Sennelier La Carta Pastel card ( Review )

“A beautiful body perishes, but a work of art does not.” Leonardo Da Vinci

For a very very long time, I have been using only  Canson Mi Teintes paper  for my soft pastel artworks. However lately I began exploring La Carte Pastel card by Sennelier which I purchased from Blick Art Materials a while ago. It’s not that I am unhappy with Canson paper as a choice but there are times when I feel the need to add more than three to four layers which gets difficult in Canson Mi Teintes paper as it’s surface cannot hold more than two to three layers of pastels. Whereas a sanded paper can accept many layers of pastels on it and as an artist you get the freedom to experiment with soft, hard edges. It’s very versatile.

Below are some of my 3” X 4” soft pastel studies that I created on Sennelier La Carta pastel card and I am totally in love with it. It’s great to be working with this sanded surface and I am truly enjoying it. So if you are looking to work with a sanded paper, then do go with this one as I highly recommend it. 

To browse through my latest artworks ( I am more active these days on Instagram ), do visit my INSTAGRAM portfolio where in I share my art and my thoughts behind creating it.

 

If you wish to know more details about each of the above paintings, do browse through my Instagram portfolio where I am more regular at posting my artworks in different mediums. 

“Beach Reflections” A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

 “ Limitless and immortal, the waters are the beginning and end of all things on earth.” Heinrich Zimmer

Somewhere in December 2019, I was at Bogmalo beach ( Goa ), with family to attend a marriage function. Little did we know of what was in store for us in the coming months. And then in 2020, Covid struck and all traveling came to a halt for a long long time. Therefore this beautiful beach is a reminder of the pre covid carefree era, when I took out time one early morning to walk along the shoreline and capture some lovely photographs which I planned to paint later at leisure. 

Today’s soft pastel painting of an early morning scene at Bogmalo Beach is one of the many paintings that I have created in the recent times. What I loved a lot in this particular capture is the reflection of the distant hills reflecting on the water reaching the shoreline. 

“Beach Reflections”

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 5” X 7”

Like in any typical soft pastel painting, I have used Canson Mi Teintes paper and my usual Mungyo, Kohinoor Toison Dor and Sennelier pastels. These pastels work great in combination and as of now I am pretty content with my collection and do not wish to add any more.

If you wish to see some of my latest artworks you can visit my Instagram site wherein I post my works more regularly. Thank you for browsing through my blog. 🙏

Afloat - A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they are still beautiful.” Alice Walker

A log of wood, floating in the still waters at the banks of Kaveri river near Dubare Forest in Coorg. The moment my eyes captured this sight, I knew I had to paint it some day. I decided to go with the soft pastel medium for this work as I wanted a dark background which can be achieved so well using my newly purchased Sennelier pastels from Creative hands online store. The log of wood was half immersed in the water and the light and shadow play gave a new definition to the entire set up.

I scraped an old white pastel to create the sparkles on the water. Apart from using my usual Mungyo and Kohinoor Toison Dor soft pastels, I also use pastel pencils from Derwent as it helps to create some sharp details like grasses and twigs.

Afloat

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size 4.5” X 6.5”

Sennelier extra dark soft pastels

If you wish to know about the papers I use for my soft pastel paintings CLICK HERE. I have created a post regarding the same in 2016. 

If you wish to see all my artworks in Gallery format, visit my INSTAGRAM site where I post my works on a regular basis. Thanks for visiting my blog and browsing through my artworks. 

Frothy Sea waves - A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

“Choose only one master - Nature”.  Rembrandt

Today’s soft pastel painting is inspired by the beautiful “Frothy sea waves” which reach the shore after a long journey. When observed closely, the froth creates interesting shadow patterns on the sands below. Soft pastel, I feel, is a great medium to capture the beauty of these waves on paper.

If you have been regularly watching my blog and INSTAGRAM feed, you will know that for most of my pastel paintings, my preferred choice of paper is undoubtedly “Canson Mi Teintes” which is available in many different shades. I settled for this paper for the following reasons:

1. It is an acid free paper, guaranteeing longevity
2. Available easily on many online stores in India
3. It is available in 42 different shades which helps the artists in picking the right one depending on
    the subject.
4. This paper has a dual surface, a rough textured the and smooth textured. Both sides are usable.
5. As compared to many other papers, Canson Mi Teintes is very reasonably priced and for beginners
    it is an excellent choice.

Frothy Sea waves

A soft pastel painting on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Size: 5” X 7”

These days I am into both the “Water color” as well as the “Soft Pastel” medium. I enjoy working with both of them and am trying to keep a balance between the two. 

Do browse through my INSTAGRAM feed to see some of my latest works and thanks for visiting my blog.

Step by step, a soft pastel painting of a landscape from Bharatpur, Rajasthan

"Colour is the pulse of the painting." Michele Cooper

Keoladeo Ghana National park formerly known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. One third of the park is wetland systems with varying types of microhabitats having trees, mounds, dykes and open water with or without submerged or emergent plants. The uplands have grasslands ( Savannas ) of tall species of grass together with scattered trees and shrubs present in varying density. ( COURTESY: WIKIPEDIA )

We were there some years back in the month of November. The pastel painting as below is of a morning scene at this Sanctuary. We were in the boat with a guide who was rowing the boat at a very gentle pace so as to avoid disturbing the nesting birds. The morning sun rays lit up the tall dry grass blades and the scene came up so live and vibrant with colours. The warm colours of the sunlit grass was such a contrast to the cool colours of the shadows in the surroundings.

I enjoyed creating this pastel painting and used Mungyo, Koh-I-Noor and Sennelier pastels for the same. To know about the papers that I use for my soft pastel paintings you can CLICK HERE.

The Morning Glow

Soft pastel painting on Canson MT paper

Size 6"X 8"

The soft pastel painting "The Morning Glow"progressed in stages. I am posting two images below.

Step 1. Keeping the composition in mind, I drew a faint outline

and then blocked in the major shapes using the underlying 

dark colours keeping in mind the values.

( The sky and water were painted in similar colours )

Step 2. Started the second layer of colours, adding details and
strokes to suggest foliage, grass etc.Smudging only
if required, else I just leave original pastel strokes.

Step 3. In the final stage of the pastel painting, I add the finishing touches ie adding the glow to the tips of the grass, creating few branches in the tree using pastel pencils, few grasses on the lake along with its reflection.

I purchased a few Koh-I-Noor individual pastel pencils from ART LOUNGE while it was running its annual sale earlier this year. 

My collection of pastel pencils

Before attempting this scene in soft pastels, I did a small study work of the same using willow charcoal and charcoal pencil. To view the value study CLICK HERE. Creating a tonal value study work always helps in a better understanding of the subject that I am going to paint in the coloured medium.

I hope you have enjoyed browsing through my blog. Thanks for taking out your precious time and visiting here. Your comments are welcome.

Two study works of "Trees" in soft pastel medium

"Good drawing forms the 'bones' on which a strong painting hangs." Chris Bingle

 Before I start off with my painting, I like to study the subject so as to get an understanding of the composition, the colours, the values and the techniques that I will apply in order to get the effect that I am visualizing in the mind. My vision of the artwork must meet what I create on paper.

The soft pastel artworks as below are of two majestic trees as seen and photographed at Kaveri river bank, Dubare forest near Coorg. During monsoon the river is overflowing and hence these exposed roots are not visible as they are submerged under water. We visited this place during the month of March when the water flow was bare minimum and I got to photograph some of these old archaic trees

Two Soft pastel study works of trees
as seen at Dubare forest, Coorg.
Size 4" X 5.5"

Every tree has its unique character, shape, form and identity. It's a great experience to sketch and paint these graceful elements of nature.

The "study works" as above will guide me in future to create a larger painting if required.

Rainy day - a pastel painting ( Karla - near Lonavala )

While on our visit to Lonavala recently, we went for a drive to Karla. Being rainy season the lush greenary was enchanting. I took couple of photographs ( with the intention of creating Landscape paintings ) and the pastel painting below is the first one which I have done from my reference photograph.

This one did look so complicated but I wanted to give it a try. As I do more of my landscapes, I come across situations where it makes me think, about the colours, the depth and slowly and steadily I find that things do get sorted out. I am also working on few more pastel works, mainly landscapes.

Rainy day in Karla

Pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Pastel painting from a reference photograph

Finally I indulged in a pastel painting after a very long time. Pastel medium is one of my favourite mediums. It is very versatile and gets done much faster as compared to canvas and charcoal work.

The photograph I used as a reference for this particular painting was clicked by my son while we were holidaying in COORG. I particularly liked the perspective of the tree and its exposed roots. A very different composition from my normal previous works.

 It looked pretty simple to begin with but as I progressed I realised that it had too many details and finally I landed up using my MUNGYO, KOH-I-NOOR and GALLERY pastels too. A challenging photograph always helps in learning new lessons. I enjoyed doing this painting and am working on my next pastel painting which too is from my reference photograph taken at Himachal Pradesh.

The Mighty one

Soft Pastel painting on FABRIANO TIZIANO paper

size 6.5" X 9" ( Excluding the mountboard )

For this particular work I have used Fabriano paper but for my other works I shall continue using Canson Mi Tentes paper as well. Both the papers I find are good for creating pastel works.

I have used Winsor and Newton fixative after blocking in the values in the first layer. Normally after the last layer I avoid adding further fixative as it dulls the colours.