Saturday, February 13, 2016

"Midnight Magic" Wins Award


"Midnight Magic," 9x12 pastel, is another in my Sagebrush series - painting the wonderful designs surrounding our mini-ranch. On one of my walks I ran across this clump of grasses, and with the sagebrush in the background, it made a great composition. The smartphone snapshot I used as reference is a mundane, regular daytime shot. Using artistic license I changed the lighting and turned it into a night scene. I love the warm colors peeking through the cold snow, and the deep bluish green sky is the pièce de résistance as they say. Little bits of the underpainting show through as if stars twinkling, and the bright strip of snow pulls your eye upward along the grasses as you feast on the intricate mark-making. "Midnight Magic" received 2nd Place, Signature division, in the 2016 Pastel Society of the West Coast Online Members Exhibit!

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