Just off the Easel: Blue Ridge Beauty

I love the NC mountains and paint them every chance I get!  Here's a new piece:

Blue Ridge Beauty
9" x 12" oil pastel over watercolor

This one I painted using Canson's Montval Acrylic Paper.  I underpainted with my Van Gogh travel watercolor pan set...

watercolor underpainting

Next, I used clear Colourfix pastel primer to give the paper a tooth for the oil pastel and to seal the watercolor.  Then I broke out the oil pastels and laid down the detail...I'm using Erengis and Sennelier oil pastels mostly, and a few Gallery Extra Soft oil pastels.  I limited myself to about 10 colors.

finished!

I loved working on this simple, relaxed piece.  I'm looking forward to trying out the acrylic paper with my acrylic paints... stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

Bethany

Just off the Easel: The Blue One

Here's the other painting I mentioned in yesterday's post.  


I just submitted my two entries into the Visual Art Exchange's N.E.W. Show (Never Exhibited Works).  Talk about sending them in at the last minute... due today by midnight and I just sent them in!  (Whew!)

The Blue One
oil pastel on paper
12" x 9"

This is Sennelier oil pastel over watercolor wash on Arches watercolor paper.  I did try using a few of my Prismacolor colored pencils for some of the finer detail of the siding, windows, and railing.  Smaller lines are very difficult to achieve with oil pastels, especially on a smaller scale like in this piece.


I really loved the vibrant color of this beach house, which is located in Emerald Isle, NC.  This beach is located along the Southern Outer Banks, dubbed the Crystal Coast of North Carolina.  It's less than 3 hours away from Raleigh, making it a great getaway for a weekend or even overnight.  


Here's the Google Map street view of the location... right next to the beach access off of 8th street.



View Larger Map


This is the third piece I've finished from this trip... also see posts about Emerald Isle Dunes and Buckets of Fun.


Not sure what I'll work on next.  It will probably be some more beach paintings once I download the pictures I took last weekend during our trip to Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, NC.  Stay tuned!


Bethany :)

WIP: Italy in Watercolor

It's been challenging working on another painting with watercolors. I find myself wishing I had taken a watercolor class in college so I would know more about the techniques, tools, and tips!

Last week I saw some programs on PBS that had some good beginner watercolor lessons. One is by Gary Spetz and the other is by Susan Scheewe. Check out the UNC-TV schedule here, and find most arts programs on the UNC-MX station. I can't say enough good things about public television!

I've been fiddling with some Caran d'Ache Neocolor crayons that I bought years ago in Asheville. I love finding new materials and experimenting, and it's easy to find some cool stuff at True Blue Art Supply in Asheville.

I've had these crayons for 2 or 3 years, and I've got my mind up to do a painting from photos taken during our trip to Italy. The following painting is in progress... I've worked on it for a few weeks in between working on my oil pastel pet portraits. These are some beautiful old buildings with some great colors!

And below is another painting of the same buildings from a different perspective. This painting is oil pastel:

I previously thought these pictures were painted from our visit to Florence. However, the dome in the background didn't fit in with the architecture of the Duomo. After some looking around on Google Maps, I figured out that these buildings are from our time in Rome! Photos were taken on the Tiber River near the Ponte Sisto. Amazing that you can get a street view to match photos you took years ago! See below GoogleMaps image that I was able to find...

View Larger Map

Hoping to finish this watercolor up in the next day or two and get back to some more pet portraits!