fresh off my dusty easel, pastels by christine dimauro: June 2017

Saturday, June 24, 2017

"Cool Warmth"

Pastel

9 1/2" x 7"

Painted on La Carte using Terry Ludwig pastels, mostly the cool green set

La Carte is a beautiful paper, one that I should use more often. It comes in wonderful colors, so no need to underpaint. Just respond to the color of the paper, and voila! It has a beautiful texture and accepts many layers. Just don't use water, the surface is almost instantly dissolved. No sneezing with this paper!

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.)