Playing with Pastel. Sky Blue. Many Magical Moments. Original Art. Original Drawing.

Sky.
There is only.
One beautiful and forever.
Changing Sky. Show me the way to fly to you. ~Ally.

Today's Color Challenge for Steemians as initially presented by @kalemandra is Friday Sky Blue.

I thought it would be a wonderful time to share a pastel sketch of the sky with my NEW Rembrandt pastels.

But before I started to draw the sky:

• I went for a walk: Breathing in the refreshing cool air and basking in the aftermath of the blue moon energy, felt the soft dampened grass and the rough asphalt with my feet, smelt the roses, picked a few pink lilies and a small section of hydrangea, met a new walker and spoke to her dog.
• Unravelled my NEW Rembrandt pastels.
• Checked my email, Tumblr, Instagram and Steemit.
• Cleared my drawing table of all the electricals, chargers and cords that I've been trying to sort: Haven't a clue what most of them are anymore, but need to keep them just in case. All neatly in a box now and off my drawing table.
• Cleared the drawing table of all the papers I've been scribbling on for the past week or so, all the shells, batteries and light bulbs that were starting to accumulate.
• Made some dandelion and burdock tea, laced with organic coffee to give me the extra boost I still felt I needed.
• Watched a video with Australian artist, Louise Corke demonstrating her work with pastels. Louise builds up her hues, shades and tones by overlapping separate colours which allows the colour of the paper to come through. Video is below.
• Louise gave some really useful tips. Something she didn't actually talk about: Her Artist's apron which is obviously going to be essential gear when working with pastel.
• Mentioned this to my friend and voila: Out of the linen-press came, not a heavy duty navy apron, but a bright red paisley patterned cooking apron. Put it on and felt FANTASTIC.
• Looked at my Steemit Feed. Big mistake. Slide effortlessly down the Rabbit Hole.
• Unsure about which paper to start with: I gathered a few different papers: Parchment, Canson and Mi-Teintes TEX.
• Did a little QiGong in the garden. Sat and observed our resident Brush Turkey.

---

Now to begin?

There's nothing so beautiful and at the same time so daunting as a blank canvas, or as in this case a blank piece of pale ochre parchment paper.

So I thought it would be a good time to show you the NEW Rembrandt soft pastels that I spent a small fortune on yesterday.

---

The first marks with Phthalo Blue:

Using the side of the pastel. Initially very lightly and then applying more pressure. And then some lines

Even though parchment paper is not a pastel paper or even a drawing paper ~ It was absolutely beautiful to draw on with the pastel. The dry pastel just glided on and the powder seemed to adhere reasonably well.

---

Adding a few more shades of blue and a muted pinky violet.

The ochre background and initial marks still showing underneath this second layer of marks.

---

And then:

I simply couldn't interrupt the flow of the drawing to take any more photographs.

And so this is the final stage of my first 'experiment' with drawing on ochre parchment paper with pastels.

Not exactly a masterpiece or a drawing of the sky. But a start, which for me is such a 'breakthrough.'

---

And now: A pastel drawing of the sky meeting the ocean.

After watching Louise Corke drawing in pastel, I tried laying down colour over colour and only blending with the pastel on the parchment paper.

It became painfully clear to me that the parchment paper couldn't hold a buildup of pigment in quite the same way as an actual pastel paper.

But although this drawing has its shortcomings, I still want to share it as part of my initial exploring of pastel on parchment paper.

---

Australian artist, Louise Corke describes how she works with pastels.

---

About my work.

I construct small assemblages with flowers, weeds and plants, rocks and crystals, combined with other natural materials that I find in the bushland or surrounding urban streets.

I love transparencies and layering and use different techniques to create backgrounds, where the details can become quite obscure. Never-the-less, these backgrounds are an integral aspect of my ephemeral artwork.

Sometimes a song or quote or other ideas/thoughts/words come to me, when I look at the photographs I've taken. Giving form to a short 'poem' to accompany the image.

I'm very much a novice in pastel drawing. But just in making these marks I've learnt A LOT that can now be carried into other drawings with pastel.

One thing I know now from making these marks is that I absolutely LOVE working with pastel AND:

Where there is love ~ Fear has no place. And I no longer fear the fear.

---

Photography: ©Alison Lee Cousland.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 Mark II.
Processing: Lightroom.

---

---