fresh off my dusty easel, pastels by christine dimauro: June 2014

Monday, June 16, 2014

Plein air at my marina, Pastel, 6 1/2" x 10", Painted on Arches HP with Art Spectrum Colorfix primer

I painted this one plein air a couple of weeks ago. I tweaked it a bit in the studio, adjusting the value of the trees and adding color to the grasses. This is the third time painting this scene, and I am finding it to be a good exercise. As with the pears, painting a landscape multiple times really allows you to study the scene, enabling you to capture its essence.

I have by no means figured out this plein air stuff, but I do think I have improved a bit. I'll keep at it.......

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Packham's Triump pear #14, Pastel, 6" x 6"

Back with another pear, these aren't going away any time soon... I think I will continue with them, sporadically..... They are a great exercise, keeps me thinking.

This time I wanted to do a green pear. Green is always a challenge, anything I do here with green can be applied to the landscape.

Recommended reading

I love books, especially art books. Here are a few of my favorites.

The Changing Seasons in Pastel or The Pastelist's Year, by Elizabeth Mowry (Her work is magical, her paintings just sing. I also love the way she writes, I own every book she's written.)

Landscape Meditations, by Elizabeth Mowry (You know why....)

The Poetic Landscape by, Elizabeth Mowry (If she had more books, I'd own them.)

Painting the Landscape in Pastel, by Albert Handel (It's Albert Handell, need I say more?)

Intuitive Light, by Albert Handell (Another Albert Handell, need I say more?)

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, by John F. Carlson (The workhorse of landscape books, not an easy read but full of useful information, always a go-to book when a question arises.)

Landscape Painting, Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice, by Mitchell Albala (some excellent information on landscape composition for any media.)

Pastel Pointers, by Richard McKinley (An all around great book for pastel landscapes.)

Powerful Watercolor Landscapes, by Catherine Gill (this one has excellent information on composition, great for all media not just watercolor.)

The Painterly Approach, by Bob Rohm (It's just that, a painterly approach, and can be easily applied to pastels.)

Your Artist's Brain, by Carl Purcell (This book is great for a beginner, it gives you basics not always touched upon even in advanced books. For advanced painters these reminders are great, we all get moments of brain fog. Much of what is in this book I learned the hard way, I wish I had known about it at the very beginning of my art journey.)