Heceta Head Lighthouse

I used a full sheet of Arches paper for this painting.  Here I have reserved the whites with resist in preparation for the first wet in wet washes.

I had a great time sloshing in all the juicy colors with a 2" flat brush; the resist acts like a dam keeping the colors from mixing where I don't want them to.

On the left is a muffin tin of the large pre-mixed colors I used.

I have laid in a second wash of darker values, still using the resist to help isolate colors from each other.

After I removed the resist I stroked soft pastel over almost everything to lighten values and add lots of interesting color combinations.

Plein Air and class work in Albuquerque

I had such a good time at IAPS in Albuquerque!!

I learned a lot about portraits in pastel from William Schneider and a lot more about landscapes in pastel from Lorenzo Chavez...take a minute to Google their names and you will see that I was learning from the best!

Every evening the clouds were spectacular at sunset - there was a lot of smoke in the air too, so the colors were muted near the ground.  Though it looks like rain, this is virga; rain that never reaches the ground.

We were very near the Sandia Mountains which were formed when tectonic plates collided.  In the foreground, is the ubiquitous Pinion Pine.

They haven't had even an inch of rain in 8 months and still the plants are alive - really amazing.  I painted in the shade of a pinion pine.

This piece was completed in class with Lorenzo Chavez, from a photo I took years ago.  I didn't have an enormous array of pastels, so some of the colors are a compromise.  I am happy with the looser, more painterly look to the piece though.

This is another class piece that is also from an old photo of mine - it came together quickly with all that I learned from Lorenzo.  Can't wait to get back in the studio....right after I mow the lawn!