I didn’t paint much this summer–the hubster and I were busy with our antiquing. But I did manage to paint a little, and surprised myself by choosing soft pastels as my medium.  At first because they’re easy to transport and don’t require stuff like mineral spirits or water for thinning and cleaning of brushes. But as I became more comfortable using them, I didn’t even think about going back to my paints and brushes.

I also surprised myself with my choice of what I wanted to paint. I’ve long considered myself someone who, given the opportunity, would move to the mountains in a heartbeat. And given that, I figured that’s where my true creative inspiration must lie.

But I now live in the Northern Neck of Virginia, surrounded by rivers, marshes and streams and not far from the Chesapeake Bay. I’m finding myself drawn to painting water over and over. Below are a few examples of my recent efforts:

I watch pastel artists on YouTube and have my favorites, like the woman who used baby wipes in one of her videos to blend her pastels for her underpainting. In the next video of hers I watched, she used white wine (out of a wineglass, no less) for the same purpose. She may be quirky, but she’s also very good. I’ve watched several of her videos now, and when I approach my own pastels and paper, I try to remember what I’ve learned while watching her. And no, I haven’t tried the baby wipe or wine method of underpainting yet.

I do think that all the YouTube binge watching I’m doing has helped, but I realize that it can only take me so far. So I’ve signed up for a two month long class in pastels, which starts tomorrow. I plan to document my efforts here, and hope that by mid-November I’m even half as good as the baby wipe/white wine artist is.