Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Kelp Forest 11" X 17" Pastel on Wallis paper

                                                                               
        
I really enjoyed painting this one as I never before had painted kelp. Funny how one can "let an idea simmer" for a long time, and then you realize it's time to actually put paint/pastel to paper!
When we lived in Monterey, CA we used to watch the scuba divers suit up and spend hours exploring the kelp beds of the California coast. I can only imagine what beautiful things they saw.

I did an underpainting first using Caran d'Ache watercolor crayons deliberately letting the colors run into each other. Then I applied several layers of pastel using sticks of several brands including Terry Ludwig, Unison, Sennelier and a few Rembrandts for the small details. My favorite parts to work were the different patches of ocean water. Blue and turquoise have always been my favorite colors, so I was in my element!


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