Ohio Marsh 3

This one was done on black paper,and very hard to keep the painting light. Takes a lot of pastel to cover it. So what I have learned in this challenge...When doing the underpainting one should not go too dark if you want a lighter painting, that warm undertones do warm up the rest of the painting, that cooler ones keep it with a cool feeling. All these decisions need to be made before putting the brush to the paper. The whole idea of the Underpainting is keep that color and just add needed pastel. If you go too dark, then you have to use a lot of pastel to lighten. Always easier to go dark with the pastel.

Ohio Marsh 2

This Marsh painting was done on blue gray paper. It has a cooler look. These are definitely challenges as the colors change on the background colors.

Ohio Marsh 1

This is actually the Marsh done on White sanded paper with an underpainting. These were interesting to do to get the colors. This one on white paper came out with a very pastel shade painting where the previous one on Warm paper has a definite warm feeling.

Watercolor Pastel Challenge

After watching a Richard McKinley DVD, I decided to accept his challenge of doing the same painting on different colored paper. This was the actually the second painting done on warm ochre paper.. This was fun and exciting. I have been using these winter months to challenge myself to learn more about techniques, color, etc. Getting prepared for Plein air painting if Spring ever gets here. I am excited to go Saturday to the Ohio Plein Air Society annual meeting, a day long event with demos and to see all my plein air friends.