The Importance of Surface, Pt. 3

On the Edge, 24 x 18 pastel on pastelmat

And now for something completely different! Both the subject, a house on the cliff in San Diego, and the surface--pastelmat--are quite different. This is a more dramatic picture--a modern house and deck chair poised over an eroding cliff with vegetation. I knew I needed a surface that would allow for the details of the chair, but the cliff was equally important.

So I decided to use a new surface, pastelmat, which is really remarkable. It feels very smooth, as if there is no tooth. However, it holds the pastel beautifully and allows for a fine degree of detail, while also being a nice surface to develop foliage.

I used a sheet of white paper and did a watercolor underpainting, which was really crucial to the cliff. It didn't work so well for the house and sky as it bled around the lines. But in the cliff it allowed me to lightly brush on pastel without overdoing it. Interestingly, it is hard to smear the pastel on this paper. I was going to use it for the Summer Houses picture, and realized it might be hard to get the water right, so saved it for this instead.

This is a great new surface for pastel painters. We are very fortunate that so many companies are producing the quality surfaces and pastels that make working in our medium such a joy!

The Importance of Surface, Pt. 2

Summer Houses, 24 x 18 pastel on Wallis board

This is another picture from Hollywoods Beach. The reflection of the red roof in the water really excited me and I love painting houses! Because of the detail needed for the houses and telephone pole, and the fact that I would be painting a lot of water, I chose a sheet of Wallis museum grade sanded paper, that I had purchased mounted on board from Dakota Pastels.

Wallis is a surface that allows for really fine detail, when needed, and also allows for a lovely build up of color. It also is very nice for smudging or smearing the pastel in places. This is something that should be done very judiciously! I do not regularly smear pastel with my hands as it tends to deaden the pastel. But when I'm painting water, there are times when a little finger blending is nice, particularly for reflections in water.

I found that this surface worked perfectly for this picture!

The Importance of Surface, Pt. 1

March Beach, 24 x 18, pastel on board


I recently completed three paintings in the same size, each done on a different surface. The surfaces were chosen, partly because I had them in the size I wanted, but more importantly because of their properties and the needs of the individual pictures.

I am a strong believer that in pastel, the surface is as important and probably more important than the pastels that are used. Because we apply the color with our hands, it is very tactile and the feel of the surface and how it takes the pastel is very important to our ability to accomplish the kind of painting we want to do. For that reason, I use a number of different surfaces and always keep the picture in mind when I select the paper or board.

This painting is pure landscape--no buildings or important structures. Thus, there is little need for hard line. Only the three boardwalks are man-made. I did the painting on gatorfoam with a Art Spectrum liquid primer painted on, which produces strokes that give a vibrancy to the picture. You can't see this in the reproduction, but it makes a real difference when doing a painting like this. This surface frees me up and allows me to be loose, which is a real plus in landscape work. But it's a little harder to get fine detail.

The picture is the beach at Hollywoods in Mattapoisett, MA. I was there in March and my friend Paula Cobb took me there for a late afternoon photo shoot. Thanks Paula!

Playing around!

I've been playing with still life again. The July show at Waverly Street Gallery will include work that is in some way different from what we normally do. I decided to do a series of 4 orchid pictures, 2 of which I'll share in the blog. I'm working in a square format, something I've never done, and I'm doing floral work, something else I almost never do.

I really had fun with these, beginning with liquid acrylic and then using primarily Terry Ludwig pastels to lightly layer and build up color, trying to let some of the acrylic show through in places.

It's very different from my landscapes, which are pretty well planned out ahead of time. With these, I've just picked up a color and played with it. And the blue vase was completely made up! All four can be seen on my website.