Greywood by Trilight

After creating some landscaping paintings of brightly colored trees I decided to paint a woodland scene with softer and more neutral gray colors. I wanted to capture the cool and tranquil atmosphere of the interior of the woodland in the beginning of autumn. I added a touch of warm orange to add a little color to the scene as well. I used artist quality pastels by Terry Ludwig and Unison on acid free pastel paper by Wallis. 

Greywood by Twilight, Pastel on Pastel Paper, 12x18"

Milky Way Sky

I decided to do something a little different than what I’ve done before and started a small painting of the night sky and the Milky Way Galaxy using some violets and pinks and lots of dark pastels. It was interesting and somewhat tedious to depict all the stars however I think it passes as a starry night sky. There is a certain enchantment in the night sky and I’ve always found pictures of galaxies and nebula to be beautiful, should try another one of these sometime. Terry Ludwig and Unison Pastels on Wallis Pro White Paper and it is a 9×12”.

Milky Way Sky, Pastel on Paper Paper, 9x12"

Morning Flight Over the Harbor

This looks like a tropical lagoon as seen from a plane window and this shot does put me in mind of flying if I was a bird. I have had dreams of flying places and being high up in the sky or floating in the air above trees and water. I used cooler tones and tried to capture the early morning light to give this a soft slightly moody quality. I used Unison and Terry Ludwig pastels on Wallis Pro White Paper, 12x18”.

Morning Flight Over the Harbor, Pastel on Pastel Paper, 12x18"

Japanese Maple in the Autumn

I have two beautiful Japanese Maples growing in my garden, one is the burgundy Bloodgood Maple that changes to a bright red in the autumn and the other is a small cut-leaf variety called Ever Red which also turns a bright red so I have affection for bright red maples. Therefore I decided to use some vibrant reds and oranges for the foliage of this tree and like the way it turned out. Some of my work is much brighter than it used to be. I used Terry Ludwig and Unison Pastels on Wallis Pro White Paper in the 12x18” size.

Japanese Maple in the Autumn, Pastel on Paper, 12x18"

Waterfall

I thought that this is a nice composition for a waterfall painting since the waterfall isn’t one straight chunk of water but instead it is divided into sections or tiered to create a pleasing shape.  I haven’t developed the ability to create rocks as well as I would like and think that I still have some work to do  before this really looks like a rock face but I do link the value changes and variation in texture.  This is only my fourth waterfall painting so still do need to develop a better technique for creating cascading water and think the color’s in the water are a little patchy looking, I’ll try to remedy the situation in my next painting of this subject matter. I tried to keep the color selection as naturalistic and neutral as possible and think that it works and the shrubbery in the background is only suggested since I didn’t want to distract the eye from the main subject matter. I also found that the camera didn’t capture the colors as well as it should so the colors do look a little gray and think that this painting looks much nicer in reality. 

Waterfall, Pastel on Paper, 12x18"

Rustic Woodland Cabin

Rustic Woodland Cabin, soft pastel on paper, 14x18"

I decided that I wanted to paint something with a little more color so this one fits the bill even if I am doing an autumn painting in the spring.  I love the dark red of the tree contrasted with the browns, greens and golds around it. I don’t usually paint buildings but sort of liked this one so opted to include it, I probably need to practice painting buildings a little more but this is so far away and it’s festooned in foliage that I can overlook it. I used Ludwigs and Unisons on Colorfix Suede Paper. I couldn’t get the camera to co-operate with the lighting so the picture is a little dark and the colors are a little dull.