RED

5"x5" pastel on moonstone Canson Mi-Teintes

I know, it has been awhile since I have posted on my blog.  It's the holiday season and of course I'm busy, but still painting. During the Christmas season I am surrounded by RED….. it's everywhere you look. So I thought I would use red in my next several paintings and try out some different papers. I feel like experimenting……

"two red barns" 5"x7" pastel on Rives paper

This is from a photo I took while visiting my family in CT last year. I love barns. I had coated some Rives printmaking paper with some clear gesso, it gave it a nice texture and I was able to build up the pastel.

"she's a beauty" 6"x6" on Uart 500

For this one I went back to my "comfy" paper. And for the RED, why not a cardinal?

"snow day" 5"x7" pastel on moonstone Canson Mi-Teintes paper

For the next few paintings, I decided to challenge myself and use the Canson paper that I struggle with. But I tell you, the more I use this paper, the more I like it! I do find that I have to spray with some fixative to build up some layers, but I really like it for these snow paintings.

"it's cold" 5"x7" pastel on moonstone Canson Mi-Teintes paper

"crimson delight" 5"x7" pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

Well I'm on roll with the red paintings and will continue to paint some more. I have not come up with a name for the first one posted, maybe you all would come up with a title for me!

Merry Christmas!

Tee pee commission #4

Tee Pee #4 13"x24" on Uart 500

My bother-in-law and sister-in-law, who have a home in Big Sky MT, asked me to do another painting for them. I had done 3 14"x14" individual tee pee paintings previously.

3 previous paintings

They enjoyed them so much and had room for another painting on the wall. It had to be a particular size to fit into the space, so it had to be 13"x24"- this is the largest painting for me so far! Bill wanted a village this time! I wanted to paint them a beautiful MT sky. With out any trips planned to MT, I had to resort to the internet and came up with 4-5 photos that were from the area they live. 

I usually paint from my own photos, so I decided to use elements from each of the photos to make the painting more of my own. It was a challenge! I went to my favorite paper, Uart 500. Because of the size, I mounted it on 4ply perfect mount, toned the whole paper with ArtGraf viarco an alcohol, then drew in the basic shapes.

From here, you can see the progression - it took many layers of pastel and several days to finish. I really wanted the painting to be about the beautiful MT skies and kept the tee pee's very simple and nestled into the plains . 

progressions

Here are two detail photos. I have not given them the painting yet, but I hope they will be happy with the outcome!

my process for doing a pastel painting

"meadow of gold" 12"x16" pastel on Uart 500  $125

Third in my series of autumn weed paintings. I thought I would talk about my process for my paintings.  First - I have to be connected and excited about the subject matter - Right now I'm in love with the yellows of the goldenrod flower! I usually take several photos of the same area and then chose one or two for reference. 

I print off a black and white version because it really helps me to see the values and not focus on the local color. From this I do a thumbnail drawing using no more than four values and make notes about the light quality and things I remember from being there. Next is the hard part for me!!! I have so much to learn about using color - I pick out the pastel sticks I will use for the painting. Starting with the dark values , then the lights values (usually the sky) and then I fill in with the middle values as I begin to work on the painting. Last come the accent and spice colors. The scene is predominately green, so I pull out my boxes of Terry Ludwig greens (you can see which ones I use) and then pull the other colors from my working box. I keep my pallet to no more than 15-20 sticks.

Terry Luwig greens(warm and cool)

darks, lights , some mid values and spice

I'm loving the ArtGraff water soluble chalks for underpainting. I do a simple drawing of the basic shapes from my thumbnail  and rub the chalk on the darkest value areas in the painting. From there I  take a paint brush with water to blend it. Remember you don't need very much!

underpainting with ArtGraff

Next comes the pastel! I start by lightly layering in my darkest values, next lights and finally the middle values. From here I continue layering to build the shapes. Sometimes I use a workable fixative spray so the layers don't blend too much. The whole time I work on the painting , I step back and evaluate. Finally come the accents or "spices" as Karen Margulis calls them!

I took my time with this painting, spending 2 days on it. I'm still trying to absorb and apply all that I learned on my recent 3 day workshop with Karen Margulis and Marsha Savage. The more I paint, the more I grow!

If you would like to follow along with my art and art related topics, please click "like" on my art page on FB  -  Bonnie Morgan Hyde fine art. 

"golden"

"golden" 12"x16" pastel on Uart 500  $125

I was so inspired by a recent 3 day plein air workshop in Blue Ridge GA team taught by Karen Margulis and Marsha Savage! It rained 2 out of 3 days, but Karen and Marsha made up for it with a wealth of info and demos.  I was truly blessed for the weekend being surrounded by a talented group of artists. I was excited to get back home and try what I had learned. We are not quite in full autumn color here in GA, but the golden rod, grasses and other autumn flowering weeds are in full bloom. Unfortunately I am allergic to those weeds , but I couldn't resist going for a walk along the Chattahoochee River to scout out some ideas. Oh how I wanted to sit there and paint plein air! SNEEZE SNEEZE!!! So I headed home to my studio with a bunch of great photos and images fresh in my mind!

I was introduced to a new product for toning paper

It comes in six colors. I chose to tone my Uart 500 paper for the start of my series of autumn weed paintings. For the first painting, "sitting in the grasses", I chose the dark brown and toned the paper making it darker in the areas of darkest value.

You just take the block and rub it on the paper and blend with water and a brush. You don't need much, the pigment is rich. I did the same thing with the underpainting for the second painting, "golden" and chose sanguine.

You can see my line drawing here blocking in the big simple shapes of the painting. I tried to let the underpainting show through the pastel. There is so much you can do with these water soluble blocks, even drawing with them. I can't wait to experiment more!

"sitting in the weeds" 8"x10" on Uart 500  $60

"I'm in the mood for autumn"

"I'm in the mood for autumn" 6"x12" pastel on Wallis $60

I really get excited when the season's change, in particular summer to autumn. Autumn is my favorite season, the crisp cooler weather and the beautiful colors of the foliage. The foliage is just starting to turn here in GA, but I was anxious to start painting those vibrant autumn colors. So I pulled out some reference photos from the last two years.  It has been raining and a good time to be in my studio.

I'm headed out for a 3 day plein air workshop with Karen Margulis and Marsha Savage in the Blue Ridge mountains next week! These will mostly be field study paintings and I wanted to try out some papers I'm thinking about bringing. I had ordered some Wallis warm Belgium mist paper but have not used it.  I thought the paper color would be good so I would not have to worry about doing an underpainting. 

"it's an autumn day" 6"x12" pastel on Wallis $60

I really loved the way the pastel went on the paper and the paper color showing through was perfect. I have also bought some Girault pastels to bring along in my single sketchbook Heilman box, and have a double sketchbook Heilman box with Plein air  and southeast landscape Terry Ludwig pastels.

single sketchbook with Girault

double sketchbook with Terry Ludwig

Now all I have to do is get my backpack loaded with pastel , papers and tripod. I have only tried plein air painting one time, so I am pretty excited to have 3 days to experience plein air painting with 2 fabulous teachers.

"follow me" 12"x16" pastel on Uart  $125 

For this painting I worked on different mark marking ,using broader strokes.

I will be selling these posted paintings at Art For The Park Oct 1 / Atlanta Country Club and Whimsical Wares Art and Gift show Nov 11-15 ( no location yet). 

As always you can see more of my work at Bonnie Morgan Hyde fine art @ FB

  

Composition and value

"countryside" 10"x10" on Pastel Premier  $80

When I visit my sister in Connecticut, I usually like to take a walk up the road and take some photos of the beautiful countryside. She lives up on a hill and the view is beautiful. I always take a few photos of this barn but have never painted it.  The photo was not that great, I did a few sketches , cropped the photo and finally decided on a square format. The field in front was pretty with the wildflowers.  I used the pastel premier paper… it's texture is different from the Uart I am accustomed to. I decided to do an underpainting with nupastels, rubbed it in with some foam and spray it with a little fixative.  As I was layering in the pastels , something was not working.  The pastels I had chosen were not the right values. 

So I put the paper in the sink and washed off the pastel, blocked it to dry. I found the pastel premier paper to be as durable as the Uart!

underpainting

 The underpainting I ended up with was much more exciting, but I was still struggling with the color values. When this happens, I print off the reference photo in black and white.

Black and white reference photo

I saw why I was struggling…. the barn, trees and background were all very close in value. I thought about all the things I have learned about aerial perspective and knew I would need to make some adjustments to the color values to make the painting work. This painting was a struggle for me.  I was ready to give up on it, but I hated to waste the paper. So I started it over and I think I ended up with a better result.

a final tribute to summer - a gathering of my paintings from Plum Island MA

"a day of solitude" 6"x12" pastel on Wallis warm Belgium mist $60

Summer is over and I am excited for the change of seasons. As a final tribute to summer, I thought I would post all my Plum Island MA paintings in one blog post.

  Plum Island 5"x7"pastel studies framed 10"x12" $250 each

I have a special fondness for the beachside and had such a wonderful day this july driving out through the marshes of Plum Island to the beachside with my sisters. 

"marshside" 6"x12" pastel on Uart 500 $60

I hope you get the same happy feelings as you look at my paintings!

"the way to the beach" 12'x16" pastel on moonstone Canson Mi-tientes  $125

All these paintings will be for sale at the Whimsical Wares show November 11-15 in Marietta GA

"plum island point, ma" 6"x12" pastel on Wallis warm belgium mist $60

"through the marsh grass" 8"x8" on moonstone Canson Mi-tientes $60

me

my sisters

for more of my work , please check out my FB page - Bonnie Morgan Hyde fine art - which is dedicated to just my art and please click "like" !

"autumn glory"

"autumn glory" 12"x16" pastel on Uart 500

Labor Day weekend signifies, to me, the end of summer and the coming of autumn. By this time of the year, I am looking forward to the change of season and all the color of autumn. For this painting I used a reference photo from last October. On one of my many trips to Gibb's Garden, I still remember the feeling when we walked around the corner and into the wild flower field - it was ablaze with color! I worked most of today on this painting trying to capture that feeling - I hope you feel it too!

"saying good bye to summer"

"saying goodbye to summer" 10"x10" pastel on Uart 500  $80

For the second year I have been asked to do a benefit art and craft show for McFarlane Nature Park! Atlanta Country Club in Marietta GA hosts the show. This spring I painted four paintings ( see "Art for the Park" blog post) for the show and was so excited when one of my paintings showed up on the flyer!

top left is mine

Yesterday we were over at the park for a photo shoot and I thought I should take some more photos. We are at summer's end, the greens are not as brilliant and autumn is not showing her glory yet. But I was able to get a few photos that I could work with.

reference photos

I chose one to start.

reference photo

sketch on pastel paper

I liked the photo, but it needed some adjustments in the composition and I thought it would be better in a square format. I've been having fun with my new box of Schmicke watercolors, working on doing a better underpainting - so I used them for this underpainting.

watercolor underpainting

With a few more adjustments, I completed the painting. I had to tell myself to quit…. it was close to be overworked!  Hoping to get two more paintings completed for the show, which will give me seven!

P.S. if you would like to follow along with me, I have a FB page dedicated to just my art - 

Bonnie Morgan Hyde fine art . Please click "like"

conquering my frustrations

"at summer's end" 12"x!4' pastel on Uart 500

I had headed to Gibb's Garden with a friend for a last look at the end of summer perennials. As we  were walking along, there was a shrub that caught my attention. I liked the way the light was illuminating the leaves. I took several photos and saved them to use in my workshop with Karen Margulis.

8"x10" workshop study

I had this image in my head of how the painting would look, but I hadn't quite captured that image. So I decided to another larger painting. I used the study, my reference photo and a value study. I decide to do an alcohol wash with Nupastels for the underpainting.

value study

underpainting

I worked on the painting for an hour, but it was not coming together. Oh how I love Uart sanded paper!. I put the painting in the sink , washed off the pastel with water, blocked the paper and let it dry. I was left with an underpainting which looked more interesting. 

underpainting after the wash

Feeling frustrated with my progress, I decided to put the painting aside and have some play time (using my pastel paper scraps to make little paintings) in my studio to loosen up. I printed off a black and white version of my reference photo.

Black and white reference photo

 With the new underpainting and the black and white photo I went back at the painting and painted the image in my head. I worked on it for about 2 hours  and am much happier with the results.