October challenges
I belong to a group of pastel painters on Facebook. Some of these people are just awesome awesome Pastelists and I am in awe of their talents and that's the reason I joined the group. There are many learning opportunities as well as times when you get some really good constructive criticism. Most everyone is very encouraging. October is the time when we dedicate ourselves to painting in pastels every day. I started the challenge last year after I joined the group and really enjoyed the experience I had working in pastels. It really helped me gain more confidence with the medium. I love the immediacy of this medium. It is also very forgiving. If you don't like where the painting is going, you can wipe it off and start again or just adjust portions that may not be working out. There are a lot of different techniques besides the actual drawing process. You can begin with a wash to set the tone of the base painting, there are different types of paper and ways to prepare the paper that can give you a really interesting effect. I haven't experimented much but will venture out a bit more as I get more comfortable with the medium.
The collage below is a sampling of what I accomplished this month. If you click on the picture, you'll get the full view.
Plein air painting is coming to a close this year but I have one more workshop experience in plein air that I'm really looking forward to. More to come on that in my next blog. Also looking forward to showing the plein air work done this year by me and my other painting partners in an exhibit in January.
