I follow Pete Ward on IG and recently ordered some of his own hand foraged/processed and packaged earth pigments from the Cornwall area where he lives. I chose Peppercombe Red, Fremington Grey and Fremington Yellow Ochre. Pete very kindly added Fremington Burnt Umber at no extra cost .. so I could play☺️

I decided to do some very basic quick tests. I don’t have Gum Arabic, so just used water to make the watercolour paint and then did a strip where I dropped some isopropyl alcohol onto it. I also used Pebeo Binder and finally Galleria structure gel, which is not dry in the photos, so I’m keen to see what it looks like dry. Here are some pics of the experiments

I ground the yellow ochre pigment a little onto my glass mixing plate with the back of a spoon, which did make it quite fine but to be honest I prefer it in the state I received it. The grittiness makes it a more primordial experience!

I did a very small study on Atlantis 400gsm paper adding some white and black acrylic.

I love the natural texture and colours. I will be doing more work with these pigments on canvas.

I took this piece round to its new owner today and it’s already up on the wall! He’s really pleased with it (and so am I) .. I think it’s happy and serene, hopeful and peaceful.

Been trying out some ideas on various papers recently, mainly using watercolour brush pens out in our local woodland (towards coursework)

It was really cold and windy on the day I chose to go into our woods. So yesterday I decided to stay inside and use oils, which I haven’t played with for ages but the ice seemed to come into this painting, despite all those hot colours.

Today I tried something else:

And again, the ice was there again … I think this is a subconscious response I’m working through, to what I saw in this:

I had another go at one of my favourite scenes .. evening storm over fields (from one of my photos). I’ve done this in soft pastels, oils and now trying out the @Chromatek watercolour brush pens that I got yesterday

These brush pens are great value for money, the set is well packaged and contains a wide spectrum of colours. The set also includes 3 blending water brushes, which was great for me because my old one has had it. The set comes with a good quality water colour paper pad and links to instructional videos, for those who are rusty with watercolours (like me) .

It is teensy weensy ..
13.5×19.5cm

I was rummaging through my stuff today and rediscovered this oil version of a soft pastel painting I did a while back. This is A2 on paper .. I’m looking at doing a print of this, anyone interested?

Email me please ☺️

I ordered some Sennelier Pastel Card and it arrived today.

It is very different to Clairefontaine Pastelmat, which has the texture of velvet. This Sennelier card is like a fine grit sandpaper, which has both disadvantages and advantages. It holds A LOT of pastel but because it is so rough, tends to make the pastels crumble, something I’ve never experienced with Pastelmat.

Anycase, for my test piece I did this:

I used the dark green toned Pastel Card and it is 24x32cm or 9.5 x 12.5 inches

Found a scrap of Pastelmat, so of course had to do something ‘woodsy’ to it …

I really like trying chiaroscuro effects with pastels. This is not as loose as my other woodsy pieces – maybe ‘cos I was working on such a small piece of Pastelmat and that tends to make me fiddle about. Anyway it was fun to do.

Source image is a still from this video :

Been dabbling with new art supplies (Santa was very kind🎅😁)

Acrylic pours

pastel

I received some Unison soft pastels over Christmas, so tried them out with the Sennelier and Rembrandt ones, as well as handmade pastels from Cumbria

Cheers!

Hope everyone who pops by here during this Silly Season has a phenomenal Christmas and all the very best for 2022!🎄☃️🎁💖🥂🎅

Nothing Gold Can Stay

BY ROBERT FROST

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

A response in soft pastel:

I’m possibly going to start changing aspects of my art in coming months as I embark on Level 2 of my degree study. I anticipate a lot of experimentation and deviating from my usual style .. so apologies in advance if some of the things I post on here seem to be at odds with who I am.

Enjoy the wonderful colours of autumn (in your area) 😘

For some time now I’ve been following a guy on YouTube who makes bushcraft videos. He’s based in Turkey. There is no annoying commentary, special effects or music … Just him and his Belgian Malinois trekking out into the forest (or other wilderness areas). It’s so therapeutic watching his videos and has been inspiration for many of my woodland soft pastel paintings. This is a new one:

I took a screenshot from his video to use as my reference photo. You can find the video here:

Enjoy!

A few new pieces (various sizes – all on Pastelmat)

I have been a bit quiet posting on here lately. It’s not that I’ve done no work, just lazy double posting, as I put a lot of stuff on my Instagram these days.

I have just finished this one:

This is on recycled stretched canvas, which I covered with organza, then primed and worked on the painting with charcoal, inks, iso alcohol and soft pastels. It is 3’x4’x1.5″ deep or 100x120x4cm.

Here is a pic of it hanging:

This is a gallery of photos taken whilst I was making it.

Received my custom made frame today:

Very pleased with it. It’s available for sale, ready to hang. If interested please email me: lucretia610@gmail.com

I seem to put images and info of new art on Instagram these days and then forget to post here! Sorry🤪

These are some images of latest work:

I also sold this ink monotype piece yesterday 🥰👏😁:

i have at last received labels for the backs of my cards, which were professionally printed in the Netherlands.

I am building up a varied range of designs and colour combinations. Coming soon … Watch this space for details of where to buy!