Hi everyone. First of all I want to apologize for my lapse in posting. It's been about two weeks since the last one, and I don't even have a good excuse such as "I've been on vacation," or "The computer has been down." When I started blogging a few years ago I had planned to post two or three times a week, and I did that for some time. But, lately I've been badly budgeting my time, I guess, because the minutes needed to create art and post about it seem to fly by, with me the person still tying her shoes at the start line. I cherish blogging and connecting with all of you, and certainly we share such a wonderful bond with the joy of creating art. I will do my best to continue this sharing on a more timely schedule.
This little fellow and his pomegranate were caught in a photo by my husband on a morning walk. He is a Verdin, the bird, that is, and these birds live in the southwestern part of the U.S. and Mexico year-round. I wanted to do a larger-sized painting and this one measures 17 1/2" X 15 1/2 inches which is large for me. It was also done on U-Art paper which I used for the first time with this painting.
I love this pastel paper! It comes in seven different grades of roughness. This one is supposed to be the least rough, yet it still has plenty of tooth and can take a wash. I'm anxious to try a couple of different grades to see what they can do. I happened upon it at an art supply store in Tucson when I was wanting to purchase Wallis paper for a project. I guess Wallis is having much trouble keeping up with demand in the retail and online markets like Jerry's, ASW and Dick Blick. It was a lucky find for me, and I'll certainly buy more of it.
Here is another photo of the painting showing closer detail.
I don't know if you call it "style" or not, but I enjoy "playing" with the pastel stick by rubbing it over the tooth of the paper. I like the texture it makes and loose quality it leaves. If you look closely at the leaves you can see how some of them are defined, but others are very loose and undefined. Spraying with fixative between layers makes it even more receptive to this exploration. The paper shows through in many place. I always feel nervous with this because I'm afraid people will think I was negligent and/or messy. A couple family members prefer the details finished with precise drawing and a realistic look, and I know it's just personal taste. We all have our preferences. But, I love the experimental nature of it and the inferring instead of the readily seen.
