December 2009 Pastel Strokes! - Page 5

chuas2 · #61 12-19-2009, 10:20 PM

Hi all, I am a WetCanvas and pastel newbie with a real newbie question. All of you are getting these sumptuous reds in your cherries.

I'm scratching away on my Canson with very old Senneliers and a few Rembrandts and cannot for the life of me, get any good REDS?

Too shy to post one of my feeble attempts, but may do a cherry if I can find that wonderful glowy red that everyone else has.

robertsloan2 · #62 12-20-2009, 07:52 PM

One of the ways I got the wonderful glowy red is to put some yellow and orange under it. Then use the reds I have. I was working with Art Spectrum Pure Tones, but if I were doing them with your collection I'd use a little yellow with the red you have in the sunlit areas, then go to violet with possibly some darker red brown in the shadow areas.

The glowy reds in my version also come out redder because of the green background. Changing the background to the complement of red would make even a russet brown look more like a glowing red. Some of this is choosing the right colors. Others is choosing what colors to put next to them.

If you post a color chart of the actual pastels you have, then I could give some more specific suggestions with your actual palette. Rembrandt does have some strong reds if you don't have one in your collection, so does Sennelier, so maybe you could pick up a few extra sticks in open stock too. The main thing is what to put with and around the red in order to make it appear extra glowing brilliant, so if you have any red at all I can be more specific when I see what hue it is.

**Vivien Maloney** · #63 12-20-2009, 08:53 PM

Hi Robert; finally finished (or as much as I've had time to do). I wanted to try your challenge of "changing the colours and the light etc" and I was surprised at how difficult it was, because once I began changing the colours, I had no reference photo to work off. I see, now that I've scanned my painting that there a couple of things I needed to correct. One is the elipse on the top of the bowl. I had trouble with it as it is a strange shape (a kind of bannana shape) but even so, I've brought the dip down too much in front of the purple ornament, and I also should have put a much brighter highlight on the drum ornament. However for what it's worth this is my effort and I enjoyed doing it very much.

**Vivien Maloney** · #64 12-20-2009, 08:58 PM

"Christmas Ornaments", 12in x 8in, Pastel paper

C & Cs welcome

robertsloan2 · #65 12-20-2009, 09:10 PM

Viv, this is gorgeous! You did change the light beautifully! Only a tiny bit of the ellipse on top of the bowl shows behind the ornaments, put that litle bit in and you're all right.

Try juxtaposing a bright highlight adjacent to a very dark area on one of the ornaments to make it look shiny. You've changed the type of ornaments from shiny to frosted -- very effectively, they look exactly like the frosted ones I've seen with a matte finish. Nice treatment on the lace and the beads too!

chuas2 · #66 12-20-2009, 09:49 PM

Ok, here are my first tries!

kazuki · #67 12-20-2009, 11:08 PM

I bought sand paper from hardware shop and planned to try ops and pastels on it. I started with the apple from the fruit bowl picture and then I got carried away, so I ended up doing this.

I started without a prelim drawing so everything including the bowl looks out of shape.
I found it hard to remove stray paint from the sand paper. So the whole surroundings of the painting look messy.

c&c welcome

**Vivien Maloney** · #68 12-20-2009, 11:39 PM

Thanks Robert. I enjoyed changing the colours and the light etc. But it wasn't easy - in fact probably the most difficult Challenge that I've done, but I learnt a lot from it. I would like to have another "go" at this again, maybe next year, if you're hosting again. Thanks for this Challenge - it was great!

Mary Y · #69 12-20-2009, 11:54 PM

Viv,
Your decorations are excellent .You have changed the light well .I think you are brave tackling it and I really like the colour you painted the bowl. I just get very lost. Your lace is lovely, such a difficult subject.

Chuas,
Wow your cherries are glowing on the screen especially the ones in the bowl.
Your crops work well (I never seem to think of that)and both paintings look really good.
Don't be shy about posting , people here are very helpful and they are very generous with their knowledge.

Sue ,
I like your fruit bowl. I don't think everything is out of shape just the rim of the bowl. I know how hard is was and hopefully Robert can give you some advice.
Mary

Mary Y · #70 12-21-2009, 12:02 AM

This is my third attempt at Miss Gemini.I found her hard to draw and now I have started to fiddle so it is time to post.

The dark patch in the top right is the shadow of a clip.

Mary

Mary Y · #71 12-21-2009, 01:47 AM

I forgot to put C&Cs appreciated.
Mary

robertsloan2 · #72 12-21-2009, 09:59 AM

Chuas2 -- it came out lovely! The sunlight looks bright and morning-yellowed. You succeeded in the challenge. Both your crop on the fruit bowl and your crop on the Pan Pastels are great. The colors on the fruit are cheerful and lively, very true to a different light than I took the photo in. Wonderful! Congratulations!

Sue, while the ellipse of the bowl is off, the fruit all look fine. Your nectarine looks good, it's more colorful than the photo and looks truer, also you caught the reflection of the white bowl onto its shiny skin well. Fixing the ellipse shouldn't be too hard.

Put some tracing paper over what you have and sketch the outlines of the forms in. Then work on the outlines of the bowl till the ellipse looks right, especially adding some more behind the strawberries and maybe also fixing the bottom of the bowl on the left -- the curve on the bottom at the right looks truer and that bowl is symmetrical.

As for the smudges on the background, one of the things you could do is fill in the background with loose scumbled strokes shading from a soft gray-blue in the upper right to darker at the lower left. Lighten it a bit from the sandpaper color and the shadow of the bowl will be more prominent. It's okay to give that shadow softened edges, shadows aren't always clean-edged and hard. Also there's a penumbra, a narrow area around a shadow that's usually the true color of whatever the shadow's against.

You can read more about shadows in ESP: Colourful Still Life taught by Colorix, where I picked that up. The whole class taught me so much about color and light, it changed the way I see everything.

Mary, that is a beautiful rendering of Miss Gemini! You got her perfectly. Her markings are accurate. Her proportions are true and elegant -- I'm looking at her right now sitting in the window and you got all the quirks of her personal markings, face and build. She is lovely!

I love your turquoise background, that is gorgeous. Sets her off beautifully. You caught the soft fluffiness of her beautiful silky fur too. Her eyes are perfect. You've done a fantastic cat portrait! I wouldn't change anything -- you have the likeness and you convey her personality well. She looks sweet, loving and purring in your painting and that's exactly what she's like.

chuas2 · #73 12-21-2009, 11:26 AM

Mary, I LOVE your painting of Miss G. Beautiful color, soft silky coat, and her eyes are so alive.

And thanks to all for the notes of encouragement. Much appreciated!

**Vivien Maloney** · #74 12-21-2009, 11:45 AM

Mary; thanks for your nice comments on my "Christmas Ornaments".

Your "Miss Gemini" painting is gorgeous, you've really caught he attentive look.

Mary Y · #75 12-21-2009, 09:20 PM

Robert, Thank you Now that its been uploaded her paws look strange.

Chaus and Viv thank you for taking time to look and comment.

Robert thank you for the great images and for doing such a good job hosting this December thread.It is my first Pastel Strokes and I have enjoyed it .
Mary

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