Thursday, February 19, 2009

fall grasslands pastel version

fall grasslands pastel
pastel on Wallis paper 6"x9"
sold

This is the same scene that I painted in oil a few days ago. I added some vertical elements to hopefully improve the composition. I feel that both photos have turned out too orange. The paintings are not quite so orange though they may need some lighter golden tones. I was having trouble coming up with a luminous color that wasn't too bright. Gee, I may need to buy more pastels. :)
These grassland areas are the Missouri River bottomlands that flooded so badly in '93. Now it is a wetlands project. Waste water is channeled there to be naturally purified. You can see tons of birds there. Geese, ducks, eagles, herons, egrets...


4 comments:

  1. Jean, I like it. Check out the site of Michael Chesley Johnson, http://wheezard.blogspot.com/. He's doing field studies and has tips you might be interested in.

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  2. This one is lovely also. The vertical elements seem to add a bit of smaller human scale to it, while the first version feels like vast, endless space. Interesting how these elements change the whole thing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful. I love the color, but we all need a nice excuse to buy new pastels!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Bob, Karen, and Jala.
    Karen, I noticed that too, but I was wondering if it was also because the distant land mass is thicker, and so it looks nearer.
    It is amazing how certain little things can make a big difference

    ReplyDelete