Crossing the Perch, 24x24

"Crossing the Perch"  24x24"  Pastel  ©Brenda Boylan

After much struggle and delay, I've come to a point where I think all the corrections have been made to call this one piece complete. Along the way, I was flip-flopping between a warm or cool light source. If the light is warm then the shadows are typically cool and vice-versa. Because the foggy sky had a lot of cool color (a typical Portland sky), it made the painting very cool in nature and I didn't want another foggy painting.  So I switched the light to be warm (yeah, we artists can change weather almost in a blink) and it gave the painting the pop it needed.  Also, the highlights on the shiny cars and other urban motifs have either a pink or yellow hint to them from the warm light source, giving my painting some sparkle. Below I share my process of struggle and success...

There is a guy somewhere in Portland who now is in a painting! Who could he be? He originally was a tad to the right, but his head was in perfect alignment with the Nordstrom sign, and that created a direct linear path through the middle of the painting.  That being a big no-no, I scrubbed him off and moved him a cadence back.  Also of note, the grey street is not grey at all, but a series of colors lightly layered on top of each other.  Our eyes "mix" the color and that is what I love about pastels...the layering of colors that make the eyes excited.

Originally, the lower right hand area of the painting was just sidewalk and signs, so I added the ladies from other resource pics I had.  Originally the women didn't have hats on their heads, but as I was painting their hair, the bulkier it got and it began to look kind of nice.  So now they wear hats, as we often do to keep warm in Portland.

Then there are the birds. Every city has them, be it pigeons, seagulls or small brown finches and so I was inspired to name this piece after their heavenly perch because of their presence in every city. These gulls were originally perched a tad towards the middle of the light pole, but I moved them over to the left to give weight to this corner of the piece... creating a flow and balance to the overall composition.  There is lots to explore in this piece, but most of it is painted with a soft blur so it's not too fussy.  In keeping with focal point guidelines, (strong contrast in dark and light, complimentary colors touching, tighter detail, and busy shapes) I kept the tight rendering to the busy traffic pattern in the far distance.

Remainderings, 16x12"

"Remainderings" 16x12" Pastel on sanded paper. ©Brenda Boylan

...and here is a close up of the trees. Click on image to view detail.

I live in the outer suburbs of Portland and in this location comes crowded living spaces and congested traffic. You know the areas where they have been untouched by the plow that are few and far between? I look for these spaces with an eagle eye to see if I can pass it off in a painting. In my community there is this grove of trees that grows untouched by corporate development that offers a pedestrian trail for the local office employees to stroll on their breaks. It sits across from a movie theatre and strip mall with noisy traffic passing by. It's great to have these little green spaces close by to plein air paint. The last time I drove by this spot, the City Maintenance was mowing the wild grass, and just a few yards distance I saw a coyote standing in the newly cut grass observing the mower. It's nice to know there is still wildlife in this area, but they are few and far between.

In light of what September means to you, this month marks my 4th year of blogging. Where did the time go? Here is a link to my very first, yet very boring post. I hope you've enjoyed the anecdotes and adventures as much as I have enjoyed posting them to mark my progress. I thank all of you who have been brave and kind enough to comment on my posts, to those of you who who just like to drop by for some virtual refreshment, and to those new followers, welcome! Many thanks!

City Drama, 24x24

"City Drama" 24x24" Pastel on sanded paper   Sold

Wow! This sure is a drastic shift from my past work! I mentioned in one of my past blog entries that I'm thinking about making changes in my work, wanting to brighten up my palette and work on brushstroke quality more and more? Well, I've tried something new and it was sure fun! In an effort to come up with an entry for the NPS Members Show this coming April, it has to be a bit experimental as stated in their show prospectus. In this piece I've applied gold leaf to the piece that was entirely experimental for me. I've wanted to use gold leaf for a long time now and here is my first attempt. My inspiration for working on a night scene comes from 2 sources. One, In a recent artists' gathering, we saw the work of one fellow artist Michael Fisher and he shared with us his nocturne paintings...simply spectacular! And 2, I also was influenced by a recent article in The Pastel Journal on artist Tony Allain. Both show sensitivity to brush work and color, composition and subject matter. I'm not sure if I'll keep onward with this nocturnal theme work, however, it was a good stretch for me.

So, here is my first attempt to a night scene, a work in process (WIP) series. Photo resource from the Reference Image Library.


In this first step, I mounted Wallis Museum Grade sanded paper on a gessoed gator board and under-painted it with a mix of dark blue, black, and purple Createx Pure Pigment paint. I used a light blue pastel pencil to lightly mark my intentions always loosely, so not to over-commit to the scene. Don't want this painting to be rigid now, do I? Naw...


Here, I've applied the gold leaf to areas I want to shimmer with light. I applied this leaf first and formost simply because I don't think it would stick directly to a surface covered with dusty pastel. This was my first time trying gold leaf and it was a bit messy for me. I wasn't sure on the "how" to do it, but I knew that I had to paint on a gluey solution on the preferred areas for it to stick. Then I applied the leaf gingerly with my fingers and using a funny flat-tipped brush to tamp down onto the leaf. I think it worked. My 8 year old boy thought it was "neat" that I was using "real gold"! OOOh!


Now for the color! Blocking in basic shapes of light and dark patterns all while I'm figuring out what colors I'm going to use. Working on a black surface has its twists because the colors seem brighter on an intensely dark surface than working on a light surface.


Here, I want to communicate that the illuminating neon lights are what makes this scene. Without those lights, this scene would be just another city street. Adding details and still sorting out what goes where, I begin to forget what the resource photo has, and begin to play with the mark-making and color placement.


Finished! I love it when I'm nearing the end of a piece. It's so satisfying and thrilling, meditative and calming, correcting and reviewing all the while.