Now You See It ………!

Now you see it ….. now you don’t! 

I mentioned in one of my last posts a painting that I'd done and hated …. Well this is the remains of it, funny I quite like it like this. 

Memories of this painting just kept playing in my mind so I decided it had to go. Throwing away expensive support is not my thing (ah yes, my Scottish DNA), so I decided to rework it. Reworking paintings is nothing unusual, X Rays of old master's often show interesting ''ghosts'' of past works that didn’t please but this was new for me. Worst case scenario is the bin, nothing lost, experience gained. 

I had brushed back an area of a painting before and I have to say I liked the soft look, many pastel painters use underpainting, either in pastel, wash or watercolour, my modus operandi is more direct, I like to see my mark making. I gently brushed off the excessive pastel (outside because of the dust) and hey presto, the soft shadow of my hated painting could barely be seen.

I had thought about my motif and compo before I went ahead and decided on a low key palette using similar hues. Something more soft and subtle than I usually use but with a dramatic sky, and here we are! 

At first I really wanted to get rid of that area of water as my reference was a rainy sky over fields but I liked the way the ''pond'' was looking, so I think it'll stay. 

Working pastel on a pastel underpainting really is a completely different ball game! Softer, smoother and surprisingly nice! Hmmmm, Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks ….. maybe this is the start of a new era. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself, let’s wait and see if this work avoids the bin!