Worthington Pastels

Today, I worked on some paintings that I hope will be good enough to be included in a fundraiser for the Worthington Area Art League. Members were asked to create artwork which included scenes from Worthington to be recreated in 4.25 x 5.5 inch note cards. The selection committee will be meeting in mid-July.

The first one I really like. This is a view of the village square. I took the photo a couple weeks ago when the plein air group painted there.

'Worthington Village Pine', 8 x 10, soft pastels on suede mat board

The photo is below:

Below is a photograph of a historic home on the square. I'm sorry, I don't know the history of it, but I know it is a well known home that everyone can recognize by the teal blue paint.

Here is my version. I'm not too sure if I will enter this one. Its kinda juvenile. I'm not strong on painting architecture. This was painted on another piece of the golden mat board coated with clear gesso.

'The Blue House', 10 x 8, soft pastels on gold mat board coated with clear gesso.

Plein Air Saturday - Pickerington Ponds Park

Today my plein air group met at Pickerington Ponds Park. It was a lovely day - comfortable temperature, light breeze, bright bright sun. Most of us setup under the cover of one of the observation boardwalks. This made it convenient, but it almost gave us 'snow blindness', looking out into the reflections on the water. I felt like I was painting back in the dark, and I overcompensated by painting a garish painting.

Pickerington Pond Marsh, 8 x 10 soft pastel on suede mat board

For my second painting, I decided to just do a very loose quick study. I had a piece of goldenrod colored mat board, which I had previously coated with clear gesso. This also gave the board a slightly gritty surface. Not as rough as a sanded surface like Wallis paper, but just enough to give it some interesting texture.

I decided to give this clump of marsh grasses a bit more color.

I didn't blend anything, and scumbled the pastel on the top of the board's texture (completely different than my usual technique). I really like this piece. I felt like I was able to finish quickly without overworking it. Be sure to click on the picture for a larger view.

Pickerington Marsh Grass, 8 x 10 soft pastel on clear gesso coated goldenrod mat board

If you look closely, you can see glimpses of the goldenrod mat board.

Self Portraits

I was thinking of participating in David Lobenberg's Self Portrait Global Love In blog, so played around with a pastel and an acrylic painting this weekend. Hard enough taking a digital photo of yourself, but harder still to paint it correctly!

I like this one the best of the two (this is the one I took my own digital picture), but I don't think the painting looks like me. The eyes are too big and the nose too small. This one is pastels on suede mat board. This one is another story. I love the photo of me, but the acrylic painting is WAY off. YUCK. The drawing is not even close, and I had little luck controling the paint today. I used standard acrylic paints, not the Chroma brand today. Maybe that was the difference in my brushstrokes. This was a piece of golden color mat board primed with clear gesso as an experiment. One of my plein air friends uses clear gesso on colored mat board for his toned surfaces since they are lighter to carry than hardboard panels.

I'll probably play around this week more before I decide to send anything to David.

Plein Air Saturday - Antrim Pk

'Antrim Willow' - 5 x 7 Soft pastels on velour paper

My setup with completed painting and my view.

Today, the plein air group met at Antrim Park in Worthington. It was a humid, blustery day. We had a sheltered spot in the shade. We had a smaller group today, maybe 10-12 artists.

Here are a few more shots of the area:

Channeling McGyver’s Artistic Side

I had so much fun constructing the pastel trays several weeks ago, I decided to play again and made a table easel. I made this from one sheet of foam core board, Liquid Nails, white duct tape and clear contact paper, much like McGyver might do!

I prefer to sit to paint and didn’t like my standard wood table easel. This new one is very sturdy even though its as light as a feather. I put the clear contact paper on the flat area.

As you can see in the photos, I have put a slim piece of foam core board underneath the painted panel to lift it up off the ledge just a bit. This might be helpful when painting the bottom edge.

(I’m still trying to figure out this Windows Live Writer software…)

New Picture and Live Writer

Here is a better photo of my painting which shows the background and shadows better.

I am also playing around with the Windows Live Writer blogging layout software which I just downloaded tonight. I’ve added a mirror reflection using this software.

Amazing! Different Strokes Entry - Veggies

Amazing!

No - not the painting, but the paint! I used the leftover Chroma Interactive acrylic paint that I'd kept in a covered plastic container for FOUR weeks now, since the workshop. It was still workable!

I think I'm getting the hang of using acrylics. I have figured out which brushes work best for me and I have remembered that I love to paint curvy objects much better than straight angles!

Here is Karin's photo for the current DSDF challenge on top, with my beginning painting below. I had a Masonite panel which was already prepared with gesso and toned with burnt sienna acrylics.

Here is the finished painting with the photo. I couldn't seem to get the correct hue for the tomatoes. They ended up the color of apples...
I had a real hard time photographing this. I scanned it too. Although it is a dark painting to begin with, I'd thought I'd adjusted it correctly to post here, but it still seems dark. I may try to photograph in the daylight this weekend and replace it.

'Market Harvest' 8 x 10 Chroma Interactive acrylics on Masonite

Plein Air Saturday - Worthington Village Town Square

'Worthington Presbyterian Church'
7 x 10 Sharpie ink and watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press

(Reference photo of my view.)

Today, the plein air group met at the Worthington Village town square. Lots of pretty vistas, but a very busy busy intersection. Add to that, the weekly farmer's market, and you get lots of people - although its not apparent from my photos.

It was fun to work in Sharpie and watercolor again. I finished fairly early and was able to take a walk through the market for a sample of fresh baked goods, a good cup of coffee, and some handmade lavender soap.

Plein Air Saturday - Park of Roses

Today, the plein air group met at Whetstone Park of Roses. It was a lovely day - sunny and about 70 degrees. Unfortunately, we were working in direct sunlight. Hard on the eyes, the working surface and even though I wore my big straw hat, I got way too hot. I much prefer to work in the shade.

We had a lovely young model. She was a high school student who was heading to a dance camp for the summer. We all pitched in some cash to help her with expenses. She said she might like to pose for us again sometime.

The umbrella cast some interesting color onto the dress and her skin. The white dress was challenging with lots of different colors than white.


I decided to work on Colorfix brand sanded pastel paper today. I hadn't liked it in the past, but thought I'd give it another try. I still felt it was difficult for me and it caused alot of dust. I doubt I will use it again.

In general, I feel my composition is good, but I am not too pleased with this. Another learning experience! I like the closeup photo much more than the full view scene.
I took some other photos of her in a different pose which I'll use for future paintings.

Different Stroke Painting of the Week - Farm

'Farm' 8" x 10" Chroma Atelier Interactive acrylics
For the current DSDF challenge.

"Put the brush down, and step away from the painting!" - that's one of my favorite sayings, but rarely do I remember to listen to it! Painting is hard. Period... Pastels are much easier for me.

I decided to use some of the leftover Chroma paints which I saved from the workshop a week ago. They were inside a covered plastic container and still in good shape. I'm still not sold on the paint, but I can't really say its the brand. Its just that I am so rusty working with paint. If I would have had some of the extra mediums which were sampled at the workshop (to slow drying, thicken, etc.), I might have been happier. I don't want to buy any until I decide that I'd like to work in paint more. I have a dozen or so tubes of regular acrylics, so not sure the Chroma would be a good investment until I get more practice with acrylics in general.

I started this painting last night, and wasn't having much luck, so turned off the light. Later, I peeked in and it looked like it had promise. So this morning I went back to work on it. I was still struggling with finding the right brush and tried a palette knife, trying to figure out how to apply the paint. Should be such a basic step, right? Perhaps I was really wanting a thicker application, but I didn't have a thickening medium. - Excuses, excuses....

I kept working on it and decided enough was enough and was just going to quit on it, and perhaps do one in pastel instead. After I returned to the studio from cleanup, it looked pretty good from a distance! I think I might have captured the sunlit sky hitting the rooftops. To me, it looks like a very bright day, with deep shadows formed from high full clouds blocking out some of the fields.

I need to remember to step back and look at my paintings from afar. Too many times, I get so knit-picky, working too closely.

Plein Air Saturday - Inniswood Metro Park

Today, the plein air group met at Inniswood Metro Park. Above, are my two pieces, each 8 x 10, soft pastels on suede mat board.

Instead of uploading a bunch of pics, I decided to try the movie option in Picasa. Below is a slideshow of the park, my scenes, and the other artists' work displayed during our critique session.


http://picasaweb.google.com/nartizt/Movies?feat=directlink

Bike Ride

I took the bike out for a ride last night along Hoover Reservoir. It was a beautiful evening. I rode about 7 miles.

I snapped a few pics with my cellphone camera, and am amazed how well they turned out! Perhaps you'll see these scenes in future paintings!

New Acrylic Paint Workshop

'Distant Forest' 8 x 10 Acrylic on gessoed foam core board

The Worthington Art League hosted a workshop/demo of the new Chroma Atelier Interactive acrylic paint today. I attended along with about 14 other members. Above is my class work. This is a imaginary scene. I painted on a 8 x 10 piece of foam core coated with gesso, just for the experimentation.

I'm still not sure how to use 'thicker' paint, since I usually use watercolor or pastels, but I think this came out pretty good.

Different Stroke Painting of the Week - Manhattan

"Taxi Time" 5 x 7 Pastel on suede mat board

Here's my entry in Karin's current DSDF challenge of Madison Ave., NYC.

I took Karin's advice and painted small, but I still struggled with the buildings and windows. I loved doing the taxis! Lots of interesting colors.

Plein Air Saturday - Blue Limestone Pk

Today our plein air group met in Delaware Ohio at the Blue Limestone Park. Below is my second painting of the day. It needs a bit more work.
Below is my first painting, followed by a few 'in process' shots.

"Blue Limestone Rocks" 8 x 10 Pastel on suede mat board

The view of the rocks.
Following are pictures taken during our critique time.




More shots of the park.