Thursday 14 April 2016

'Sky Study', pastel on paper


We have been drawing our hands in my painting class this week, so I was inspired to do some more drawing. 
The sky has been glorious the past few days so its great to do a sketch of it, I did it from my studio window and made up the land to go with it.

It's in chalk pastels on slightly textured paper. I haven't used pastels in years but its instant coverage and because its a wide base (not a pointed tip) it feels similar to a paint brush. The colours I have are limited but I wanted to get the essence of the clouds and movement.  (They were changing quickly!)

A French aritst who was great at these skyscapes in pastels is: Eugene Boudin.

8 comments:

  1. I like this pastel study very much. What you set out to do you have achieved :-)
    I also like the way you have given perspective with the different blues.

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  2. You've captured the mood convincingly. I am nervous of blending pastels and will have a go this weekend. Recently, I saw Jean- Etienne Liotard's work at the RA - mainly pastel portraits of society figures and royals in the 18C. Amazing attention to detail.

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    1. Hi Yeside, good to hear from you again. How did your pastel blending go?
      I looked up Jean Etienne Liotard's work at the RA exhibition, as you said amazing detail and a lovelyy quality to his work. The RA had a link for tips on using pastels, I thought it looked quite good so I have copied it below.

      https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/working-in-pastels

      You said in your previous comment you were trying daily painting, how is it going? Clare

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  3. When you asked me whether I had seen your pastel sky I was thinking of your previous sky paintings. This is lovely, so light and airy and a great sense of distance. I shall get my pastels out and wait for a good sky. Inspiring as always Clare!

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    1. Hi Pat, Thanks so much for your kind words. I find pastels have great results if you dont overwork them too much, a bit like oils and keep it simple too especially when trying out and experimenting. Let me know how you do in your sky pastel drawing. Clare

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  4. Just noticed that my reply to you didn't get through. I decided to do daily sketching because time management is proving tricky and finding it difficult to be disciplined, too. Have lapsed a few days but back on track. Inspired by you, daily commitment is proving quite therapeutic and challenging!

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    1. Hi Yeside, sorry for slow reply, well done for doing daily sketching. How is it going now? Daily commitment is tough, especially when life gets in the way or you just don't feel like it. It helps to have input from others to keep you going and inspired. Clare

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  5. Love it. Clouds day so much and you've captured the mood perfectly.

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