challenge CHATTER - 2012

Catherine, love your dog very cute.

Joyce and Marsha pastels come in all degrees of softness shape and sizes and it is really down to personal choice and how you like to paint. I know this is repeating myself but the pastel talk on WC has all these kind of discussions in detail. All the types are listed and their relative softness. Also lots of discussions about them. Also information about pastel pencils, papers, safety concerns and storage types. People have pictures on how they store their pastels which I warn you can get addictive. I personally like to do my beginning sketches with nupastels. The soft ones go over them nicely but not the other way round. Pastel pencils are useful for details there are several brands. Most of them good. Dekota is really good to give samples of pastels and paper and you can call and e-mail them. Mount visions are really big pastels and have a good range. I break all my pastels in half and put the ones with the numbers aside so I know what to reoder. The Terry Ludwigs are really soft with lush colours the dark purple is great for shadows. I have a set of darks and some random others in good colours. They are rectangular so you can use all the edges. They need a light touch. Joyce the Rembrants come in a good range of colours and Michaels used to sell them. Dick Blick have their own range of soft pastels that I have good things of. Just don't get the student grade. Gerualt are popular with many. A lot depends on you pocket book. I would start out with a medium grade and pick up a few individual ones to fill in your colour range. If you get hooked with them add a few more as you see where you need extra colours. Colourfix sanded papers come in lots of colours and are more cost effective than the Wallis and Uart. some colours are better for portraits but it is fun to experiment with different colours. I have learned a lot from just reading the answers to questions on WC. Look in the search on the upper right hand side of pastel talk. Ie pastel pencils. Or pastel pencils and that should bring up the discussions. Basically get a few and play with them.

Thank you Marsha, I most always paint watercolors at a slight incline but for the textures in the mountains I use a credit card technique that's fun because you really dont know how the colors will blend etc.

Fred

Well, guys, I posted the photos for the November Challenge but it is being held up to be examined by a moderator.  There's no telling when it will be posted, if ever.  I'm sorry.  I'm getting fed up with Artist Daily.

Sam this happened when I did the challenge.  Holly called someone and they put it right up.  Now if we had a way to get hold of holly.

Hi everyone, I just send Holly an email asking her to get in touch with Sam, hope this helps.  

I emailed Courtney Jordan and she took care of it.  It is now posted.

Geri- I like your frog and fish. It has good value. light and dark at the right place. It also tells a story. You are right to give it to your son to be kept in a man cave. I think he will treasure it for the rest of his life.

Joyce- I think I made comments somewhere on this painting maybe on your Face Book. I said I like this painting, the rocks are well done with good value. The background trees are also very good. The foreground tree is good too and so is the grass. The white trees need to be outlined more so they can be more visible. Painting anything white is very difficult. The best way to remember is white areas do absorb colors from nearby objects or from reflection in the atmosphere, this is true with water, snow or even white shirt. I would add more colors to the two trees, maybe more light blue, violet (which is shadow color) , a dash of soft green, little black and brown spots, etc.  The sky could benefit from a little more blue color. Please do not toss it without trying to add or correct it first, you might like it more.

Catherine- Your little dog is so cute and her face is expressive. I like your loose approach which is hard for me to do. She looks like she is wearing a hat. LOL

Fred- Awesome mountains, and well done scenery. Now the Bears met the Green Bears so who are there on Mars first?

Joyce and sandichot...Thank you both for your comments on my Stella :)

sandichot... I'm not sure where the loose style comes from. I just sort of draw fast to get my idea down and then shape it up from there. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it is just chaos with no direction lol

Sam...I'm sorry to read your daughter is hurt. I hope she heals fast.  Have safe trips driving back and forth. The challenge pictures are great this time. I think I'm going to do a drawing instead of watercolor as I need to put some drawing time in.

Oops!  Sorry Joyce and Catherine, I almost missed your posts.  Joyce, you did a really good job with the rocks and the distant trees look good.  I like the white tree trunks but agree that they need more definition which can be accomplished by adding darker shadow sides.

Catherine, now that is an interesting dog.  She looks like she is dressed in costume for Halloween.  Maybe she just decided to pose for you with two of her favorite things - a bone and some trash.  What a fun drawing.

Everybody, don't miss the beautiful colored pencil work that Marsha posted on Challenge #23.

Back again. Had a bout of severe depression hit and a lot has gone on. The house was painted today and there is just a little left to do, but hopefully, next week I can begin to clean and move in. I think it will take a little time to get unpacked and settled before I can really start back. I tried numerous times to work on a challenge picture, but I was being too critical of myself and pitched about 12 efforts and boxed up the supplies until I am moved.

 Marsha..... I finally found your horse drawing in Challenge 23 and it is really a great drawing.

Geri....

I also came across a post by you in Challenge 23 and after reading it I became enlightened to discover that Geri is a Mr. Geri and not Miss/Mrs/Ms. Geri. I only bring this up because I posted some comments about my Foxglove watercolor that, now that I have been enlightened, realize must have been a little awkward for you then.  I'm so so sorry. I promise to never ever do that again. I'm feeling a little awkward at the moment and rightly so considering what sort of awkwardness you must have been feeling.