Waiting for the tide, Oban

Waiting for the tide, Oban

Soft Pastel on Colourfix paper

19 x 27 inches

I just got back from a walking holiday in Glencoe to find out I'd won the Pastel Guild of Europe's Get Dusty landscape competition with this painting- superb!!

Can't wait to try out the set of Girault pastels prize, I've never seen them here in the UK.

I just loved how these boats were sitting in the mud at funny angles and thought that it would make a good but challenging composition.

Ryan

March Pastel Scribbler available

The March edition of the Pastel Scribbler is now available for free download!

http://pastelguild.com/Scribbler/pastel_scribbler_mar2013.pdf

There's some great tips and technique articles this month.

Enjoy!

Loch Lomond Sky

Here's a new landscape painting I did.  It is a dramatic sky over the view south/west looking down Loch Lomond. The view was stunning close to the second day of the West Highland Way and this point we'd just walked the length of Loch Lomond (~27miles) heading to a well earned pint at the famous Drover's pub.

You can see one of the tiny islands that dot the Loch.

Loch Lomond Sky

Pastel on Sennelier Pastel Card

24cm x 24cm

Ryan

Last rays- Glen Sannox

Last rays- Glen Sannox
Soft pastel on board
18x12inches

Another landscape from Arran. The previous Bastion painting was from the top left of the ridge looking down to spot this painting is from. Here we are looking back up Glen Sannox with the Bastion on the left guarding the entrance. 'The saddle' can be seen at the far end of the valley. We almost went that way till we say the descent!! Opted to come down 'the Devil's Punchbowl' onto the lush (and boggy!) slope on the left middle distance!

This painting was started on Canson board but I have to say the surface did not suit my heavy impasto style. Lesson learnt. I used one of the Canson boards and used Colourfix 'Supertooth' pastel primer tinted warm red on top to give my grip for my thick pastel layers.


Also tried out my new Henri Roche pastels- very lush and high quality sticks with high pigment content. Very nice - thanks to la maison du pastel

Here's the sketch

Ryan

New Pastel Scribbler available

The new edition of the Pastel Scribbler is now available to download for free from the Pastel Guild of Europe CLICK HERE!

or paste this into your browser:
http://www.pastelguild.com/Scribbler/Pastel_Scribbler_June2012.pdf

Please take a look. There's some great review articles about the various pastel papers available out there. I've got an article in there about the wonderful Sennelier La carte paper that I use for studio paintings.

Enjoy

Ryan

The Bastion- amended!

I got some great new Unison pastels yesterday- their 'Heavenly Shadows' set. I'd not been happy with the shadows in the mountain of 'The Bastion' painting but didn't seem to have the right colour. The great thing with pastels on Sennelier la carte is that using a bristle brush, you can remove layers of pastel and the paper keeps its grainy surface and you can paint over the top.

I've lightened the shadow overall, especially as the Bastion ridge gets further away. By lessening the contrast between dark and light and cooling the shadow colour, it helps to acheive the effect if the ridge receding into the distance.

Ryan

The Bastion, getting a little late in the day

The Bastion, getting a little late in the day

Soft pastel on Sennelier la carte
16x12 inches

Here's another landscape from the recent trip to the Isle of Arran. The mountain is called The Bastion- quite fitting! The valley below is called The Devil's Punchbowl. The bay in the distance is Sannox Bay where our B&B (and the pub!) were waiting. As the title suggests it was getting a bit late in the day and legs were very tired at this point. Home was in sight but there was no easy path down. Plan A was to work our way along the ridge to te Bastion, where according to the map there was a route down (??), we decided against that!. Take my word for it though the Devil's Punchbowl is no easy shortcut!!

With this painting I was trying to capture the sense of distance and aerial perspective. The contrasts of the deep shadow were tricky to control and not dominate the scene. I opted on keeping it simple and just suggest the forms of the slopes in shadow.

Ryan

Standing Stones, Machrie Moor

Standing Stones, Machrie Moor
Pastel on Sennelier La Carte
16x12 inches

Here's a landscape painting, the first I've done in absolutely ages. These stones are one set of about 13 on the amazingly atmospheric Machrie Moor on the Isle of Arran. We stopped for a while here and soaked up the atmosphere (and a dram of whisky).

In the painting I wanted to capture that atmosphere and sense of peace and remoteness that we felt there.

Ryan

These boots are made for walking

These boots are made for walking

Soft pastel on mixed media board
16x12 inches

This painting just won the April 'Get Dusty' competition for the Pastel Guild of Europe! I'm excited as it's the first time I've won something with a painting and it's the first painting I entered in the guild's competition- beginer's luck I reckon!!

This was a bit experimental too I used mixed media collage of old maps from a vintage atlas. Maps of Scotland specifically where I've walked. I'd just come back from a walking holiday on the isle of Arran. I distressed the maps with inks to add to the weathered look. I tore up the paper's edges and stuck to illustration board. This made for an interesting starting surface but to make it suitable for pastel I needed to paint a pastel primer on top. I didn't have one so made my own! Some gesso and acrylic inks gave a neutral grey colour. For Pastel though you need 'tooth' grit or nice expensive paper that holds the pastel dust in multiple layers. I added sand from Portobello beach and marble dust. This gave me a really coarse sand paper ready for the pastel.

When the competition theme came up 'Old shoes still life' I knew straight away that my muddy walking boots would be a good subject. I set up the still life in an interesting composition and lighting and painted with a mixture of soft pastels.

Ryan

A little bird told me

A little bird told me

Mixed media on canvas
8x8 inches

Another small painting, inspired by the noisy bird in the garden! It was so loud and once you'd picked up on the sound it got in your head and couldn't shut it out!

I used personal collage elements as the base of the painting and then embellished with acrylics, inks and texture gels. In this one I added a printed element also.

Hope you like it


Also I became a member of the Pastel Guild of Europe this week. This group's aim is to promote the use and interest of pastel painting as a fine art media. I regularly use pastels for my life drawing/painting group as its ideal for quickly getting an image and colour down on paper- this is really essential when working directly from life as even the best model will move. I'll certainly be doing more pastels as a result, and hopefully pushing myself to do other things like landscapes (I've not done a pure landscape in ages!). I'll try to keep updates coming!

Ryan


Ryan

A night on the tiles

A night on the tiles

Here's a sketch of the next painting for my new mixed media style that's developing. The sketch is literally a thumnail 3.5 x 3.5 inches. It's enough to give me an idea of what the finished piece might look like.

For the sketch I use Staedler pigment liners to draw the image, this one worked first time luckily but then I have drawn my cat Baggio lots of times! By using ink, you can't erase any mistakes so makes you just go for it (its only a sketch!). Once I have the drawing down, I use Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watersoluble wax pastels to add colour. The best thing with these is they have high pigment ratio and when you get a brush with water, you get a lovely wash of pure colour to quickly indicate the colour strategy. It's still transparent so you can see the ink still too.

With this there's not much I wanted to change other than the angles of the buidings. So I got started with the painting. I start with collage to make the basic shapes and add texture. I sketch in black ink the image using the wooden end of a brush and a square cut-out of cardboard (this stops me being fussy and detailed- adds character to the drawing as its a bit wonky). Colour and paint are then built up in layers with extra colloage here and there. The cat is made up mainly of collaged newspaper!

A night on the tiles
Mixed media on board
15x15 inches

Ryan

A virus

Here's my latest one. It's a bit of an exploration in mixed media- trying out a few new things. Some of the lovely new range of Daler Rownet artist acrylics and Caran D'ache Neo pastels. Different paper types used in the collage too include washi, handmade indian paper, cardboard and printed images.

Having real bother with my digital camera- think its on the waay out. Very difficult to get an accurate image. Quite frustrating and I think I'll need a new one after pay day.

Ryan

2011 Self Portrait

I've decided to set myself the challenge of doing at least one self portrait a year. For one as a model, I'm free to hire and can't complain about the sitter not sitting still!

Rembrandt was famous for his self portraits- probably more-so than any other artist. What he left was a series of work that not only charts his progress as an artist, but also his progress through life as you gradually see him ageing and in various moods as life throws things at him.

http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_self_portraits.htm

check it out

Any way here's my effort! A rather quick one at about 2hrs



Self portrait 2011
Pastel on Sennelier card
8x10 inches

This weeks life class

Female figure sleeping pose

Pastel on Sennelier pastel card

10x12 inches

This was the sketch from the long pose (about one hour 30mins). It was a bit of a struggle as the model moved her arm and shoulder position quite considerably at half time. Its part of the challenge of life drawing/painting that you are painting a living 3d thing that i not static. I had to totally re-do that section !

I forgot to post the week before's work too! again it was a toughy with a lot of fore-shortening to deal with

Male model prone position

Pastel on Sennelier pastel card

12x12inches

About one and a half hours again

Ryan

New life drawing / painting group

I managed to find a new drop-in untutored life drawing/painting group. Its really good to do a class untutored as I can work in whatever media I want and try to develop some of the techniques and ideas I got from Leith School of Art. It's a 3 hour class with an hour of quick sketches followed by a longer pose for the remainder of the time (about an hour and a half after breaks).




Here's what I got done for the longer pose

Model with red chair and reflection

Soft pastel on Sennelier pastel card

8x12inches

Richard

Richard

Pastel on Sennelier pastel card

12x15 inches

Another portrait using pastels and the sennelier card that is great for building up layers of pastel

Ryan

2010!! Happy New Year

Cast shadows

Soft pastel on Sennelier pastel card

8x10 inches

The first post of 2010! Another portrait that excited me due to the strong light and cast shadows.

This was the first time I used the Sennelier pastel card. Its more expensive than the Murano paper I normally use with pastels. The card has a grain on it that resembles sandpaper (but is easier on the fingers) and is really good for adding layers of pastel. I managed to build up a fairly thick pastel layer without feeling the tooth of the paper was clogged up- this sometimes happens with the Murano paper.

Ryan

Heading for home

Heading for Home
Pastel on paper
8x12 inches

A local scene that I've worked up in the studio from a plein air sketch. Added the surfers from a reference photo taken on the same day.

This was a nice day- bit windy as I recall!!

Ryan

Morning light at Bass rock

Morning light at Bass rock

Pastel on paper

12x8 inches

I realised how long it was since I posted a landscape! I've been focussing mostly on figurative/portraiture work for the last year or so and have neglected landscapes

Better late than never! Here's one of my favourite muses, the Bass Rock. This was worked up in the studio from a plein air sketch I did a while back. I really liked the soft light that I saw that day- nice violets and peach/yellows.

Ryan

The brown hat

The brown hat

16x12 inches
Pastel on Murano paper

Bought some lovely new Sennelier soft pastels and decided to give them a whirl on some portrait practice. I liked the quizzical look the guy had and wanted to capture some of that.

Ryan