"early rising"

"early rising" 9"x12" pastel on La Carte

I'm considering doing another series of sky paintings. It really is one of my favorite subjects to paint. I had done a series last year of 10 - 5"x7" studies. This time I'm going to keep the size about 9'x12" or larger. I usually catch the sunrise when I am walking my siberian husky in the morning, so I always bring along a camera or at least my iPhone. One of these days I will paint the sky plein air! I made my first attempt at plein air painting on my 60 birthday last week. It was fun but overwhelming! I have so much to learn!

At any rate….. for this painting I used my own reference photo.

It had been raining for the last 2 weeks so I was excited when I saw the sun rise that morning.  I did a 5"x7" study and picked out my pastels (although I did add a few along the way).

pastel palette and sample La Carte paper

5"x7" study

I didn't spend more than 10-15 mins on the study, I just wanted to get the colors laid in and keep it fresh. I decided to use a greenish/blue Sennelier La Carte paper for this painting. You can see it with the pastels. The more I use this paper, the more I like it! I don't have to do an underpainting and the paper takes a lot of layers of pastel without having to spray it. It gave the sky a soft feel, perfect for a morning after the rain. I decided against putting in the electric post, it would have detracted from the beautiful sky. The fun of being an artist…. we always have a choice!