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

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