It really is Spring...

At last, Spring is here, we have had sunshine for 2 straight days and I feel happy.  Not least because after three and a half miserable weeks I have finally thrown off the cold that has sent me to my bed more often than I care to admit.  I had a small personal celebration by spending most of those two days surgically attached to my worktable creating pastel paintings.

I started with some sunbathing logs -
we pass this heap each time we walk the dog
 and for over a year I have wanted to do something with it
 but not been sure how to go about it.
 This is me in 'just get on with it mode'








A few weeks ago I invested in a large quantity of different pastel suitable papers and am slowly beginning to get a feel for those that I prefer.

Drawings of my Mother's Day flowers. I have two more to do now that the flowers are going over. Somehow dead ones have a different kind of magic.

These 3 were all done on Sennelier Royal sovereign card.  I have decided I am not too keen on it - it is too coarse and although it "grabs" a lot of colour it makes my work look even less detailed than it is. Each picture is on a different coloured card, to try and compare the luminosity of the pastels.  i don't think it makes a huge difference with this subject as there are so many other variables.









For an extra special treat I took myself outside to photograph and pick some of the fabulous daffodils we have in the garden.

These were all on Cansons Mi tientes paper. This I really do not like, it is too thin and does not hold enough colour.  I shall not buy it again. However, I worked on a light (L) and dark (R)shade of paper and the bottom one I used the reverse side which was rougher (didn't help).

This is how my pin board looked at the end of the 2 days:

Feeling rather pleased with myself.

Now what's next?