MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

ABSOLUTELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, THIS IS IT,

the last pastel in this series. It began with a piece of 4-ply cold press illustration board taped to a watercolor board and covered with a thin gray acrylic wash. The sky was created wtih repeated layers of pastel dust, rubbed into the surface with fingers and hands. For a heavily textured foreground I applies acrylic molding paste, seen here...the white lower part of the board.




The next step was the buildings...they're ok but could be better.




The last stage is the trees and the foreground.


The Farm Pastel 15x25 $600

My current thinking is to repeat this landscape in acrylic as a triptych on 3 24x24 panels.

ITS NO USE EVEN TRYING,

I am at the mercy of the pastels. Rather than fight it I will relax and enjoy the ride as long as it lasts. I'm not even going to think about the cost of framing...if I can't do it, it won't be framed. Here is the result of today's effort.


Creek at Sunset pastel on illustration board 12x16 $275

I TRIED, I REALLY DID

try to put the pastels away. In fact I did! But it was like an itch I just had to scratch, so yesterday I began work on another piece. As you can see I am still drawn to the dark skies, barns, and a bit of light. I guess I'll keep painting these until I get tired of them.


Bathed in Red pastel on illustration board 9x14 $250

THE FOURTH OF FOUR

This will be the last of the pastels for awhile (I think, maybe, perhaps). I've been working on preparing several birch panels and am ready to return to the acrylics. I will be showing new work next month at a local venue and I would like to get 2 or 3 more pieces ready.


A Patch of Light pastel on illustration board 14x18 $375

I'M ON A ROLL

When it rains it pours. And when I do one pastel painting I have to do more. In each case, I begin with a color selection, not knowing what will eventually be done. Here are the second and third paintings of this current series.


Tuscan Lavender pastel on illustration board 14x26 $500


Sun rise pastel on illustration board 12x18 $325

TAKING A BREAK...FROM ACRYLICS

Time to get down and dirty with the soft pastels. And I really do. I work with a lot of pastel dust to create backgrounds and foregrounds, and by the time I finish there is multicolored dust all over the place, especially me.

Here is yesterday's effort.


orange sky pastel on coldpress illustration board 12x16 $275

ALL ART IS DERIVATIVE

While looking for an older piece of work I came across these oil pastels from 2-3 years ago. I was impressed at how, way back then, they could be seen as the precursors to some of my current work. They, like several of my recent acrylics, are a series of color fields resting in vertical planes creating moods open to the viewers discretion.

Here are 4 representative oil pastels, all created over clay mono types, some of the edges still visible around the central image.






And here are 4 recent acrylics on canvas.





The Surf acrylic 36x36 $2500

Looks like Hell acrylic 24x24 $1200


Horizon #2 acrylic 36x36 $2500


Horizon #1 acrylic 36x36 $2500