Painting a forest scene in soft pastel medium

"The artist is always beginning. Any work of art which is not a beginning, an invention, a discovery is of little worth." Ezra Pound ( Courtesy: skinnyartist.com )

The paper that I use most often for my soft pastel works is "Canson Mi Teintes" which fortunately comes in assorted colours. This works as an advantage because choosing the right colour for the subject makes a lot of difference. To know more about the different shades and its specific names you can visit the site DICKBLICK. I normally use Twilight, Tobacco, Sand and Moonstone but I am open to experimenting and exploring with the other colours as well.

For my today's soft pastel painting I decided to go with black Canson MT paper as I wanted the foreground and part of the middle ground to be dark and in shadows. This is a beautiful scene from Karnala Bird Sanctuary and I love this place as I get to walk through different muddy pathways. It is densely populated with trees and in the morning hours I get the perfect light and shadow scenes. 

I have titled this painting "A walk through the shadows" as it reminds me of those beautiful moments in the tranquil nature. 

A walk through the shadows

A soft pastel painting on Canson MT paper

Size 5"X 7"

The soft pastel painting as above progressed in stages and the images can be seen as below. The broken pastels that can be seen around are from Mungyo, Gallery, Camlin and Koh-I-Noor. I also have a set of 24 dark Sennelier pastels which I use towards the end as they are very very soft.

Step 1. Creating the basic outline of the main elements

using white soft pastel pencil and blocking in the colours

of the winding pathway and the distant foliage.

Step 2. Blocking in the major shapes with respective colours

keeping in mind the source of light and atmospheric perspective.

In the final stages, I redo the layering of colours, making changes where ever required. All the detailing happens in the end.

Before I begin any painting, I create small "Thumbnail sketches" or "Tonal value studies" which help me understand the subject well and these little ten minute works enable me to decide on the best composition. Two of the small quick art studies can be seen below. The black and white study has been done using a single Staedtler 8B pencil. I have started using this pencil quite recently and am enjoying it. Both are sized 2" X 3".

Tonal value sketch & Thumbnail sketch

of a landscape.

Thank you all for visiting my blog. If you are into soft pastel medium I would love to know about the papers you use. Do leave in a comment. Browse through my other artworks on my INSTAGRAM page.

Blue Haven Beach, Esperance, West Australia

"The only time I feel alive is when I am painting". Vincent Van Gogh

In my last post I mentioned about the two photographs which were sent to me by my close friend.I already posted the painting of the beach scene from Jurien Bay.

Today I am posting my second painting which I created referring to the seashore at Blue Haven, Esperance,West Australia. In my last painting I over did the ocean and was not quite happy with the outcome. This time I was slow, patient and more focused. Getting the green vegetation on the rocky slopes continues to be a challenge but I am sure that with time and experience I will evolve my technique to get it right.

On the whole, from the sky to the foreground I quite managed the steps as I had planned. In this painting I used "Cinereous blue" by Sennelier in the ocean. I purchased a very small Aqua Mini set of 8 half pans some months back from Amazon.in. Never got the opportunity to use it as I was busy with my pastels and charcoals. Finally inaugurated it with this painting. The Cinereous Blue colour by Sennelier is rich, flows and blends beautifully with other colours. I have also used Viridian Green and Ultramarine Blue by Winsor and Newton to colour the crystal clear waters of the ocean.

Blue Haven beach, West Australia
Water colour painting on Campap paper
Size 8.5" X 11"

Winsor and Newton artist's water colour tubes are expensive. I have the Cotman collection which I purchased more than a decade back. Some of the colours are drying up and hence along with Camlin brand, I am also using the Winsor and Newton Cotman collection. I have about ten different shades.

CLICK HERE to view my water colour palette.

Thank you for visiting my blog and keep browsing. Check out my ART WORKSHOP page to know about my workshop schedule. If you wish to purchase any of my original artworks do CONTACT ME and I shall get back to you as soon as possible.

Jurien Bay, West Australia - A water colour painting

"I dream of painting and then I paint my dream." Vincent Van Gogh

Painting a seashore relaxes me completely. I am so drawn to this subject. Many of my friends who know about my passion for painting keep sending me photographs from all around the world. I am very grateful to all of them. Today's painting is with reference to a beach photograph sent by one of my friends.

Jurien Bay is a coastal town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 220 kms north of Perth facing the Indian Ocean. The town has a beautiful coastline. What inspired me further was the unique rock formations, the wet sand and the reflections.

At Jurien Bay, West Australia

Water colour painting on Campap paper

Size 8.5" X 11"

I take "Art Workshops" from time to time and to know more about it you can visit my page for further details. My works can also be browsed at in my INSTAGRAM page. I enjoy painting and blogging and my recent venture into Instagram is helping me get connected with many different artists around the world. 

Thank you for visiting my blog and do leave in a comment to let me know what you think about my works. 

Pattaya beach - A water colour painting

"The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any consideration." Friday Kahlo

I was browsing through my "Photo collection" some time back, when I came across an old photograph clicked at Pattaya beach in 2008. The beach had some tree foliage drooping on the shore from the left casting some beautiful shadows on the sand below. There were few other elements too on the beach, however I decided not to include them as I felt that they would distract the composition. I also added a few figures in the distance using my rigger brush.

This is my fourth small painting on Fabriano Artistico CP paper and more or less I am pretty convinced about using it in future too.

The shadows at the beach

Water colour painting on Fabriano Artistico CP paper
Size 5" X 7"

Every artist has his preferred choice of paper. Arches CP paper is used by many of them including Joseph Zbukvik. Selecting the paper is an individual choice. Over a period of time, I got carried away by reviews written by other artists and landed up buying many different papers. It's only when I actually started working with them, I realised that it is not necessary that what works for another person will work for you too.

In conclusion, I am taking my time to create works on all the different papers that I have presently with me, so that I can finally take a decision regarding the paper that makes me most comfortable working with it. In other words, I would love to settle for a paper on which I struggle the least to get the desired result that I am looking for.

Thank you for visiting my blog