Spring Plein Air

Fellow artist Sue Parry and I went out to paint the glorious spring day yesterday. It was a three-painting day for me--always a joy!

I began warming up with a modified contour of the mesa that intrigued me and started adding water color to capture how I felt about the scene.  Along the way, I decided I liked two things:  One, drawing rhythm of the landscape and not every detail; two, that I didn't paint every detail.  I got a little carried away with the drawing before I stopped, but I still like the effect.  "Spring in the Air," 6"x8" pen and watercolor.

Having warmed up, I moved into doing a small pastel piece of the same scene, flipping the orientation to vertical.  I seldom work this small in pastel, so I challenged myself to pull this off.  I love the vibrant colors and the textures of the mesas and pushing the warm and cool contrast.  It's a little too fussy overall for what I thought I wanted, but I enjoy it.  This one is "Spring Mesa," 7"x5" pastel on board.

With about 30 minutes to spare, I decided to tackle another pastel on a 6x8" board with a different viewpoint.  Deciding to draw the contours in a cad red light was so exciting that I decided to see how far I could push the fantasy!  I really wanted to exaggerate the warm and cool contrast, choosing only the violet and the turquoise to parry against the cad red and gold, and finishing the sky with a dark blue.  In about 20 minutes, I thought I had pulled it off.  I love the result!

"Spring Evening," 6"x8" pastel on board.