Shadows and Stuff, Part 2

The Mountains Are Calling, pastel, 10x8

This week I continued with the shadow series in my pastel classes. The Mountains Are Calling was my demo from my Wednesday class.

The shadows in this piece travel across three quarters of the painting, providing good opportunity to notice how the edges of shadows become softer as they travel away from the object casting them. They also become lighter in value as they travel away. When working from photos, shadows also generally need to be lightened overall. Photos tend to make the shadow values the same as the object casting them, when, in reality, they're slightly lighter (even at the darkest/closest part) than the object.

Below is the reference photo for comparison...

For a better composition, and to lengthen/increase the drama of the shadows, I raised the area where the shadows meet the trees.

Following are a few progression shots. It was important to block in the shadows with VERY loose, soft edges. I find it easier to sharpen the few edges closest to the trees later in the process than it is to soften edges that were rendered too stiff in the early stages. The first one is just after the alcohol wash over a few Nupastel/Rembrandt pastels.

Shadows and Stuff

The Farm at the End of the Road, pastel, 8x10

In my morning classes this week we started a series on shadows. For this week's subject matter, we concentrated on making the shadows the focal point rather than other elements within the landscape that are typically chosen as focal points (i.e., barn, path, trees). In this painting, the viewer's eye is draw in by the shadows and led to the barn in the distance as a secondary focal point.

Since shadows have soft edges, I couldn't use hard edges as a method to draw the viewer's eye, which is one way an artist can do this. Instead, I had to use something else from my "artistic bag of tricks." In this case, I used vibrant color in the shadows and in the colors around the shadows.

Below are a few progression shots of "The Farm at the End of the Road." And following below that are some demo shots from my Tuesday night class this past week.

In my Tuesday night class, we did "The Five-shape Landscape" exercise, (which you can read more about in recent previous posts) in which we began the painting with five distinct abstract shapes. Below are some progression shots from this demo...

Winter Trees Waiting, pastel, 8x10

Elaborating on Dull, Winter Colors

Almost to the Top, pastel, 8x10

This week in my classes we worked with grey winter landscapes (not snow scenes) and focused on taking what little color we had to work with, and elaborating. Many people find it odd that the gray, winter landscape is often my favorite type of landscape to work with. I find it to be a fun challenge to take those grays and push a little extra color out of whatever small amount of color I find present.  I basically elaborate on the faint color that's there.

I start by choosing an initial color palette of the grayed colors that I see. Then I found slightly more saturated hues of those colors and place them in key areas of the painting where I want to viewer's eye to linger. I'm still primarily using the local color, but just squeezing a bit more vibrancy out of it.

Since I had a couple of similar reference photos of the same landscape, I painted a different demo for each class this week. (I usually use the same photo for both classes, since my students can opt to attend either day, and I like to keep the topic exactly the same for each class.)

Above is my demo from my Thursday class. Below is Wednesday's demo.

Perfect Day for a Hike, pastel, 8x10

Following below are a couple of progression shots of each. For each, I used an underpainting of just three colors and an alcohol wash. The warm hue used in the underpainting helped to balance the majority of cools used in the color palette.

The Five Shape Landscape, Part 2

On The Way In, pastel, 8x10

This week we took the "five-shape" landscape one step further and arranged the composition so that the shapes were in descending sizes, with each shape roughly half the size of the next larger shape. The  scene in our reference photo was already divided up somewhat in that way, but we needed to resize some areas a bit to fit this little composition exercise.

By squinting and combining areas of similar value, we came up with our five shapes...errr...I later noticed I did better than that and actually started with only four initial shapes!

Below are some progression shots...

The Five-Shape Landscape

Reflections on Big Creek, pastel, 10x8

This week I revisited an exercise I haven't done in awhile in my classes. The overall concept is a common approach used by many artists. But in this week's class, we began the painting by dividing the landscape into exactly five abstract shapes. This forces you to combine areas of the same or similar values, and establish the basic structure of the painting in terms of its abstract design, rather than the objects that are contained in the landscape.

I started by laying a sheet of tracing paper over the photo and seeing how I could divide things up. I did some shifting here and there to get better placement of some shapes. Okay so I see that I accidentally threw in a skyhole in shape #2...no worries, though...I ignored it in my underpainting.

Below are a few stages of my demo, starting with blocking in the five shapes. I used a few different values of warm hues, which worked nicely beneath the cool hues I used in the final layers.

alcohol wash underpainting

In our next class, I'm going to take this exercise one step further and divide the five shapes into specific descending sizes.

Upcoming Workshop Schedule

INTERPRETING THE LANDSCAPE IN PASTEL

~ UPCOMING WORKSHOPS ~

One of the biggest hurdles I’ve encountered as an artist is moving past the point of copying a scene to interpreting a scene. As beginners, we all start by learning the mechanics of rendering (or copying) the subject matter with our medium of choice. But eventually, we want to move past that and portray our own version of what we see before us…to find our own artistic voice and tell our own story...which is why I've titled my workshops "Interpreting the Landscape in Pastel."

Depending on the length of the workshop, exercises will include some or all of the following:

·         Selecting a color palette – Exploring warm vs. cool and the limited color palette.

·         Developing a strong composition – How to find the ideal placement for every element.

·         Simplifying busy subject matter – Constructing “The Five-shape Landscape.”

·         Mark making – Painting a landscape in 100 strokes or less.

Workshop attendees should expect to push themselves out of their comfort zone and complete many thumbnails and small paintings in order to try out a variety of exercises and methods, rather than painting large pieces in the same manner you always have.

I’ll begin each day of the workshop with a demonstration and then provide plenty of individual help at the easel for the remainder of each day.

Following below is my updated 2013 schedule. Feel free to contact me with questions.

New York, NY - 2-day workshop
The PSA School for Pastels at the National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park South
New York, NY 10003
March 15 & 16, 2013 (Fri. & Sat.)
$250
To register call 212-533-6931 or visit www.pastelsocietyofamerica.org

Gainesville, GA - 2-day workshop
The Quinlan Visual Arts Center
514 Green St.
Gainesville, GA 30501
March 21 & 22, 2013 (Thurs. & Fri.)
$220 members; $250 nonmembers
To register call 770-536-2575 or visit www.quinlanartscenter.org

Northern Wisconsin - 4-day workshop
(Lac Du Flambeau, WI)
Dillman's Art Workshop Retreat
Sept. 23 - 26, 2013
More details to come on this one.



2014:



Littleton, CO - 3-day workshop
Terry Ludwig Studios
8113 W. Brandon Dr.
Littleton, CO 80125
Jan. 24, 25 & 26, 2014
(fee TBD)
www.terryludwig.com
303-795-1232

Workshop Roundup - Pastel Society of Tampa Bay

I just returned from teaching a workshop for the Pastel Society of Tampa Bay in Dunedin, FL, and was also honored to serve as judge for their member show. This was a warm and enthusiastic group who welcomed me and took excellent care of me during my visit...from showing me around their town to wining and dining me! The workshop was hosted by the Dunedin Fine Art Center, which has to be the most impressive art center I've seen. We enjoyed an exceptionally well equipped and roomy studio space with great light!

Show below are my demos I painted during the workshop. I completed one demo each of the three days. My workshops focus on interpreting the landscape. It's a studio workshop, so we work from photos, and go through a series of exercises that help to interpret the landscape rather than just copy from the photo. I address composition, color palette and simplifying.

Calm and Quiet, pastel, 12x12

Golden Hour, pastel, 11x14

A Summer Afternoon, pastel, 11x14

Getting ready to wet down the underpainting
for Calm and Quiet

Critique time.

Our big, comfy studio.

My awesome group. The empty chair
belongs to Kathy Detrano, who's taking the photo.
(Thanks, Kathy!)

The Underpainting "Glow"

Morning Glow, pastel, 8x10

In my Monday class at Spruill Center for the Arts this morning, we created an underpainting that would   contrast nicely with the final colors used in the painting, as well help add to the warm glow of the sunlit areas.

I typically use a small variety of Nupastels (usually 4 or 5) for this type of underpainting. Nupastels work well for two reasons:
1) They're hard pastels and don't "gum up" when you wet down the underpainting, since less pigment is actually applied with a harder pastel than with the buttery soft brands. Very little pigment is needed for a liquid underpainting.
2) A small standard set of Nupastels comes in fairly bright colors...not usually good for straight painting, since your palette would lack the necessary neutrals and less intense hues, but ideal for setting up a colorful underpainting.

Although I often use a monochromatic underpainting to focus on establishing a strong value structure for the start of a painting, when I want color to play a key role in the painting, or to add a "glow" as I wanted here, I'll instead use strong color in this initial stage. (And yes, sometimes I do use a combination of both.)

Below are a few demo shots of the progression...