Pastel Painting Lessons & Techniques

Step 5:

At this point, I had finished off all the clouds (though adjustments still were happening in contrast mostly, and the top of the clouds are cropped in this image to allow more focus on the water), including adding a small faint cloud along the lower left horizon line, and I began the water. I laid in a dark blue (Rembrandt's Prussian 508.5) first, and then began to work the sky colors into the water in straight lines.

Step 6:

Following the laying in of horizontal color lines, I blended them in horizontally. Then I began to lay in another layer with a bit more variety in line, and again a light blending. And a recent discovery of mine for rendering water is the light overlaying of an Alpha-Color white (yes, those inexpensive little Alpha-Colors) over the top. Alpha-Color has very little pigment so you almost can't see it, but it lends texture to the water. Finally, I added some birds to the sky and the water (barely visible here in the sky...sorry!).

Then I sat back to look at it for a bit. Something didn't feel quite right and I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Step 7:

The final image: I decided that several things had been bothering me. First, I eliminated the birds from the water, after someone in my family asked me if they were lobster pot buoys (families do a great job of "proofing") and then I reduced the contrast in the clouds just a bit. I think in this image it is most noticeable in the lower clouds. Even I have to admit, however, you cannot see it much here, but it made me feel better!

Finally, I decided that there was just too much water, that perhaps I had not made it clear whether I was meaning to focus on the sky or the water, not to mention that the water held kind of a pattern above and I didn't like that. Since it was the vastness of the scene I was after, I opted to crop the water. A friend of mine confirmed it for me when she said she would also prefeår the water cropped a bit.

And Voila!