Pastel Demo ...Hollyhocks in New Mexico

'Happiness is a Hollyhock'      6x12        pastel sold

It's Monday and Demo Day on the blog.  I am going to try to make every Monday Demo Day. Today I have done a pastel demo with a watercolor underpainting.   I am on a Hollyhock kick so this week my posts will feature the new paintings in my Hollyhock series. Yesterday it was an acrylic and today I actually painted two pastels. Look for the second demo in a future post.

The first question I ask myself before starting a painting is What do I want to say and how can I best say it. For this painting I wanted a more intimate view of the flowers and I wanted to showcase the delicateness of the blooms. I thought that using a long narrow format with a loose watercolor underpainting will set up the painting nicely.

1. (from top left)  I am using white Wallis museum which takes watercolor beautifully. I sketched the flowers with a pencil and started with the watercolors. I want to put in the darkest colors first so I put in some red and dark pinks.
2. I continue with watercolor putting in the darkest greens. I also put in some darker yellow. I don't wat the watercolor to be too wet and drippy at this point.
3. I step aside for a few minutes to allow the paint to dry slightly. I want to put in some light blue-greens in the background but I know if I let the rest of the paint dry, I can wash in the background color. This keeps the color as vibrant as possible.
4. This photo shows the first layers of pastel. I want to let the watercolor peek through so I am using a light touch. I begin by reinforcing all of the dark areas....the leaves and the darker shadows on the petals. I start to add some light warmer greens to the leaves. I also put in some color in the background. I decided to go with a pale blue-green to set off the flowers. I haven't worked much on the flowers. I am saving them for last!
5. Now it is time to develop the flowers. I have a selection of reds and pinks and layer them from darlest to lightest.I work on the greens and yellows in the centers.
6. For the final stage I add some sharper edges on the flower with the edge of a Mt Vision pastel. I also put in the pale yellow centers. I decide that I need a few more leaves to cover up the stem that I felt was to obvious and straight. Finished! 

I used my cheapo watercolors because I love these bright colors

The pastels I used for this painting...limited!

 If you would like to read more about watercolor underpaintings see my post here

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