This painting is a re-paint of one that I blogged on June 16, 2013 for the Red, White and Blue Exhibit last July.
I always particularly loved the light and shadow on the girl on the left - that's granddaughter, Graeme, a few years ago. I thought I would crop this painting and just paint her.
So, I began with a sketch and a watercolor underpainting.
When I do a pastel I use masking tape on the corners of my paper and attach it to a piece of foam core as a backing while I am working.
After the watercolor paint dried, I began working with my pastels. When the original photo was taken Graeme had a cast on her arm - it's hiding behind her leg - and she was helping her sisters dig in the sand. You can just barely see her shovel.
I thought the shovel needed to be more visible after I got this far. Here you can also see the many colors that I use creating skin tones. It's amazing to me that the greens, blues, oranges, pinks, reds, purples all go together to make up the illusion of skin! I haven't done much with the water yet.
So now the shovel is positioned better, but standing back and looking at the painting on the left I could see that her shoulder blade was too low. I corrected that and spent some time on the water. In the original photo there was that little wave on the left - I put it in and kept looking at it. It was somehow distracting. So I took it out. That is one lovely thing about pastels - I can make changes like this.
I think it's about finished. Maybe a little more work on the shadows . . . ? I need to look at it from across the room for another few days and then I'll be sure. There is something about working on a painting too long - I just can't see it. A little time off and I'll come back at it with fresh eyes.
Time for a swim - Hurricane Arthur's winds are dying down where we live and it's a beautiful day!
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