Central Green

Because Barrett House Meadow was shipped off to Michigan for the summer, I decided to use that small, 8x10 pastel created en plein air on white Wallis as a study for a larger piece using completely different methods for pastels. If it had been around, Barrett House Meadow would have been a part of my 10 MILE RADIUS show, so it made sense to honor it with something based on it.

Instead of white Wallis quickly and with no underpainting outdoors, I used a 16x20 foam board with a broad acrylic underpainting.

On top of that I created a surface with Colorfix Primer. A clear sanded preparation for tooth, this provided a lot of extra texture in marked contrast to the smoothness of the Wallis paper. In addition to providing tooth in general and specific texture for the large masses, the prepared surface's striations also mimicked the feel of the passing hurricane winds, breezes in some places and gusts in others.

Central Green is an area of the old Federal Prison land in Lorton on the back side of the Workhouse that has walking paths going to and from Giles Run. Of course, this section of Central Green is synonymous in name with the meadow next to the Barrett House.

Central Green
soft pastel on prepared surface and foam board with acrylic underpainting
16x20
SOLD