After my long layoff, during which I was not able to paint, I now find that I am storming ahead. In the past week I have brought two pictures to that state in which I need to spend the next two weeks staring at them, asking myself if they are finished or not. Doing two pieces in such close sequence has been interesting for at least one reason.
Both of these ideas belong in my Beyond series.* The original reference material was collected during my recent retreat week in Derbyshire. In many respects they are similar ideas, but executing them has been radically different. The reason for this has emerged quite fortuitously. With the first image I grabbed a piece of watercolour paper I had begun to prepare for a different project, but had laid it aside. I had already developed three images to a reasonable condition of completion in this series, but they all need additional work on them. The fourth was shelved because I really need a model for the drawing, and don’t have a suitable candidate available at the moment. So: I coopted the paper for my new project. The paper in question is a Hahnmuhle “Harmony” (300 gsm) with a very pronounced texture. Working on it with pastels was an interesting test, as it permitted a textured finish very well, but denser patches of colour demanded some work.
For the piece I tackled next I returned to the paper I had been using for earlier items in the Beyond series. This is a Sanders “Waterford” Classic (425 gsm), which has a smoother, velvety texture. The trouble is that it seems to treat pastel almost as if it is watercolour, absorbing it into the fabric so that correction is not easy. The way in which it “soaks up” pigment makes the production of dense areas of colour very straightforward, but creating a sense of texture is laborious.
You might think that two samples of good quality paper would respond in ways that are reasonably comparable, but in fact they are as different as chalk and cheese. Small differences in structure evidently produce very different surfaces, even with identical types of pastel.
Talking of which, I like to use pastel pencils for detailed work. I have two sets: one by Conte and the other by Derwent. They might look very similar, but my word they behave in quite different ways! Evidently small differences in materials can yield very different results in action.
*See the appropriate “gallery” elsewhere in this site.