Along the road to Rio

This month the Virtual Paintout artists are painting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I chose a simple landscape scene to start the month off. Palms are so hard for me to resist and one of my favorite trees to paint.

The paper I used was black and since it would not accept a watercolor under painting. I approached the initial block in using pastel. The most notable part of my start was the fuschia color, I used in the sky. I balanced it off with a bright green, to gray it down a bit, followed by a little lavender; one of my favorite sky colors.

I hope you enjoy my latest Virtual Paintout offering. It's titled "Along the road to Rio" and it is another pastel painting, approximately 7 x 11. Also, don't forget to check out the web site for The Virtual Paintout, hosted by Bill Guffey, and featuring art from around the world.

Down the hill and yonder curve

A little taste of autumn can be felt in this recent pastel painting. I painted this for the October Spotlight, hosted by the Wet Canvas Pastel Forum. It's titled "Down the hill and yonder curve". The focus of this October's Spotlight was using the warm colors of autumn.