by Bethany | July 8, 2020
Hi everyone! I’m so excited to release another Patron only videos to the public. This one was a favorite from last year!
This piece began on an Uart premium mounted board. I used an 11×14 size. I am loving working on these and have enjoyed being able to just pull from my stash and immediately begin painting a standard size. I have mentioned in the past that they are harder than what I am used to. The board is stiffer than the foam core I use with my unmounted paper from the large roll I purchased from dakotapstels.com. I am getting used to it though and they are just so convenient!
I wanted this piece to have a lot of warmth. Compared to the photo, this painting has mood and emotion – something that yellow underpainting helped me achieve!
I began with a basic wash of ochre yellows and orange with rubbing alcohol and then began my normal blocking in of the additional layers. My palette:
In studying skies, sometimes we miss the more simple effects we can create for more dramatic scenes of thunderheads and cumulous clouds. This scene was so pretty and I loved how the lacy clouds arched over the waters casting a simple and slight reflection.
And for the first time here – we have some wildlife! Adding the ducks into this piece gave it the perfect charming touch. With a few simple marks and shadow/reflection indications, we can symbolize and animal without having to fret too much about perfect realism.
Watch the video by clicking below! It’s about 40 minutes long.
I first begin by scumbling on some harder pastel and working it in with rubbing alcohol. I want to give the entire piece a warmer feel.
Once the surface is dry, I apply my dark blue Nupastel in the dark areas where the trees will be. I intend to do another round of alcohol to help wash these layers in.
I love this soft sky! I’m working loosely here and don’t want to completely cover the yellow underpainting. Letting the surface breath helps avoid a thicker surface. I love a transparent quality to pastel paintings.
Starting to add in some beautiful blue reflections in the water. So fun!
Finishing touches all around. Working on the water and the banks, the cute little ducks, the distant fields. Wanting to keep this soft and ethereal.
Thank you all for watching! I hope you have fun with this painting. I’ll be posting another soon! In the meantime, if you’d like to watch a year’s worth of videos plus tons of information blogs and art lessons, you can subscribe to my patreon here.
Now, go forth and paint! Let’s spread joy and light.
xoxo,
Bethany
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