"Below", pastel on board, is my most recent pastel painting. It's shown here above almost completed. The texture is rougher than many of mine usually are. I used a tinted Colourfix primer that I painted on top of a GatorFoam board. Therefore I got a more random texture from the brush application. (A number of pastelists paint their own textured surfaces, including Susan Ogilvie.) I especially like the way the color drags across the texture on the surface of the pool... really mimics the light moving across wall & floor.
This is the second painting in which I've used lots of bold red. Since I have been painting this series of women in pools for so long, I do get bored from time to time and have to shake it up, so to speak.
I also approached this a little differently after watching a Susan Ogilvie presentation earlier this month. She has a very methodical, strong approach to her pastel painting. She uses bold marks with subtle color variations to add interest. I don't think anyone would think of her work when looking at this painting, but her influence is there nonetheless. (It is a great idea to see other artists work... can really be inspiring... not to copy them, but to learn from their approach!)
