Saturday, February 11, 2012

Hydrangea

This is a painting that I did last summer of a hydrangea blossom that has thrust its way through a neighbour's fence. I called it "Don't fence me in". I had not photographed it as I worked on it, but I can tell you that it's entirely composed of Rembrandt pastels on Clairefontaine Pastel Mat. Rather than do a blow-by-blow account of it, I have posted some close-up pictures of a few details. The original is 26 x 36 cms. or 10.25 x 14.5 ins. approximately.

I left most of the florets somewhat vague, but I did work on this single one to provide a focal point in the blossom:
This is a close-up of one of the shadow areas, with a sketchy showing of a leaf in the background:


And this is the single water droplet I included in the painting (less is more). You can see that there is not much to it:
Posted by Oldenbroke at 7:40 AM
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2 comments:

  1. CarolMarch 22, 2012 at 8:02 AM

    This is amazing. I truly thought the finished pastel was a photograph. I must revisit my Rembrandts which have sat idle while I invested large sums of money in the more expensive, softer brands.

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    1. OldenbrokeMarch 22, 2012 at 12:56 PM

      Thanks Carol - yes, I find the harder pastels more controllable, and I generally keep the soft ones for final touches if I am working this tightly. The softs work better for me if I want rapid plein air coverage; but I find it hard to relinquish control.....

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