Firstly, I start with the final version of the pastel improvisation that featured in my last blog. Not sure about it.
In planning what to do on the allotment, I took hundreds of seeds from last years dried flower
heads. The dried husks looked good and reminded me of some of my favourite Van Gogh paintings. Because I have been doing a lot of pastels lately I decided to use them again before doing a painting. I started in pale blue,
Using a tissue, I smudged the drawing prior to fixing it with hair spray.
I then blocked in some yellow.
A brown hard conte pastel was used to add some definition and darker tones. Sprayed again.
I made the decision to add some charcoal to add more definition and contrast. Sprayed again.
Really over the top with the charcoal. Not enough careful drawing. A muddy overall effect.
I have to recognise that Vincent was much better than me-
Wow!