Morning has broken…..

14"x14" pastel  $100

Morning has broken like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for them springing fresh from the Word

Remember the song by Cat Stevens? This song has special meaning for me. When I am out in the early morning walking my Siberian Husky, just before the sun rises, the sky is so soft in pinks, yellows and blues pastel. This song usually comes to mind for me. I have many sky photos from these early morning walks. I decided on a square 14"x14" format on Uart 500 paper for this one. I used a grid on the reference photo and the painting so the clouds were properly placed.

reference photo and pencil drawing with grid

For my underpainting, I decided to use soft pastels to block in the cloud shapes and colors.Then I did a an alcohol wash with a paint brush to blend the pastel. I wanted the painting to have a soft feeling.

soft pastels

alcohol wash with a paint brush blending in the pastels

I thought I would end up spending more than a day working on the sky, but the painting came together in about 2 hours. 

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning

Born of the one light, Eden saw play

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's recreation of the new day