Recent Pastels

These are four of eight pastels I did, in April of this year, while I was in Florida. They were all done from photographs that I took along the Gulf coast of the Florida panhandle.
I like using pastels while traveling .The paper and finished drawings both fit in a zippered portfolio. The pastels all fit into a hinged box. And my easel and drawing board sets up quickly.  There is no wet bulky canvases, and nothing to spill.
The shrimp boat drawing is a composite of three photographs taken in Apalachicola. The pelican was part of a different photo taken at the same location.
      

I like using pastels because of the freedom
they allow. Pastels  by their nature are not a precise medium, they are chunky blocks of color, so they force me to loosen up and let them take me where they will.
The three men in an oyster boat drawing was done from a photo taken at Eastpoint, a small fishing village just 30 minutes east of Apalachicola. I was driving south along Hwy 98 when I saw this boat moving in the opposite direction. It was late afternoon, the water and sunlight were perfect. I  thought I have to at least try to capture it in a photo.
I turned the van around , raced ahead of the boat,grabbed my camera, and got out just in time to get the photograph. 
Pastels is a very direct medium. There is no preparation, no mixing, or thinning with oil or water, just have color and mark. Also, pastels are very physical, at least the way I use them.
I'm not one to apply some color and smear it around. I use pastels more like crayons, filling the page with marks using my whole arm and shoulder, applying one color on top of another.
The drawing of the house among the liveoaks was done from a photo I took in Apalachicola. I was walking throughout the town taking photographs for possible pastel drawings, when I came across this small yellow house in a fairytale landscape.
Pastels are all about color. They are quick, direct

and inexpensive. They beg for bold experimentation. If it doesn't work out, try another one. I always use colored paper for pastel drawings. To me, white paper leaves pastels looking washed out. Most of these drawings were done on bright orange paper. The color of the paper often shows through adding a nice warm tone to the drawing.
This final drawing was done from a photograph taken from the Carrabelle river bridge in the town of Carrabelle Florida, just a half hour north of Eastpoint. The photo was taken just before sunset. The water in the marshes creates a beautiful almost abstract scene.