Water Course, Wilpena Creek "Completed"

Wilpena Pound's Waterway
Approx 34cm x 48cm
Pastel on Terra Cotta Colourfix Paper
Copyright Susan Borgas

Cripes I have just about forgotten how to use Blogger because it has been so long since I have posted. I also see some new ideas that I can try out with Blogger as well . Hey and I bet you thought you would never ever see this pastel work finished.

I have changed the title of the painting, as the original was not what I really wanted for the finished piece. Anyway I do hope you like it.

For those that have posted comments and written emails to me, please accept this as a thank you from me, as I look more positively towards the next twelve months and years to come.

Links to this WIP:

1. Water Course, Wilpena Creek WIP
   
   
2. Water Course, Wilpena Creek two WIP
   

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technorati tags: pastel, landscape, artist, photorealism

Water Course, Wilpena Creek WIP two

Installment two of this work in progress after a long busy period in my life then to end with the worse bout of illness that I have ever had for a very long time. Anyway moving on from what is past, this pastel is now coming along nicely.

It is funny how you see things wrong when an image of ones work is put up on a monitor. That distant flat middle ground in front of the hills needs to have the values checked. Something does not 'mesh' there and I will let you know what I end up doing if I adjust it.

Yes you do see a little pool of water. I don't think I will place a lot of water in the bottom of the creek, just a hint of moisture to give some interest to the composition.

Until next time, take care!

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technorati tags: landscape, pastel landscape, pastel, artist, Australian landscape, Wilpena Pound, photorealism

Timeless Land, Melrose

Timeless Land, Melrose
Approx 34cm x 48cm
Pastel on burgundy Colourfix Paper
Copyright Susan Borgas
Sold

This is the second painting that I had promised to show you. It is of my recent work in residence at Wilpena Pound.

After a workout yesterday (puff puff) wrapping the framed painting safely for the post, it was sent off for a destination interstate today.

As you can see the work is a little different to what I have done in the past yet it is still all about my beloved eucalyptus trees that I do so much enjoy working with.


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Water Course, Wilpena Creek WIP

Water Course, Wilpena Creek WIP
Approx 34cm x 48cm
Pastel on Terra Cotta Colourfix Paper
Copyright Susan Borgas

I do enjoy working from a detailed drawing with this one no exception. I guess that is the realist painter in me that seems to have me by the jugular and isn't going to let go. I will never become a photorealist artist because I don't have the desire to spend anymore time on a painting than I already do.

Anyway I don't think that I would get paid for the hours that I would have to put into photorealism work. So many viewers of my work in real life are surprised that up close to my pastels, it is in fact not like a photo, as they thought when standing back, but made up of many marks with some more realistic than others; depending on what I want them to see in focus.

Between finishing two paintings started at Wilpena Pound and cooking for shearers on the family farm, I did manage to start this work in progress (WIP) since I have returned home. Amid packing paintings for shipment, more cooking for shearers and a funeral of a dear artist friend on Monday who has been my mentor from the very beginning of my journey with art. You can see some of his work here. I also have a shopping day Tuesday in readiness for our sons wedding later this month and because of all of this the next few days will have spasmodic posts to this blog. This isn't a promise but may get the odd photo up on SnapShots during that time.


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technorati tags: pastel, landscape, artist, artist, photorealism

My daughter who has a camera exactly like mine decided it was time that I had some photos of myself while working at the easel. Picking up my camera she did exactly that and this is one of the photos that I found when I downloaded my card to the computer.







When I pulled this pastel out I decided it needed some more work done before framing it for the up and coming exhibition. I am much happier with the final result because before it was lacking the darks in the foreground.

My regular readers would have noticed that I have been spending quite a bit of time away from my blogs. This will continue leading up to when my husband and I leave for the Northern areas of Australia. It will also mean that while I am away, this blog will not be updated.

Some of you may remember from an earlier post that I wanted to learn how to put 'home movies' onto a DVD. Well I have been doing that with quite a few hiccups along the way although progress is happening. On that note I am off to start a new project and while the computer is busy converting and burning my next home movie DVD, I will be busy in my studio touching up another pastel.

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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "Completed"

Water's Path - Willochra Creek
Pastel
Copyright Susan Borgas

'Completed' is part of the title but as I look at my monitor I see straight away a problem with the reflection where there is a sharp edge of light just to the left of the large curled root. I think some movement of water to take that straight edge off would benefit this area greatly.

Since my last posting the area of the shaded stones and tallish grass to the right has been completed. Also the remainder of the right hand side bank that is in light has now had dry leaf litter and grasses added. Water is finished other than a little adjustment on that light area that I spoke about. Twigs have been placed in the canopy as well as any other minor adjustments that needed doing.

There will be no further images of this painting on my blog although a new photo of the work will be placed on my website just prior to framing.

To make it easier to find the steps to "Water's Path - Willochra Creek" from past postings on this blog, the links are below.

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP"

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" two

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" three

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" four

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" five

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" six

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" seven

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" eight

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" nine

• Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" ten

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technorati tags: landscape, large trees, pastel, water scene, WIP, art, artist

Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" ten

Still working on the water the progress is slowing and surely coming to completion in this area. I estimate another four hours on the water to bring it up to my own satisfaction. Probably another four hours on top of that to finish off the rest of the painting.

There isn't much I can add about the water from yesterdays entry so rather than bore you to tears with what seems little progress I think I will now leave my next post of this work until completed.

Edit: I hope I haven't doubled up your rss feeds with this edit but wanted to add that I have used a colour shaper to blend the colours in the water. The direction of the blending is mostly vertical in the reflections with some horizontal over the transparent water.


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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" nine

Anyone would think I have fleas as I am now at the stage of the painting that I do a lot of head scratching from my brain going into overload, as I think about how and where I lay my pastel strokes. Most of these marks consist of vertical and horizontal application to mimic water reflections. Also some of the vertical lines are squiggled onto the paper to give the impression that the water has subtle movement to it.

For the most part water reflections are darker than the object that it reflects. This is also true with transparent water. What we see under water in nature is darker and murkier which makes edges of what we see softer and not so dominant. The values will actually be very similar if not mostly the same. It is the colour of the object that makes it seem lighter when laid against another because if we were to squint at what we see under water, the values would be generally the same. If I get my values correct we should be able to see transparent water, reflections and shadow across this water.


Sorry if I am confusing you as what I consider I know in my own head isn't something I find easy to write down.

I think there is going to be a lot more head scratching over the next day or so to really nail this work.

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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" seven

There is a lot more to do in the canopy area although the basics are there now to help guide me with the rest.

It wasn't until I put some music on with plenty of upbeat that I could get into the rhythm of painting the foliage of the trees. My belief is it must be the tempo that helps the mind to free up to get on with the job at hand. Does this ever happen to you?

There won't be another post on this blog now for a few days because Malcolm and I are doing a trip down memory lane in the outback where I grew up. I need tomorrow to organise a few things before my brother and his wife turn up here at the farm, as we are making this journey together.

There will be photos on my SnapShots blog on my return......cheers for now!

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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" six

Working on the background to the right from the largest tree trunks is the hardest section so far of this pastel painting. Always thinking about the aerial and atmospheric perspective some of the contrast maybe a little strong yet, but am aware that once the foliage is put in place that some areas will grey off as well as a reduced amount of contrast.

Until next time, take care!

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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" five

Moving on from the previous post my next stint on this work had me putting in a few twigs and timber in the mass of foliage to the left of the large tree trunks. I then moved down to the base of that collection of growth and attached them to the ground so that the group of trees and shrubs were not floating.

Progressing in a downward direction I worked on the bank of the creek at all times thinking about the light striking on this area. As so often these days my thoughts are constantly thinking about how the light effects the shadowed areas. They are NOT a mass of the darkest darks because of the reflective light that bounces around in them. There is a softer shadow in amongst the darker areas where a little more light finds it way through the growth of trees above. I also have in my own mind that the shadows further away from the object throwing the darker colour is softer than right up against it. For example a tree trunk shadow will be stronger near the base than the part of the shaded area that is further out.

Ok enough prattle about shadows.... back to the bank of the creek. As I did on the right hand side of the bank I worked the left hand side with my pastel stokes following down the side of the slope. In nature when there is rain, the water would run downwards into the creek with tiny little water courses and find that by following the banks downwards with my pastel strokes helps to imitate what nature does. Of course nature doesn't always play fair so I tend to help it along at times as well.

I have started placing in the middle ground to the right of of the large tree trunks so my guess is when starting work today that area will be continued on with.

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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" four

Progress is happening although slowly. This painting is all about the process and enjoying what I am doing rather than constantly watching the clock thinking about wanting to advance the work enough to post on my blog.





These close-up samples are an offering to you for your patience waiting for updates.





The scrubby area to the left of the tree trunk isn't finished but close to it. There will be branches placed in amongst the foliage yet.

Once I have all the areas caught up there possibly will be tweaks here and there as often is the case. Mmmmm....what area will I tackle next.....stay tuned on that one!




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Mt Aleck, Elder Range

When fossicking around in my studio studio I came across a sketch book that had been using for an earlier paintings that I had completed. This sketch of Mt Aleck is part of the Elder Range in the Central Flinders Ranges. The resulting painting can be found on this page at my website.

Preparation in the way of a sketch is ideal to plan ahead to see if the main key elements will work before starting on a painting. It can save a lot of time and grief as you will see straight away if the design and perspective will work.

For those that do use reference photos; there can be a lucky shot of a scene where everything is located faultlessly. However nature isn't always accommodating with trees positioned perfectly to what you have in your own mind or the ideal place. It is up to you to replant it and what a better way than trying out new positions with a sketch. Works for me!

If you would like to try out some of my own photos for reference material for your paintings check out SnapShots and see if there is anything suitable..... you are very welcome to use these free images for your artworks. There are minor conditions for their use but for most people it won't effect them. Please read the 'Sticky Note' and 'Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License' on SnapShots before using these photos.

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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" three

I just love to paint Mount Remarkable bathed in an atmospheric light that gives depth to the painting. Using the flat end of pastels lightly applied to the tooth of the Art Spectrum paper allows small amounts of colour to mix. Each new colour is another layer (not all the areas are applied with each new colour), which in the end starts to smooth out. I have not done any blending; the application of pastel does the blending. I finish with a warm tone that is only touched in minuscule detail to give the Mount a ‘glow’. At the base of the mountain the colour is applied in the same way but with warmer tones. Also the tops of the canopies of the trees are highlighted a little more to give them more shape.

Coming down to the central area: For the most part the grass blades are short because the growth at this time is soon after much needed rain. I found it best to scrape pastel in a horizontal fashion further back against the tree line then as I come towards the creek; follow the bank downwards with short strokes of colour so that one crosses slightly over the other in a very narrow hatch technique. There are roughly six colours used in the grasses that are in sunlight remembering it is very short so some of the colour represents soil. The blades are longer in and around the rocks due to more moisture trapped so this will allow me to make the rocks look so much more grounded than how they would look when sitting on top of soil.

When putting the sky in and around the far right tree I was finding I was becoming quite frustrated with the slow process. Also I had to come back out over the sky with the ‘greens’ to soften the edges, which ended up adding more bulk to the foliage then having to brush pastel off and redo some again because the canopies are excessively heavy. Well I decided to put the sky in before going back into the canopy of the remaining foliage because my trees always seem to look more natural with this technique. I girl is allowed to change her mind isn’t she? My way of thinking, the darkest darks of the foliage are still best laid in before the sky or they will be contaminated by the lights then look pasty. Still plenty to do in this area and off to do that this very minute….. Catch ya next time!


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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP" two

Believe it or not there is three hours done on this work today...... slow as I am it will hopefully mean less mistakes to be fixed.

Studying the shadowed side of the tree that has been worked on today I may darken it slightly by one or two value in some parts. The trunk is very light so will give the shadowed side some more thought without rushing into it.

For those that wonder if I am using white pastel, the answer is no. I do not use pure white in my work. I do love the Art Spectrum Australian Grey for my lightest lights on the tree trunks. I will also sneak a few other interesting colours in just to vary it and admit to trying out new colours to see if they work and if they do, they stay.

Sigh!!! I just dropped a heap of pastels that I have for back-up stock. Lets just say that dropping soft pastels from a hight of 30 cm (12"), I now have a lot more pieces than I originally had.....grrrrrr!


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Water's Path - Willochra Creek "WIP"

Work is 47.5cm high x 68cm wide.
Burgundy Art Spectrum Colourfix

Working on a large oil painting I found that I am having withdrawals from my pastels so while I wait for paint to set some more I thought I would start a Wip.

I started this one by finding my lightest lights (as I usually do with pastels) and my darkest darks. The darks I normally don’t find all of them at this point of my work but found after working with my latest oil painting, which I used the grisaille method, I am much more aware of the tones. I recommend a grisaille to anyone that has trouble identifying tones in their work.

The taller eucalyptus tree on the right wasn’t positioned very well as it was dead centre. I knew this before sketching onto the paper and moved the tree across on what is hopefully a much better position. It will also allow the eye to travel through to the background taking away the feeling of being trapped when viewing the painting.

Golly I can't stop yawning...... I do find pastelling so relaxing and could crawl up in a corner somewhere and have a snooze but instead I will go and cook the evening meal for hubby and I....cheers for now!

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Who we are and Chambers Gorge Rock Pool "WIP" eight

There is a get to know you thread in the Talk Pastel Forum at WetCanvas. For the artist that read this blog there might be someone there you know or would like to get to know better. Here is a quick link to Who we are at WetCanvas.

Below is my own contribution along with this photo in todays post. As you can see there is some glare on the painting, especially so in the sky. The sky actually does recede more than this image shows. I am wary about bringing in vegetation too quickly over the sky because I don't want any cracking of the darker paint to occur. I am constantly checking that mixing mediums into my oil paint is done correctly and once more this is where WetCanvas helps me enormously.

Ok enough of the prattle as there is enough to read below.

I have been following this thread with great interest and thought it was time that I added my own profile.

As a child I lived in the Pastoral Regions of the Gawler Ranges of South Australia. As station life meant creating my own entertainment, I spent much of my time doing what I loved most - drawing.

At the beginning of my high school years I moved to Quorn in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia to live with my grandparents. Even though I had visited my grandparents in the past, this was the beginning of a new era, where I would remain living in the Flinders Ranges.

I spent one year with my grandparents before moving with my family to Black Rock and eventually Orroroo. I stayed at Orroroo until I married in 1976, moving onto my husband's family farming property near Booleroo Centre. We still live there to this day. We have three children who are in the workforce.

Life was pretty busy on the farm, bringing up a family and the ensuing commitments. It wasn't until 1992 that I seriously considered taking up painting. Watercolour was the first medium that I ever used followed closely by oils. How times change as I am now primary a Pastelist. Even though pastel is my main medium that I now use, other types of paint and drawing materials and technique do embrace a large part of who I am as an artist. For example at the moment I am studying the Grisaille technique in oils, which is mentally quite taxing but oh am I learning such a lot! I have recently purchased coloured pencils and like other mediums that I have used, I won’t be satisfied until I know how to use them to the best of my ability.

My life does not just revolved around my art. Working on the farm; office duties often are calling me plus play a support role to my husband when the farm is very busy. One of my children is married with another wedding in a few months time. I like to share what I do when it comes to my creative side of my life as I do get so much in return. This is why I like to be involved with WetCanvas as much as I can. Putting all my work in one place and talking about it on my Arts & Stuff blog also enables me to interact with other artist.

Today I tidied up my face and hair ready for church and I thought here was a good opportunity to show you a ‘not so scruffy’ artist in her studio. I am still in my daggy clothes that I wear at home and apologise for the uneven light with glare spots. The painting is the Grisaille that I am working on and is taking forever to do but like I said, I am learning a lot.

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Chambers Gorge Rock Pool “WIP” seven

I am soooo enjoying this stage of the oil painting. All the hard work has been done working out the tonal map with the grisaille technique that I can now just add my layers of colour.

Because it is a landscape I have some flat darker colour in some areas where vegetation will be placed over the top giving the grasses and shrubbery depth. You didn't think I was going to paint every blade of grass did ya?

This image isn't the best as the yellow for some reason wants to be dominant and yet the painting has very little left from the under painting. The rocks in fact do have a very pale wash of Burnt Sienna over them. Maybe the camera is picking up the yellow from that. I don't really have the time to spare to play around with the image too much so this one is it folks!

I am hoping for a translucent sky, which already has two glazes of colour with more to come. I am unable to add the shrubbery that will come up above the skyline until this area is completed with glazes.

Did I say I am enjoying this stage of the painting!!!

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Grisaille landscape chambers gorge oil painting