Revisiting Escalante & Mi-Tientes in the studio

Despite the radio silence, I've been busy.  Some painting, but I've also been preoccupied with transforming our spare bedroom into a dedicated studio - my "girl cave", as it were.  Photos of that in a later post.

Anyway, with the Escalante Canyons Plein Air Festival starting this Friday, I've been wanting to do some paintings of the area as practice.  I put in an order for some Mt. Vision pastels as an accompaniment for my Utah canyon plein air set, and those arrived last week - exciting!

From Wed, at fellow 4C member Jane Mercer's studio, when rain canceled our plans to paint at Baker's Bridge:

Wash Wall Shadows - 10x20"
pastel on Mi-Tientes
© S.Johnson

As much as I love my smooth, black papers, they have their limitations, so I'm trying to expand my repertoire with surfaces.   I previously haven't had much luck using Mi-Tientes, but had this piece, in a medium value tan, and decided it would be good to practice on.   Also, some of the most masterful pastels I've seen have been done on this lowly, old-school paper.  Specifically, I wanted to see how the Unisons in my sky set handled on this paper; on the black paper, they just sheet off.  

They worked like a dream on the Canson.   Perhaps it's because my painting and pastel handling skills have improved, but I am thinking I need to give this paper another shot.  I learned many-a things with this painting, about what works (layering), what doesn't (dark over light - I can do that on my black paper).  This is possibly the first painting I've done on Mi-Tientes that I didn't want to immediately toss in the trash, so that's a plus.

I also ordered some 800# UArt, which may turn out to be my sanded paper of choice.  I do know that Wallis and 400# UArt are just too aggressive for my current painting technique, so we'll see how the finer grits of the UArt go.  Unfortunately, Blick sent me the #600 instead (but are shipping out replacement sheets), so I may try that on my next plein air painting, slated for Horse Gulch, tomorrow afternoon.  

Oh yeah - here's a small study I did last week with Connie, who paints with the Friday group:

Smelter Rapid Study - 6x8", plein air
pastel on black cardstock

Connie said she has struggled painting water and rocks (and thus, doesn't paint them), and wanted to watch me paint.  So, we went down to Santa Rita Park and I gave an informal lesson, which, odd as it sounds, was more about "seeing" than painting.  

Comb Ridge, Utah - pastel

Inspired by tomorrow's trip to Cedar Mesa:  another road painting...

Towards the Comb
10x20 inches - pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes paper
© 2012, S.Johnson

Based on a photo taken last April during our first trip to Cedar Mesa/Butler Wash, this was one of those paintings that arose somewhat spontaneously.  I was preparing some of my 8x16" matboard panels for painting and thought that a 1:2 painting seemed like a good idea.  Going through my photos, this one epitomized the majestic view of the Comb Ridge monocline as seen from Hwy 95 heading west, which made it a logical choice.

Instead of using the prepared board, I thought I might try using the other half of a sheet of rust-colored Canson paper I've had for ages - seriously, I think I've been dragging this sheet around for at least 10 years.  I bought it back when Canson was pretty much the only readily available paper for pastels.

And besides - what better way to resume pastel painting after being in a recent rut than using a surface that has always proved challenging and really never produced a painting worth keeping?  Sounds like a great recipe for failure!

I was reminded again how much I admire pastelists that are able to use this paper to great success, such as Bill Cone and Lorenzo Chavez.  Really, I don't know how they do it.

I suppose this turned out better than it could have/should have, perhaps, given the circumstances.  It allows for more layering than my favorite black Artagain, but the rough texture (smooth side, even) sort of rubs me the wrong way...pun intended.  I am trying to get away from finger blending my pastels, but this just didn't seem to work without blending.

Anyway, with luck and motivation, I'll return from our trip on Tuesday with at least a few paintings and probably more photos of Anasazi cliff dwellings.

A Prelude to Winter: La Plata Canyon

After working on the sanded black board for yesterday's pastel, I decided to do a piece that I've had in mind for a while now, on the same surface, but in a 1:2 format I've been really wanting to try.  So, I'm sneaking it in between the winter series.

It's based on a photo taken right after one of our early snows, as we were heading out for our Arches trip in October, looking towards La Plata Canyon along Hwy 160.  Fall colors have faded, leaving large patchworks of bare aspen interspersed with stands of evergreen spruce and fir.  The grasses of the meadows leading into the canyon area have turned shades of golden and earthy brown.  The road to La Plata Cyn follows the row of cottonwoods, and one of the handful of ranches off the road can be seen.

Consulting a local map, I believe that one of the distal peaks may be Hesperus Mountain, the tallest of this group in the La Platas.  Hesperus is Latin for "evening star", and it has significance as being one of the four Sacred Mountains to the Navajo people.

A Prelude to Winter:  La Plata Canyon

pastel on black-toned archival board 

10 x 20 inches

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And a photo of the waning gibbous moon, taken earlier this morning, before it passed behind the crest of Smelter Mtn: