Friday, February 13, 2009

Just Off Highway 15, San Diego 12x18 pastel on Wallis Board SOLD

I am happy to get back to painting after a busy week at work. I have not done much with pastels these last few months focusing all my energy on oil. There is a rhythm I feel when doing pastels in touch and knowing what each (out of hundreds) piece of color will do. It is like anything we do in life it must be practiced to retain that rhythm and knowledge. So I returned today. Too cold to go out with rain coming and going. I looked through photos to find something to do. After setting up my pastel station with just my plein air gear (less to think about) I got started.
I start on wallis board by Dakota with a basic drawing done with a Nupastel dark. I basically lay in my values and then lay over a thin coat of turpentine using a brush and let it dry. My hope in doing this is to stay to a value plan. I usually do a small value notan to start off. From the beginning to the end it is a play of colors and values. Oh how I love the color and fear it too. Pure pigments are strong and really depend on the color that sits beside it to create harmony. I do not blend. I would say that I build layer over layer to get the finished color and texture. So let me know what you think. When working alone in studio it is nice to call upon such a great group of artists for feedback.
To those of you who have been working out in snow and extreme temperatures, I say, "you are inspiring"... True Plein Air Painters!

6 comments:

Dana Cooper said...

Yeah Dori...I LOVE this piece! I really like pastels and your handling of them is beautiful. Playing with pastels is such fun!

Leslie Saeta said...

Beautiful painting. I have never tried pastels. Are they hard to work with?

Unknown said...

Pastels are the next medium I want to master. You've given me an idea Dori. I loved watching Ed plein air and instead of waiting for next month to be able to buy and easel, I can grab a drawing board and chair and use pastels!

Hey, are you related to another famous Dewberry by any chance?

loriann signori said...

Dori, I agree 100% with you about pastels. They need to rely on being placed and left alone. Color to color. Blending can be a curse called mud. Your handling of the pastels is strong. What beautiful works you are making!

Kim VanDerHoek said...

Very nice design to the composition in this Dori, it lead me right in.

Karen said...

Wow Dori, the pastels are spectacular! I didn't realize you used them also. Very interesting to read of your process...I've only experimented a tiny bit with pastels.
I think in this image it totally shows that you placed a mark and left it alone, let it relate to its neighbor. That part of the image is instructive to our work with oils, too! Thanks for the reminder! :)