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.

Upper North Falls, Oregon

A few weeks ago I did a painting depicting the Lower South Falls in Oregon which can be found here: http://barbarasmeatonstudio.blogspot.ca/2012/05/oregons-silver-falls-study.html

I decided to return to the subject since the topic of waterfalls fascinates me and I need more practice painting rocks and water, especially rushing and falling water.  I went with a larger composition so I could get more detail in the water it the surroundings. Plus this is a larger and wider looking falls so it called for more space.

Unfortunately this is one of my last pieces of Wallis paper in this size and I can’t seem to find any more of it anywhere so guess I’ll just have to be content with other papers until Wallis can make more. I used my usual Ludwig, Unison and Girault pastels.

Upper North Falls, Pastel on Wallis, 12x18”

Sentinel's Blue Haze, Update

 I decided that this painting needed some improvement since it was very unbalanced due to having so many trees in the darker values on one side so it seems to work better with another smaller tree on the left side as well. I also took the picture using the flash and it turned out much cooler which worked nicely for the blues in the sky and distant land mass and unfortunately not so good at picking up on the warm values in the shrubbery.

Sentinel’s Blue Haze, Pastel on Wallis Paper, 12×18”

The Mighty Waterfall

I seemed to have waterfalls on the mind lately and decided to do a little picture research and discovered the majestic Lauterbrunnen Falls in Switzerland and just knew that I had to give it a go. I haven’t actually painted a waterfall in many years or at least not a representational interpretation of one. I decided to revert to a moody downplayed ‘winter’ palette or neutral colors and hope that the composition is strong enough to hold its own; therefore, this piece is more of a value study. I also find rocks and rocks faces to be very challenging since there isn’t a lot of opportunity to create separate forms so I had to rely on texture and value changes to create an interesting surface. Overall I hope it was successful. Water isn’t scary in of itself unless it’s in the form of a multi-tiered falls…I modified it so many times…oh enough said there. Sometime is best to just leave things alone even if they don’t look ‘finished’.

The Mighty Waterfall, Pastel on Wallis, 12x18"
Etsy Listing

I used my usual Unison and Ludwig sets of pastels; I’m thinking it’s time for some fresh sticks. Another Ludwig set, perhaps the Vibrants…those pan Pastels that Johannes Vloothuis speaks so fondly of have also captured my interest. But first maybe those Giraults are calling my name. You know that your artistically stumped when new materials are calling.