12/10/13

The Blue Line, 24x24

"The Blue Line" 24x24"  Pastel  ©Brenda Boylan

I have been wanting to paint this scene for some time now. It took many detours along the way, (no pun intended), as some paintings take on a direction of their own.  I started out with an image that I took a few months ago on my iPhone and I uploaded it to Instagram where I had the liberty to try different filters for different effects. I really loved one filter in particular, Mayfair, with the contrast boost. Once on the easel, I saturated the colors a tad to add to the drama to this gray city scene. My interest was to use a warm/cool palette of blues and oranges complimented with neutral grays.  At one point the painting had stalled for two weeks as I was distracted, so it sat..and sat. Then one morning I woke up to a fallen easel, face-planted down on the studio floor!

Oh my!

Luckily, the painting avoided any potential smudging or dents. Thankfully it dodged that bullet. With pastels, it is always a good idea to tilt your standing easel forward a bit. This tilt helps the pastel dust to drop away from the painting, keeping it from contaminating the painted areas below. Unfortunately, not a lot of easels are designed to lean forward. (perhaps a Christmas gift idea?) Lesson learned:  weigh down the back of an easel if it is tilted forward. Anyway, I am happy to share "The Blue Line". It will be available in late December at Attic Gallery, located at 206 SW 1st, Portland, OR.

Here is a cropped view of the more "busier" part of the piece

Starting off with a sketch in blue pastel pencil

I tried a bright blue underpainting with water-based createx paint
to give it that "cold, fall day" feeling.

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5 Comments:

Blogger katybee said...

This is really stunning - those blues and oranges are fabulous. What a relief there was no damage.

I put a tube o sand across the back support of my easel. cheap and effective.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_58362-215-NA_4294846940_?productId=3067709

12/12/13, 12:16 PM  
Blogger Brenda Boylan said...

Hi Katybee, thanks for the great suggestion! Is the tube in a "sock like" tube or in a rolled tube?

12/12/13, 1:08 PM  
Blogger Kim Vanlandingham said...

Glad your work wasn't damaged! Love the paintings! Just wonderful!

12/16/13, 3:53 PM  
Blogger Brenda Boylan said...

Oh thanks Kimberly! I am really enjoying it and now I'm not so sure if I want to sell it....hee hee. :0)

12/16/13, 5:13 PM  
Blogger Bhavani said...

Hi Brenda, Just discovered your blog. Amazing work! This painting is especially beautiful.

1/10/14, 4:20 PM  

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