New work in progress # 4

First layer of color and I'm very pleased with the results. Subsequent layers go alot more slowly.

New work in progress # 3

Here I've done the second pass with a black pastel chalk emphasizing the darkest shadow areas, and using the paper itself for the lightest lights. The depth is still clear, and I'm really pleased with the form of the basket and the doll, though the eggs in the foreground still seem pretty flat. They'll take on more shape as the colors are worked in.

New work in progress # 2

This is how it looks transferred to the pastel paper. The image is now 16x21 inches on a 19.5x25.5 inch sheet of medium weight pastel paper similar to hanemule paper. It is done in a black pastel pencil. I'm particularly pleased that it already shows depth with a distinct foreground, middle ground and background. The shadow of the basket really helps to push the basket forward on the paper to give the necessary illusion of depth.

New work in progress # 1

This is a new drawing that I am turning into a pastel painting. This photo shows the original graphite drawing on Canson sketch paper. It is 11x14 inches. I've been working on the project for several weeks now. I hope to have the pastel work done before the end of the month so I can submit it to the gallery. If I don't have it ready for then, I'll have to wait till June to submit it. I'll post the photo of the first transfer to the pastel paper tomorrow.

Its the first day of spring

It's the first day of spring, but you'd never know it to look out my windows. This one is looking out the patio door on the north side of the house.

And I took these when I went out to shovel the front steps. When the snow slides off the roof it tends to fill up the driveway, so the plough cuts the snowbank back as close to the house as he dares. At least with the Mansard roof we don't have to go up and shovel the snow off the second storey. We never have to worry about the roof collapsing due to the weight of snow as has happened to others in the past couple of weeks.

This snowbank at the front of the house hasn't been touched at all. If it hadn't poured rain at Christmas and late Jan/early Feb it would be a couple of feet higher than it is.

value study 2

I'm quite pleased with the way the folds of the cloth turned out on this one.

value study 1-corrected

I decided to repost this study after I added the shadows on the left. In the earlier study I hadn't depicted the shadow of the squash on the wall, or even the values of the wall itself. As a result it looked a bit too flat. The addition of the shadows livens up the background.