Different Strokes Painting - Victorian

I'm not a fan of painting architecture. There is something about the precise lines and fussy details that I can't seem to master with a paint brush. But to keep up with my watercolor skills I gave it a shot.

First, I tried using some Fredrix Watercolor Canvas which I had in my stash. Bad idea, it was no fun and very frustrating. So I brought out my favorite Arches Aquarelle 140# cold press block. Much better but it still didn't help with my aversion to painting lines... so I used watercolor pencils to add some details.

Pastel - Lake Erie Marsh

Experimenting. This is a photo from my friend Cindy who took it near Lake Erie. I had attempted to use Pastelbord in the past, and wasn't too happy with it, but thought I'd give it another shot. Below is the progression of my work. First is the photo, followed by the first strokes of harder pastel on the Pastelbord over top of a previous work that was going to be peaches on a plate.

Next, covering the surface with blocks of color.

Then, I thought I'd try using an alcohol wash as I've seen done by others. I was surprised how much it took away, but liked how it embedded the pigment into the board.
First pass with softer pastels.
Continuing with soft pastels.
Final painting. I wasn't able to add as much detail as I had wanted, because the pastel seemed to lay on the surface as the board was full. But looking at it online, it looks pretty good.

Lake Erie Marsh, 8" x 10"

Different Stroke Painting of the Week - Jefferson Memorial

Here's my pastel of Karin's photo of the Jefferson Memorial at night. Process shots shown below. I started out with maroon sueded mat board.

Karin didn't post my image and had a note on her page she was having an issue with some photos she was receiving.... so below is a scanned image instead of a photo (above), which I will send on to her. Amazing what difference from one monitor to another it makes.