Afternoon Sky at Picture Rocks - pastel

Here is the last of the pastels I've done lately.  It was completed on Sunday night, and my inspiration for it was a photo taken from my mom's house of one of the rare days when clouds cover the sky.  No rain this day, however.  

Pastel artist Deborah Secor has an ongoing pastel book that she is posting via a dedicated blog.  She has decided to offer it for all to use, at no charge!  The link can be found in the right hand colum in my blog.  Reading her recent chapter on painting clouds inspired me to experiment yet again with colors in the clouds.  I tinkered with this painting perhaps a bit more than I would have, and the mountains/land are a bit contrived (it's not about the landscape here), but I learned a lot working on this piece. 

"Afternoon sky over Picture Rocks"

pastel on Canson M-T paper, 9x12