Taking a step backwards

Luckily, I’m progressing, and not actually going backwards, but I thought you might like to see some of my preliminary drawings of this particular pastel painting I’ve been working on.

I started out by using a brush with water over lightly applied pastel to wash in the initial layer of color over the sketched image. I also used watercolor in the underpainting.

Here you can see my photo reference displayed on my laptop. The original photograph was one I took while we were in Manhattan, autumn 2012. Then I later shot photos of this model wearing a red coat, and was able to remove her with photoshop and place her into the city photo. I used pastel pencils to sketch the image onto the prepared canvas.

Here I’ve begun to use just pastel without water over some of the transparent washes. I’ve also been avoiding any use of rulers …

Speaking of procrastination, I need to finish this post and see if I can go finish up this painting. It’s at the stare and adjust stage – time to evaluate everything, make a tiny fix, stare some more, add this, study everything, make a little mark… not my favorite stage, but it can be quite satisfying since the end is within sight with each stroke of the pastel stick. Wish me luck!