I must admit that I have never to date used the term "door-yard" and I am familiar with it only through Walt Whitman's poem When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom'd. However, a close friend of mine has a walled patio in France, with roses over the door, and he asked me to paint the scene for him. So, here it is, door, yard, and roses instead of lilacs. There is sage and rosemary too. The first picture is the underpainting, and because of the complexity of the foliage and background, I reduced the original photograph to 16 colours in Paintshop Pro, and based the underpainting on that, choosing only 16 pastels nearest to the colours in the altered image.
The second picture is a development of more colours, still using pencils and Rembrandt, but also moving into Sennelier and Schminke where the colour was needed. The work is progressing in the main from top left to bottom right, although I went vertically down the left side to work on the door, the big pot, and the ground. I was surprised to see the profile of Julius Caesar appear on the pot...
The third picture has some more detail on the roses, after fixing. I am working on darkest darks and lightest lights to gauge maximum contrast; and a new palette of colours has been introduced to work on the sage leaves.
My article on Irish artist Victor Richardson is published in the December issue of the Pastel Journal, and his work was chosen for the cover of the issue. The magazine is on the bookstands, but is also available as a digital download from the North Light shop.
A new book on painting in pastels is always a welcome event in publishing. It is even more welcome when the book is by somebody who is as thoroughly versed in their art - and craft - as Ellen Eagle. (You can find out more about Ellen on my blog artistsinpastel.com) Ellen's new book is called Pastel Painting Atelier – Essential Lessons in Techniques, Practices, and Materials.It is published by Watson Guptill; and Crown Publishing,and costs $35 US or $41 Canada. It is also available as an ebook. Publication date is April 23, 2013!
This blog is a development from my pastel directory, www.artistsinpastel.com where pastel artists the world over were featured, until developments in social media made it redundant. This is where I post new paintings from time to time, with some notes on their genesis, and whatever else comes to mind.
I have been painting with pastels for over 25 years, and have learned from the very practical publications of artists like Alan Flattmann, Daniel E. Greene, and more recently Richard McKinley and Ellen Eagle.
The work of other artists who work in the medium is always of interest,, and I am happy to have met many of them, and to have interviewed some for the Pastel Journal.
Still Life is the subject matter that most interests me, and my pastels have been exhibited in Ireland, in France and in China.
