Well, today was food shopping day and Sam's Club and a few other errands. All done with a smile on my face! I woke up this morning feeling cheerful and to be honest if I were any better today I'd have to be triplets - that is how much joy I have flowing through these old decrepit arteries!!
A follower wrote to me and said words to the effect: I've been in New Mexico and I love the beautiful skies that you have out there. While I enjoy the palette knife presentation of your first "Above The Ground"painting and the bellowing formations of clouds, I would like to see a painting of what I consider to be beautiful pastoral skies that I have witnessed in NM.
Weeelllllllll - you are in luck as I am in a very pastoral mood today and normally I would have said "Well Buck-o I'd like to be 6'9'', play in the NBA and have my own talk show - however that is not going to happen - which does not discount the happy-happy mood I'm in today!
Pastoral as it relates to the arts to me means - a scene idealized as peaceful - simple - natural with wisps of clouds - delicate & frail. The (high) desert can also be pastoral in vision - so with this as my guide I'll see what I can do! This will be a RENDERING with lots of brush activity done in a very soft manner to give the finished piece a sort of pastel appearance. Now doesn't that sound nice --- "A Pastel Pastoral Scene."
First I will create some color in the sky using 3 shades of blue applied with a big brush with soft light strokes.
I want the horizon line to be low in the sky as this painting is about SKY - although the pastoral presentation will also include the land of the high desert.
Next, I very gently with softness of brush stroke work in some white (wet into wet) in order to begin the pastoral appearance. When I say softness of brush stroke I mean just barely touching the canvas surface so softly in fact that some of the paint just lifts up rather than spreading.
I now also in a very gentle touch lay in some ground color - carrying a bit of it up into the lower sky as ground reflecting upward. This scene when done will perhaps depict (to some viewers) the beginning of the last glimmer of the light for the day.
That's all I've done so far as it is close to my lunch time and I actually feel like a nap. I could get used to this pastoral stuff - it feels kind of good! Makes me feel very peaceful.
Later today or tomorrow I will show you the steps leading up to the finished painting and I hope the viewer who wrote will be pleased.
Later folks--------------------------------------JR
