This lake is located within the community that we live in. It actually doesn’t have a name, as far as I know. Out in the middle there is a small raft that turtles and the occasional alligator sun themselves. Turtle Lake seems like a good name.
The pastel painting was started with a water color underpainting. Just using the maroon color in the land masses and a rosy pink in the sky and lake enables me to then quickly put in the middle values. You might notice that I didn’t use any green. Honestly, I just felt like not using green so this is probably considered a tonalist painting.
Tin Roof – Rusted – oil on panel – knife painting – 11×14
This painting was done in Ft. Pierce as part of an invitational paint out. The last time I was in the neighborhood, this building was completely renovated. It wouldn’t be my choice as a painting subject anymore because all the character was removed.
The title is from that song by the B52’s – “Love Shack”. Of course being in Ft. Pierce it was probably more likely a Drug Shack.
Dad’s 54 Chevy Pickup – pastels on mat board 11×14
In honor of Father’s Day I thought I’d post this pastel of my father’s truck. Don’t be surprised if I post it again next year! It’s not a new painting, but a favorite. He never finished restoring the truck so that I could paint the “after” shot, but he did see and love this painting.
This pastel is done on a maroon piece of acid free mat board that I sanded a bit to give it a little more tooth. When you sand mat board or paper (sometimes it helps to rough up Canson paper before using it too) you should use a very fine sanding block, not regular sand paper. The block is sturdier and won’t make unwanted bends, folds or marks on the paper. Just a gentle once over is enough.
The Official Portrait of the Unofficial Mayor – Pastels on paper – 11×14
In honor of “Uncle Phil” Algozzini who passed away recently at the age of 82. This portrait was done as part of the Hobe Sound Project a few years ago – the exhibit wouldn’t have been complete without him, just as Hobe Sound isn’t complete without him. His portrait is as colorful as he was. He was such a supportive person that he claimed he liked this painting, but it scared one of his nieces. Algozzini’s Hawaiian Shop is on Rt. 1 in Hobe Sound, FL.
There was an interesting article in the June issue of “Pastel Journal” titled “History Reclaimed” about John Pierce Barnes (1893-1954), an impressionist artist, who was discovered recently. The pastel paintings that they show on the Pastel Journal website are stunning. In order to avoid any problems I haven’t included any pictures of his paintings here.
You can read the story in the following link, about how the curator of his paintings, Katherine Stanko, learned that the paintings existed and had been in storage since the artists death or maybe longer.
“THE RESURRECTION OF ARTIST JOHN PIERCE BARNES, RCA Worker and Impressionist Painter” By Hoag Levins is here:
What inspires me the most is how wonderful his color choices were and his bold strokes. Many pastelists blend the heck out of their work and it thrills me to see unblended work from the 1920’s. It is also pretty easy to put together his very simple plein air palette from his work, which, of course, I had to do. It seems to be very limited, which is great for going out on location. Possibly, he had a small landscape set – I don’t know what was available in the ’20’s. I managed to fit all the colors into a small 5″x4″ box – it doesn’t get better than that!
Since I don’t keep the names of my colors, and now realize I have way too many colors, yet, not enough of these colors, I’ve made a color chart of what his palette probably was.
John Pierce Barnes Palette – it looks a little dark here but see below for actual pastel stickspastels for plein air – in a little cigar box
If it would stop raining I’d take them for a test ride.:)
This was a quick study that I did some time ago. Since I’m working on something else right now, I’m not able to post that painting until it’s finished. Pastels go through an ugly stage that I don’t share with anyone. My husband used to pass by my works in progress and think the paintings were horrible, but then would be surprised when he saw the finished product. He would be seeing the first layer of pastels. Although all the layers contribute to the final painting, they sort of disappear eventually – or visually mix together. So the first layer is usually the undertones, the shadows and might not even be the right shape yet. It’s all very scratchy and scrawly. It’s a different story when using an underpainting though and one of these days, when I have a chance, I’ll post that process.
Hopefully the new painting will have the same energy that this does. However, there won’t be any bouganvillas in it, but plenty of other flowers.
Through the Oaks – 18×26 – pastels on sanded paper
This is from Adams Ranch in Ft. Pierce, FL where the live oaks grow undisturbed. They are huge trees with far reaching limbs. A bit farther down this dirt road on the ranch is a picnic area with a giant tree house.
I’m getting ready to start a new commission and while taking stock, making sure there were plenty of pastels in the box and planning my approach this painting came to mind.
The new painting won’t have a path with dappled light but many of the colors will be the same, as well as the size.
For the 2012 Sketchbook Project (I’ve put a link over there on the right for ArtHouse Coop) I wanted to do something different. It’s a great way to try out new things and experiment. There is a large portfolio in my supply closet with assorted handmade papers so it seemed a good place to start.
Some of the papers were crinkled up and colored with water colors – sort of dyed. The colors made a small palette of purple, green, blue and orange. Then of course there was white paper. One piece of paper was hand made mango paper – appropriate for my part of the world. My decision was that the sketchbook would be all about paper as a medium.
Although collage is not one of my mediums – it seemed the right thing to do.
Clementine – drawn, then collaged with prepainted paper pieces – THEN more mango paper and THEN some watercolor crayons on top – whewA Pear – same process as the clementine
Beach – centerfold – this one is done with torn bits of white paper glued onto the pages – then painted with watercolor on top – lots of texture
Sailboat – torn prepainted paperTree painted with ink on mango paper
and then there were two pages that are from a book of my husband’s – in honor of the mathematicians:
For the right brained mathematician
Can’t wait to figure out what to put into the 2013 sketchbook.
The Sketchbook Project is fun to do and I’ve just signed up for the 2013 project. In a nutshell – you sign up, pay for a blank sketchbook plus touring expenses and when you return it to the ArtHouse Coop it is cataloged and then goes on tour.
Here are some pages from my 2011 sketchbook – my theme was “Down my Road”, so these are all very local scenes.:
Japanese Bridge – 2011 Sketchbook Project – watercolor crayons and market pensFive Dollar Beach – 2011 Sketchbook Project – watercolor crayon and marker pensSailing by Jupiter Lighthouse – 2011 Sketchbook Project – watercolor crayon and marker pensHobe Sound Beach – 2011 Sketchbook Project – watercolor crayon and marker penMy Neighbor’s Lemon Tree – 2011 Sketchbook Project – watercolor crayon and marker pen
and last but not least because it is once again that great spot on the Loxahatchee River:
Loxahatchee River – 2011 Sketchbook Project – watercolor crayon and marker pen
There were many more pages but this is enough to give you the gist of the sketchbook. The method that I used was fun. The first sketch is with watercolor crayon, then apply water, let that dry, use the marker pens to outline or do some fancy scribbling and then a final layer of gray or white on top for atmosphere.
I’ve scanned in the 2012 sketchbook but haven’t downsized the files yet. Will post soon.
Now I’m looking forward to the 2013 project and hope I don’t procrastinate as much as I usually do finding myself filling the book two days before it’s due.
Using All The Crayons 