Archive Mode. Call 2022 DAKOTA PASTEL COMPETITION - FIRST QUARTER ended on 3/16/22, 11:59 PM. Call settings are read only. See Current Open Calls
Sometimes unexpected change can be the best thing. After 22 years of living on the flanks of Kilauea volcano in Hawai‘i my home was destroyed during the eruption of 2018. And so it was that I found myself relocating to a new home in the sweeping ranch lands in the north of the island. From my new studio window I now looked out across miles of pasture to the high mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. And so it was that I started a series of paintings from my studio window. All I had to do was sit there and watch as the ever-changing "show" unfolded. In "The View From The Studio" we see cattle in a moonlit pasture. A cloud rolls across the plain and over a distant cinder cone. Meanwhile, high above the clouds, the snows of Mauna Kea catch the light of a rising moon under the night sky. Soft pastels on sanded paper (500 grit) allowed me to create ultra smooth areas, such as in the sky and the rolling cloud, as well as areas of "suggested details" such as in the middle flanks of the mountain. Working softly with pastel pencils allowed me to create the complex details of the snow fields. And utilizing the grit of the paper, with a harder application, I used the pencils to create the sharper detail of the foreground.
