Sunrise at Mirror Lake

This is a painting I worked on yesterday (8/28/11), start to finish about 3 hours. I have been working on moving a little faster, mainly because of limited painting time and my need to paint more, and because I tend to over work my paintings. It was done on pastelmat, 22x17 using Mt Vision, Great American, Art Spectrum, and Mungyo soft pastels. I went through 3/4 of one color, GA Cypruc 115.4, for the first layer of sky and lake. Mt Vision are the main brand using mostly purples. The orange sunrise is Mungyo and the trees on the shore are Diane Townsend 53 and 50 (love these for darks!). As always, it was loads of fun!

I learned that I need a shop-vac to clean up. I have pastel dust everywhere!

Beginnings

Ever since I can remember I have loved to draw or doodle. There have been some serious phases, but as my life grew art seemed to become less important. After a recent trouble spot my wife suggested I spend time drawing again, maybe take a class or two. After my first class I realized what I used to love so much had been absent for so long. I was quickly hooked again, this time around with more appreciation and maturity.

I took a second class, drawing with color and that 'sealed the deal'. Pastels it was! I have jumped right in with both feet, cannon ball style. I love pastels and have started a very decent sized collection (don't tell my wife of my secret trips to the art store!) of Mt. Vision, Great American, Mungyo, Art Spectrum and a few Diane Townsends. I quickly sampled numerous papers and found Pastelmat to be my favorite. My wife bought my easel. I also have watercolors, liquid pencil, and many pencils.

Back to class... I went to the Creative Workshop at The Rochester Memorial Art Gallery and took beginning drawing as a refresher. My teacher was Christina Laurel. She pointed me in good directions and was very encouraging. I even displayed some of my work in the student gallery. I then took drawing with color, taught by Christine Warra who introduce me to pastel (thank you!). This class gave me some excellent foundations in using color and was very inspiring as well.

I have continued to paint with pastels and have devoured on-line videos, books, magazines, youtube, on-line stores, and downloads to improve my work. It has been great fun and a valuable learning experience. My goal has become to be a part of our local art community on a part-time basis. I love to paint and though it was initially just for me, I have grown to want to share my art. I am currently working on this.

As I learn and grow I will share my work with you regularly, good and bad (Christine said there is no 'bad' work, its all for learning and to never throw it away). Please feel free to leave me any comments or criticisms on any art work I post! Thanks for reading and viewing!