Thursday, January 22, 2009

ACROSS BALLARD PARK, SOLD


I have had some requests for pastels of late, and it has become my second favorite media. Oils are my favorite and when I became involved with them, I kind of buried by pastels on the back of the shelf. As beautiful as they are, with their clear color and sparkle that you cannot achieve with any other media, they are a mess to work with. Within minutes I'm covered with pastel dust (very unhealthy) and so is my studio. When I finally complete a painting, the framing process is misery. It takes me several tries to get the mats on without smearing pastel dust on them or the glass. Then, if you move them around, inevitably dust falls on the mats and you must disassemble and clean the mats and glass again. I won't even go into the routine to mail one! Having whined about all that, I do love the look of that pure pigment.

I thought I had better give it a try again. It is amazing how fast you loose your touch, or rather, I did. I filled up the tooth of the paper with pastel much too early in the process. I definitely need more practice with this media. Anyway, here is my attempt.

8 comments:

Honor Bradley said...

What beautiful color. I love the softness in the distance almost as if a mist is in the air. Truly a beautiful work of art. Honor

Theresa Rankin said...

I just love the colors and shapes in this Carol!!

Trevor Lingard said...

Hi Carol
This is beautiful. These are my favoutite colours, so peaceful.
Kind Regards

sanjeev joshi said...

hi carol, after so much of efforts ,the painting is bound to be wonderful.It is really very beautiful.I have never tried this medium,and now not sure will ever try.I would rather appreciate your works.!!

Unknown said...

I can see why your pastels are in demand Carol. Your sense of color REALLY comes forth in this medium. Wow!

Anonymous said...

I have just began trying out pastels and I love them but I agree are terribly messy to work with but the effects are magical. I really want to use them for life drawing and portraits I can see from your work that landscapes are beautiful though, guess I'll have to practice hard. Framing sounds like a nightmare though, do you fix them? I've heard this spoils the colour.

Carol Schiff Daily Painting said...

Thank you all for your nice comments. Carolann asks if I fix the pastels, and the answer is only if I really need to and never on the final coat as it takes out all the life and sparkle. You may easily end up with a dull mess with too much fixative.

VickiRossArt said...

Wallis and ampersand sanded papers are not as prone to filling tooth. AND you can do turp/alcohol/water underpaintings.