Evening Play was created in preparation for the Virginia Pastel Society meeting this week. Two shades of brown ground were laid down and fixed. Next, the sky of medium blue, deep purple, and magenta were broadly painted in pastel. For this one, I sprayed it all down with isopropyl alcohol. A surprise to me, it took about two hours to dry! The pastel did not float the same way as with water, but it buried itself nicely into the sanded texture of the Pastelbord as it dried, just as it would have with a water float, so I like it as a means of pastel underpainting.
To the left, some of the pink did float to give a slight pink glow into the white triangle I'd left untouched. I accented that with creamy sunlight, extending it upward and outward. I waited until after floating to put those details in so that the overall painting would not have a chalky feel with a floated chalk-based color.
At the base, I streaked in a medium tan and a darker green to give the ground more life. The distant trees, treated just as the ground was, show several dark purples and I layered in a bit of pink glow on them.
It is difficult to paint a believable sunset, but I continue to try, as the bold colors are an enjoyable substitute to green!
Evening Play
pastel on Pastelbord
8x10
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