Tag: meadow

Two Trees in a Field

Once more, it is hot and sticky, but not as miserable as yesterday. Today, I am a bit more energetic but still not running around in the 90F and then some heat. And I am in a far better mood, too! No flies. No mosquitos. And a replacement package for the stolen one arrived today. Now, September is here, and though summer is not yet over, Labor Day (American holiday always on the first Monday of the month) is, for many of us, the official end of summer.

The end of summer means the fields are mown, crops and hay gathered in. Tracks and stubble leave lines behind in the shorn meadow. Heat, light, late afternoon.

That is all that this painting about. I did it after the one I posted the other day and, as with the other “Two Trees”, I am happy with the results here. I like the long shadows in the lower right, but if they are realistic or not is not the point – they just make for a bit more of an interesting picture!

In landscapes, you are the goddess of your painting!

Watercolors, Arches rough 140# paper, 10×14.

Northern Marsh

Still working in pastel.  I cleaned up the pastels I was using yesterday by putting them in a container of corn meal and shaking them gently.  It did the job.  I also took a different approach to today’s painting, and the difference is evident to me (cuz I did it!).

I decided to use a piece of 7×11 Uart 800 sanded pastel paper, which is the finest grit in the Uart series.  I bought a sample pack a while back, and now that I think I get how to use pastels fairly well, I thought it was time to begin.  Having cleaner pastels also helped.  I also decided to work from light to dark this time, like a watercolor, and it seems to have been a bit more successful.  My colors were getting rather muddy in the last one.  I also did not apply any fixative to the painting until it was done.  In the others I had used workable fixative between layers.

Overall, rather a bit more pleased with this pastel painting than yesterday’s.  It was more pleasant to do, probably in part because I simplified my approach.  Working light to dark – putting in the sky and water first – may also have helped.  The Uart 800 sanded pastel paper was really nice, too, and gave a nice smooth finish as the paper has a very fine tooth to it.  I used a final fixative on it, but I am still unsure how many layers of final fixative are to be used.

Now, time to attach sleeves to the sweater I am knitting!