Playing with Pastels

"So You Better Get Ready", pastel, 5x7" When you are painting from a memory it can be hard to get the colors and values right. My memory of a wet and muddy dirt road near my old home finally gelled for me just before my class today. What a blessing! This is the same road from the last two paintings in this series, "Put on Your Walking Shoes". I can't get the song out of my head! Who knows where inspiration will come from? We just have to be ready to say "yes" to it! Get those pastels out and PLAY! Judy www.judyalbrightart.com

"Goin' on a Journey" pastel, 5x7" I am enjoying this series of imaginary landscapes. A song we sung in choir recently, "Put on Your Travelin' Shoes" inspired the titles. Judy www.judyalbrightart.com

"Put on Your Travelin' Shoes" pastel, 6x6" I am trying to learn to do better landscapes and painting a "sky hole" was the challenge of the day. I started with this ground  of a soft umber and sketched in the big shapes. I blocked in the basic hues and values using Nupastel. Painting in the sky holes makes it come alive. I used Richeson pastels mostly. I wanted to try my new set created by  Desmond O'Hagen. Had to get a few colors from my big set, but I think I might be on the right track. Hope you are playing with your pastels! Judy www.judyalbrightart.com

"The Comfort of an Old Friend" pastel, 5x7" I love this old teacup. I love the vintage napkin, too. I could have used a paper one, but it felt special to use this one. "Treat yourself," I said. Enjoyed talking to a new friend at church tonight. Another treat! Life's simple pleasures can be so comforting. Counting my blessings today... Judy

"Let Your Living Water Flow" I thought I might play around with some new pastel paper that I ordered. The grit was 250 and it was like painting on course sandpaper. I ended up using a piece of foam to push some color into the tooth. Interesting results. So I kept on playing. Sometimes it is good to fool around and not be concerned with results. Just let it flow... Judy www.judyalbrightart.com

"Living Water", pastel, 7x5" Again... (another day in the 30/30 painting challenge). I just had to paint something, but what? A simple subject (without a staged setting) was all I could come up with, as I had an hour before my class would arrive. I painted this one with just the intention of painting a beautiful water pitcher... a man made object...  that I love , to express with the appreciation that I have for it, and what it holds. I painted it and I like it. But I hope it expresses much more... Many colors make up the living water ... Play with your pastels... Judy www.judyalbrightart.com

"To the Fading Flower" pastel, 7x5" Last week after church a friend gave me a bouquet of flowers from the Fellowship Table to take home. They were so pretty and I thought I would paint them. Life got in the way and today all that was left was this one fading flower. It was not a well lit, perfect set up. The photo to the left was what I was looking at. The leaves were under water and the background was a chair and electrical outlet! As artists we are always interpreting what we see. I wanted to honor the beauty of this flower, so I glorified it! I set a stage of quiet beauty and tried to honor the life of this flower and the person who so kindly allowed me to enjoy it and it's friends. I painted the leaves where I wanted them to be. Sometimes we paint what we see... and sometimes we paint what we know it to be. Make sure you play with your pastels this week! Judy www.judyalbrightart.com