Outback 2 (Xposted in Plein Air)

[Jo Castillo]

It was great to get out on the porch and paint. Beautiful day, on and off cloudy. I recycled a piece of UArt paper. It had a mostly red still life. I wiped and brushed it off and wet with alcohol and left some drips along the bottom. UArt paper takes a lot of taping down, it curls I guess it is after all sandpaper. This makes glazing with a soft touch a bit harder than Pastelbord for example. I try not to blend with my fingers and blend with a harder pastel. The results using a light touch and blending darker to light works well. I have a hard time as I get excited and want to put the highlights on too early! Playing in the dust is fun.

The wipe off and then the drippy surface.

Finish:

Outback 2, pastel on UArt 400 grit sanded paper, 12 x 9 inches, assorted soft pastels

 

[MurrayG]

Hi Jo. Wow at the same time as being vibrant, it manages to capture the weather. Thanks for going thro the technique. I can't get UArt but it seems nice. Ok, what can I say, stunning. That cloud is just lovely, as are the water reflections and foreground. Lovely highlights. Like it a lot.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Murray, thanks so much. I love pastels and plein air. Way out of practice!

 

[Terri]

Jo, I'm blown away by this. I think you were brave to start with such a deeply red underpainting. Your colors are probably richer for it. It's beautiful! That wonderful light blue reflection in the water is so delicate, as is that stunning cloud. Loving those greens in the foreground, too.

Eye candy! Great work!

 

[JStarr]

Terrific use of that red-red ground- this is great! That cloud is *spectacular*!

UArt does seem to curl more- I usually roll it back up the other way and use a couple wide rubberbands to hold it for awhile to force it to STOP CURLING DANG IT! That works for a day or so, then I have to do extra hinge-mounts on the re-rolling corners.

I use sheets and they will try to curl even if left in their flat box. I wonder if the pads are the same?

 

[Jo Castillo]

Terri, thank you so much. I sketch a lot and like to sketch with pastels so I usually get a good photo and then wipe off the surface and go again. Even with MiTeintes paper. This time I chose to leave some under painting showing. I usually cover the under painting. The red was good because there was so much green.

JStarr, my favorite surfaces are Pastelbord and Colourfix by Art Spectrum. I like layering and uneven surface doesn't suit my style it makes marks I don't care for and end up blending with my fingers, which I don't do much. A little in the sky sometimes. I usually blend with harder pastels which again doesn't work well on the curls. I probably won't buy more UArt. Lots of artists just love it so don't know how the pads work. Did you ever use Wallis paper? It was so nice to work on. I did tape the paper down.I tape on the back so I can paint to the edge as I frame against the glass with no mat or spacers. Been doing that for 25 years. Thanks for your lovely comments.

 

[Artyczar]

I, too, am blown away! This is extraordinary. Absolutely gorgeous! The technique is fascinating.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Thanks so much Artyczar. I've been doing pastels a long time but haven't been painting much. It is like learning again. The praise feels good!

 

[Donna T]

Hi Jo - thanks for showing the steps for this piece. As much as I love the drippy under painting (so pretty) I am really impressed by the finished piece. I'm sure it's based on the reality of your view but you bring so much more expression and feeling to it. The bits of under painting showing through are so nice!

 

[Jo Castillo]

Thanks, Donna. You know about pastels and the joy of painting and drawing at the same time. Appreciate your comments so much.