Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Perilous Rest

For almost two years I have wanted to paint from a photo of a log jam along the Columbia River in Portland. The image had strong lines, but until now, I could not think how to interpret it. In my sketchbook I worked in pen and then colored with alcohol markers to get a feel for value and colors. I actually love that sketch but I knew that it would not translate to pastels, they just handle so differently. Finally I decided to think in terms of abstracts for pastels: indulging the shapes, the colors, the values, and my 'poetic' concept of what I was rendering.
'Perilous Rest'
6x9" Wallis museum grade sanded paper 


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Anyway, I also decided that I would have to pick up water color so I could try pursuing my ink and color sketches.
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3 comments:

  1. Carol BrownApril 23, 2010 at 9:18 AM

    This from Steff at 7:45 AM

    During my inspirational reading time this morning I came across something that immediately made me think of Log Jam. The Seventh Chakra is Consciousness and is governed by the Law of Pure Potentiality......it is visualized as a "lotus flower" (located at the crown of the head). This is the flower that I am seeing in Log Jam....being inside of a large lotus blossom that is slowly opening...the turquoise in the distance is the sky or "wisdom" and "understanding". The "logs" are small in comparison to the flower petals (or walls in your photo) which mean that the problem or blockage is very small and merely needs to be ignored or overlooked.

    My Reply:
    Wow. That’s it exactly. I love that description. It does depict my own perspective during painting, I just didn’t have the eastern imagery to inform my words. Thanks so much for sharing this discovery process with me.
    I must re-title…how about…
    ‘Insight’?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gary KeimigApril 26, 2010 at 12:15 PM

    interesting Carol.
    Very abstract and great design.
    And this is in Watercolor?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Carol BrownApril 26, 2010 at 9:00 PM

    Thanks, Gary. No, it's the pastel interpretation.

    Just wet my first watercolor brush this weekend. Expecting a totally different subject treatment from ink and light washes.
    Carol

    ReplyDelete

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