DPW Challenge - Looking Up

"Looking Up" pastel on canvas 12x8 inch

DPW Challenge - Side By Side

For the DPW Weekly Challenge - The Elephant Challenge.
A pastel made on prepared wood board; the colors may vary slightly due to the different monitor temperature. Actually it looks more vibrant in reality.
I like painting animals and I find it easier than many other subjects.
In this piece I wonder If I could have worked more on details.The fact is that I love the simplicity of it and didn't want to lose that with too much information.

"Side By Side" 18x14 inch pastel on prepared wooden board

 More animal pastels:

"Going Home" 18x14 inch - Sold

"Old Friends" 13x14 inch - pastel on brown paper

Please be free to leave a comment bellow; I would love to hear your opinion.

The Sunny Pond

Today I found a new way to prime my boards for pastel in a way that is very similar with the well known sanded paper. The texture also is almost the same; this mean that the surface will hold few layers of pastel without a problem AND being wood is water resistant, which my latest very expensive sanded paper wasn't.

As a test I did this painting on a piece measuring 9x12 inch and I am very happy with the results. I must admit I abused the surface quite a bit but it held the pastel wonderfully.

"The Sunny Pond" pastel on bord 9x12

This priming method will reduce my paper expenses for more than half, not to mention that the board is much more resistant than the paper.
All in all a good and productive day. If you like the painting you can find it for purchase in my gallery.

DPW The Colorful Light Challenge - My Entry

My entry for this week DPW Challenge is a pastel because I just love painting the sky with pastels. Somehow in reality the colors are more vibrant and alive than in picture; but such is the nature of reality :)

"Last Lights" pastel on sanded paper 10x13 inch

DPW Challenge - Second Entry

For the same DPW Wheels Challenge I felt inspired to make another painting. The pastels were still all over my workplace anyway so this is the result:

"Joyride" pastel 12x9 inch

Now is time to return the pastels to their box and try some oil for a change.
See you next post with a new painting!

The DPW Challenge - A Travel Back in Time

I must admit I grew up in a rural place, somewhere in a forgotten Eastern Europe country side. I still remember how as kids we were running after occasionally horse carts, climb on from behind and get a lift for as long as the driver wasn't aware of us. I remember the dust, the smell of horse and fresh cut grass; those were wonderful times. I am only sorry that my kids never had the chance to spend at least one summer like that.

So when the DPW Challenge announced The Wheels Challenge for this week I knew I will not paint a car. Or a motorcycle. Or some other fast, noisy and shinny vehicle. My heart went back to the childhood times and for a little while I smelled again the field in the summer sun.

"Peaceful Roads" pastel 10x12 inch

The reference photo of course is a modern one but I hope I caught a bit of the peaceful atmosphere of a time that is forever lost to us.
I also did some pics as a work in progress of this piece and I will post them soon.
I would love to hear what you think of this painting so don't hesitate to leave a comment.
Have a great day you all!