Tall Shadows

         

 Hi there,

              The snow melted and we are back to the most lovely weather. Today, I've thrown open all the windows as high and as wide as they will go. Perhaps we may have a mild winter after all. But even if we don't, these warm days are a nice bonus.

Did you hear? Hasn't everyone you say. Well, apparently the world has changed over night.  A vaccine-- 90% effective. Now wouldn't that be wonderful! We could all get back to the business of living and breathing a little easier. Living more fully--not that I live in the fast lane, but just being able to go to shopping without worrying about it would be wonderful thing.  However, I know we have been so lucky, and I am certainly not forgetting about those we have lost. I do feel so sorry for all of those people and for their families and friends. 

After this, I reckon, everyone will have a new appreciation for what we all took for granted before. I know I will. Let's hope the vaccine comes soon. 

  The sun has other places to light up these days, although before it sets early it highlights beautifully whatever it touches.

                                                              I love these colours.

The willows are really hanging onto their leaves. 

                                                                           Memories

From the easel...

Beginning, Pastel on pastelmat paper.  

 In progress.

First time working on Pastelmat paper-- trial runs review.  I noticed a lot of painters seldom blend on this paper.  I wanted to blend the sky in the top photo, but I am fresh out pipe insulation foam to use as a blending tool, and repeated passes with the pastels didn't work on the top pic at all. Must be a bit defective, or using harder pastels first might have been the way to go and then blend the first layer.  I will experiment with the paper again soon. I love how the colours pop on this paper. The grey shows though, and that is, of course, with pastels, perfectly acceptable, and often when using underpainting enhances the painting.  But I think I might like the maroon colour paper better.

Who knew working with different pastel papers would be so much fun. ( I usually use Uart paper.) Of the papers I've tried so far, I really enjoyed Canson Mi-Teintes Touch paper and today’s choice: Pastelmat. Next up, Vic Bearcroft's Pastel Velour. Because the paper is flimsy, I will order self adhesive foam board to mount the paper on before I give it a try. And I am going to try making my own sanded paper too.

Thank you so much for reading along...

'Til next time

Cultivate Your Dreams

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Thank you, lovely ladies, for hosting!