Yep, another perfect day in Southern California. I was going to stay home and work in the studio but it was sooo nice that I decided to take my new Heilman Backpacker pastel box and easel out for a spin.
It was starting to a get a little warm so I setup under a large oak tree and worked on some interesting rocks that were piled up by the shore of Lake Wohlford.
9 x 12 pastel on Uart paper
To purchase this painting please contact: Randall Smith
Here’s the quick watercolor underpainting:
I got real antsy at work yesterday so I grabbed my sandwich and a little box of pastels and drove to a regional park for a bite and a draw. Boy, pastels can get messy. I'm sure glad I ate my sandwich first!
4 x 4 pastel on Wallis paper
I just returned from a week long painting workshop with Michael Chesley Johnson in Sedona AZ. This is part of his mentoring series so there were only three of us in the class. Nice.
Michael is a great teacher and took us through a great week of painting. Oh, and there are just a few things to paint in Sedona!
After a prior week of rain and snow we arrived to near perfect weather with plenty of sun and temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s.
For the most part it was all about trying new things and producing little studies. Without the pressure of trying to complete a finished painting, the pace was concentrated but relaxed.
I painted mostly oils but I did sneak out one evening to try one pastel.
If you’re looking for something a step above the normal painting workshop experience, I highly recommend attending one of Michael’s workshops.
You can find more info at Michael’s website.
Here are a couple of studies from the week:
8 x 10 oil on canvas panel
8 x 10 pastel on Wallis paper
And here are a few snapshots from the week:
