Pastel Painting Lessons & Techniques

Step 4:

After the sky was in, I painted the water line, and was careful to put in a line of pink between the far off clouds and the horizon. That too, happens on days like this. It was crucial to make it clear what the weather was.

Then it was time to paint in the distant land, bluing it a lot more than the forefront because it really is a good distance off (maybe a mile or 2). The day was very clear and crisp though so I put the sand in those far off dunes very strongly.

Next was time to begin the water and marsh grasses. I love how the blue of the water just bounces off the golden color of winter marsh grasses.

This point, I was still very unclear about what I was going to do in the foreground, so I started on the tree (nothing like a good case of avoidance!). To do the tree, I put in a darker coat underneath again, because I decided that the watercolor wash was just not dark enough. Then I began laying in the branches (the tree is about half done here).

This shows the finished work. I decided by the time I finished the tree, that I just wanted to carry more of that golden marsh color into the foreground, as if I were standing more into this marsh than I was able to do (Audubon requests that folks do not stray off paths for the sake of the wild animals and plants there).

This is one of very few pieces for me, that I knew exactly when I was done. It went together very smoothly without any of those hassle spots, and I felt I captured everything I wanted to. I can look at this and be right there, minus the frozen fingers!