HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Big Bear Holiday
Pastel

AMPERSAND

I have used different pastel papers and even Arches print paper for my pastel paintings, but just recently I purchased some Pastelbord by Ampersand. I'm excited to see how this will compare to the texture of paper. Thinking I will start small (landscape) until I get the feeling of the stiffness of the board.

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

Mary Mark is an artist who creates wonderful reduction linocuts and pastel paintings. She is probably one of the foremost lino artists in the country. She lives and works out of a 120 year old church in New Richmond, Ohio. Her website http://www.marymark.com/WelcomePage.htm shows some of her pieces and also has a section explaining the process.

WOLF PASTEL II

I have made some changes and added to my wolf pastel based on a second photograph of the subject. More detail and more trees!!

YELLOW BIKE FINISHED

I finished the new pastel painting/drawing last night. Working on the yellow pastel paper sure helps make this a brighter piece. I've enjoyed doing the pastel drawings but i really need to challenge myself again. Need to finish the linos I have in process and really want to make another watercolor attempt.

GRAY PASTEL

Just as expected, the gray Canson paper has made this a very dark pastel painting. I may spend a little more time with it to see if I can bring a bit of brightness in.

TRY, TRY AGAIN

Starting a new monoprint was very tempting. I never have any preconceived idea of how they will look when pulled from the press. Though tempting, I'm going to try another pastel painting instead. Keeping this attempt small (4X14) on a piece of gray Canson paper. The gray will probably mute the painting, but it's from a photograph of a gray day in the Bay area, so should work.

LIAM'S SURPRISE

I hung the finished pastel I did of my grandson above our fireplace mantle. It will be perfect there except it needs to be in a larger frame. Kind of gets lost in all of the space!!

NICE WEEKEND

My son and his family spent the weekend with us here in Big Bear. My grandson loves to play my drums so I know he had a fun couple of days. I also finished a large pastel painting of him that we are hanging above our fireplace.

NEW PASTEL

After seeing some great paintings from my friend Anne, I have been working with pastels lately. I like the quick pace it allows. This one is from a photo I took on one of my trips back east. It is on the Mud City Loop in Vermont.

SECOND CUT

I finished the second cut on the reduction linocut I'm working on. Now that the clouds have been added, I'll start working on the meadow and trees in the foreground.

I also tried doing a pastel drawing of my grandson. This was prompted by my friend from Lopez Island telling me about a pastel workshop she did. I could only use hard pastels and detail didn't happen.