Revisiting Favorite Places

Landscape artists usually have a great number of favorite places where they return to for inspiration for new painting ideas. I often revisit favorite landscape spots and take a fresh look at an old familiar place. I do many pastels of favorite motifs hopefully each pastel a little different from the ones I have done before. I find as I get more experienced as a working artist I can put a fresh face on an old familiar subject being able to interpret the subject in a fresh new way. The pastel shown on this post, "Horseshoe Bend Autumn Vista", is a view near Frenchtown, New Jersey. I often pass this scenic spot on my bicycle rides with my friends. I have done this scene before and I am sure I will do it again during a different season or a different time of day seeing it in a different light.

Working Fast

I always work pretty fast when doing my pastels. I like to do them in a single sitting. I am actually inpatient to see the final result. Regarding the pastel shown on this post (Bridge over Deep Run Creek, 9" x 12") I decided to work much faster than my usual pace. I wanted this to be an exercise in applying freer strokes of the pastel in order to achieve more of a sense of movement in the landscape. I was happy with the resulting pastel. The time to complete this pastel was less than one hour. Less can be more!

New Up Scaled Pastels

During the last several weeks I have been busy doing new pastels which are mainly up scaled versions of some of my favorite small pastels. I have just posted many of these new 10" x 10" pastels on my web site.

New Size Pastels Introduced

I have just started to work on a series of new pastels, each with a square format of 10" x 10". Some of these pastels will be inspired by my already completed favorite little square pastels but many will be completely new compositions. Look for many of these new 10" x 10" pastels to be introduced at the Yellow Springs Art Show and the Immaculata University Art Show opening this coming spring.










Winter Shadows - pastel - 10" x 10"

Winter Creek Bed

I was very happy with the way this pastel turned out. I really like the way the light hits the two larger rocks contrasted by the deep shadows in the snow. This scene is only a mile from my home in a very small park. This illustrates you don't have to travel far to find interesting compositions for art subjects. I will probably make a bigger version of this pastel.

Favorite Old Barn

I recently completed this small pastel. Over the years, this old barn with a damaged roof has appeared in many of my pastel landscapes. It is located in upper Bucks County and it really is one of my favorite barns to draw. I hope it stays around for many more years. Ironically it would be almost equally sad if this barn was renovated as opposed to being completely torn down. I like it just the way it is, rough, weathered and old.

Working in a Series

I often do a series of pastels based on the same theme. The day after Christmas we had our first snow of the season. I went out on a photo taking field trip and got many ideas for new pastels. I have already completed about six pastels based on this one field trip. "Barn with Overhang in Winter" show here is one of these recently completed pastels.