Spruce Woods: A Pastel Demonstration

Finally, a return to pastel!

My studio arrangement for this painting. Also, you can see the stretched canvas and the newsprint that my paper is taped to.

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There are many lovely spots on Campobello Island that aren't at the beach. Many visitors come to the island, and it seems they all end up by the sea and miss the beauty of the woods. For many years on my hikes, I've had my eye on this particular spot; when the light is just right, the little stream glows with a hot red incandescence.

1. Starting on an 8x16 sheet of Wallis Professional White sanded pastel paper. (Yes, children, this is the fabled paper of which the bards sing many songs and storytellers tell many stories.) I sometimes like a little cushion behind the paper to soften my marks, so I taped it to an 18x24 stretched canvas with two sheets of newsprint between paper and canvas. I sketched in the very simplest shapes with vine charcoal.