My Challenge to Myself

I decided I need to loosen up and get free again, so I'm doing what I always suggest to my students--do fast paintings, limiting the time, working on one size, and just letting loose! I decided to do five paintings a week from now through the end of May, for a total of 15 paintings. I chose 9x9"" because I have 9x12" Crystal Clear bags and can fold one side. I like the odd size, too. And I'm working on different kinds of paper, using different media, but mostly pastel, I suspect.


1.
This is from a photo taken up near Abiquiu, which is Georgia O'Keeffe country, you might remember. I like the bold colors and the purple rocks. It might need a bit more sense of depth, but it pleases me nonetheless.

I decided to work on my last piece of Clairefontaine paper, which a friend send me from Europe. I found it works remarkably well with PanPastels. The pads and foam brushes really grab this soft paper! I wanted to use the Pans to keep things quite unstructured. I've always believed it was best to use the largerst 'brush' (or pastel stick) I could for as long as possible, so these big spongey pads function nicely in this role.


2.

This one is on a piece of mat board that a student of mine coated with pumice. You can see the strokes in the sky. I wiped out a painting, leaving a soft grayed-lavender color behind everything, which I think worked. I like the softness of the shadows.

More when I get to them!

Deborah
deb@deborahsecor.com