Illusions of depth

Lavender Cascade

Pastel, 18X24

Yes, an underpainting serves as a fundamental purpose, to set the values, and overall color, tone and temperature of a painting. Used beyond the rudiment purpose, underpainting can enhance the energy and interest in a painting, creating a layered effect and the illusion of depth and volume.

Over the past year, I have been exploring the possibilities of underpainting in watercolor and applying it to pastel landscapes...some small, others much larger as this one is. The tone, value, and color are established in watercolor, allowing for the watercolor to do what it does best...create a wonderful mingle of little explosive color blossoms. Then, pastel is applied, allowing for some of the subtle watercolor creation to show through, enhancing the illusion of air and space.

I will have 10 or so of these pastel landscapes on exhibit at Kybecca September 1st through October 31st.

View from the island

As often as I can, I walk the path that leads from the neighborhood stables to a little island park nearby. The path encircles the island...and along the path...I see green, blanketing the water, the trees...everything.

From the island, I can see the bridge connecting and the mass of trees...a seamless transition from one land to another...through the island foliage and the haze of green, I see the path clearly...leading me to this point.

View from the Island

Pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

9x12

Ambiguity

Beginning the new year, my satisfaction has waned with the ultra-real paintings...those in which all the information is given. Where else in life is all the information detailed perfectly in order for you to exactly see the situation, draw the right conclusions and make the right decisions, and predict the future responses?...almost never...Similarly to the ambiguity in life situations and the excitement of not always knowing the outcome, curiosity and intrigue is created through an abstract arrangement of elements...visual elements in a painting that allow for exploration and personal interpretation.

For me, however, there is a point where patience is lost to the vague ambiguity, as is the case with completely abstracted paintings. Visually, I prefer some representation, allowing for degrees of abstraction in shape, color and edges. I need a few answers, some plan...some information...but not everything.

Untitled (for now), Pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord, 16x20

And so, I find myself drawn to these pastel landscapes, responding to the watercolor foundation; those accidents that occur naturally when water and pigment react to the dry, pumiced surface of clay. Subjects still 'representative' but not quite fully developed, interpreted...standing just outside the rows of vines...seeing the vines, but not every leaf...appreciating the balance between the order and disorder of things...given just enough information to draw my own conclusions.

Goodbye colors of fall

Goodbye to fall...warm greens, golds, reds replaced with cool whites, blues, and browns...always in transition...and colors that reflect the transitions in life.

Colors of fall

Pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

9x12

Blessings of joy, peace...and warmth...this holiday season!

Less Blogging, More Painting

Closing out the Thanksgiving week, I am reminded that 'Thanksgiving' is not just a holiday...but thanks giving is a state of mind that should be carried with us every day. I am thankful for many things this week...most notably, my friends and family who uplift and enrich my life.

Serendipity

9X12

Pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

'Tis the season for small works... perfect for me, stripped down to the essentials of time, no time for large works, delay, analysis, procrastination...self doubt...only time for the fervor of work, and creative energy. In this fervor, I am finding a flow and rhythm in landscapes (that until now, I have unintentionally avoided), responding to the watercolor underpainting with a deeper sense of expression and intimacy... and with an efficiency that comes from the pressure imposed by time.

A few of these landscapes will be on display for the "Small Works" exhibit opening

Friday Dec 6th at Liberty Town Arts in Fredericksburg.

Paintings will also be on exhibit in December...

The Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton

Merger of Art and Design: MAD Artist! Designer's Choice Exhibit

Nov 22nd-Jan 4th

as well as

The Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts

Small Wonders National Juried Exhibition

Dec 6th- Jan 28th

Happy Thanks Giving today and every day!

Poetic energy of underpainting

In pastel, my comfort in painting leans toward what I would term "ultra-realism" . I typically work spatially completing section by section, piecing together lines and shapes, that when completed, works as a whole.

Challenging myself for a looser interpretation (as I often see a landscape), I wanted, instead, to respond to the poetry of the underpainting, the poetry of shapes and mingled color. I began on white (which I almost never do) ampersand pastelbord that can handle alot of water, pigment, and pastel. Considering the harmony color, temperature, and with the goal of creating luminous contrasts of blue and gold, I began to add color...no worries about mess, details or representation, simply looking for a response to the energy of the landscape.

The watercolor "underpainting"

As a watercolorist, I found myself tempted to approach this underpainting as I would a finished watercolor, working light to dark, wet-into-wet, glazing layers...but then this will be a pastel, on pastelbord. The underpainting will only serve to create a base (mostly covered with pastel) of warmth and value and give direction to the pastel that will come later... hopefully a loosely interpreted poetic landscape.

The "later"... untitled

Pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

9X12

Even Traffic...

...can be beautiful (thank you Stephanie).

I am amazed how we can experience the same moments day in, day out and not really "see" them...their simple beauty. Sometimes as artists, we spend so much energy searching for that "beautiful" composition, subject, landscape...and then sometimes (as is most often the case for me)...it finds us.

"The landscape listens and we hear it call our name."

Emily Dickinson