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.