1/2 hours away. Probably closest place

 to find snow around January.

 

 

It's a hike with spectacular views, not well known by tourists,

so the only ones we see are locals. 

It was too cold (for me) to really do

any serious work with pastels plein air.

 

 

In the beginning, I thought I had started too complex of a project,

keeping track of  all the shadows and twigs.

I didn't have Photoshop yet at that time,

so I couldn't blow up the details of this scene,
with many more colors than you can imagine,
like sienna, lemon yellow, orange, red, and
any thinkable nuance of blue, grey, and black.

 

 

I remember well, I worked on it every afternoon

at the same time in my living room,

when the light coming from outside was at its brightest.

After it was done, it looks deceivingly simple, doesn't it?

Enjoy!

 PS Sorry, I didn't realize the word verification was on, I put if off now:)

***

MY FAVORITES

For Artistique
For Midweek Blues
For This or That
For Alphabe - B
For Floral Friday Foto
For Green Day

NOTES

 

I was on a trip through Europe years ago where hubby drove a lot of hours

and I was bored, so I didn't look forward to the trip back.

I asked our East Germain host if they had an art store in their town

and bourght a small sketchbook with rough pastel paper and a box of six pastels.

 

That box of 6 Rembrandt pastels tells you then and there

I knew nothing about pastels!

I didn't know you had to layer the sticks to make nuances in a color. 

When the opportunity came, I bought 13 more in the next town!

But no, I didn't like it. It was not for me.

I missed the goeyness of the oil

or the watery sheen of the watercolor.

this was.....like... going back to first grade!

 

So, it took 2 years, before I tried it again.

This is one of the first pastels -

about favorite roses from my yard

my guestbook and my favorite bear
I used in the therapy room for my child-patients.

Now I love pastels as a way to use my drawing skills more
 than I do with oil or watercolor.
Kitty Wallis paper is like sandpaper. To say it more technically,
it has "tooth," which means that the paper
can hold more layers than when it would be smooth paper.

***

 

Needless to say, I love elephants!  Especially the ones that roll in red dirt.

I painted, but Jose Hernandez took the beautiful  pic 

on his traveling blog of the real thing! 

 This is how I started.

 By the way,

if you are a beginner, please do not start out painting from a photo!

 On location (plein air), 

is how you you learn to measure things with your eyes, 

and relationships between colors. It will make the difference 

between becoming a mediocre or a good painter:)

Almost finished, but it lacks "something" 

that makes this animal look like he is  home in his environment.

In the first pic you'll see what I added.

Don't hesitate -

Any suggestions I can give you

to make your paintings better or more "out of the box"

write me:)