This is my fourth and final painting in my experiment trying different colored paper for a pastel painting. In this fourth painting of Smokey Spanish Creek, I used a dull purple medium value paper and did a gouache under painting. This is the outcome.

Here is the series. All were done on Art Spectrum Colourfix paper using different colored paper. The first was done on white, then black, a warm yellow (warm) and finally a dull purple (cool). Each had a gouache under painting. I tried to keep the process intuitive and just responded to what was happening right from the very beginning block in phase. I did not look at the previous paintings or use the same palette of colors.

As I looked back at the process, I see that I used warmer colors on a cool surface and cooler colors on the warm surface from the very beginning. You can see this mostly in the background mountains.

Darker paper (black and purple) gave a more somber mood or at least more drama which is suited to this subject. I painted en plein air at this Montana location when the atmosphere was thick with smoke. We weren't in danger but it was a little ominous.

The most difficult part of this exercise was switching from white to black paper. It is very different painting with those extremes in value. Personally, I think I would like to use more dark paper. When I went to a Paul Murray pastel workshop, he used black very effectively. Give this exercise a try. I would like to do more paintings but I think this is enough for this scene.

I participated in the plein air competition at Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington Hills on Sunday Sept. 20th. This was my inspiration and final painting, an 8 x 10 in. pastel on paper. I included some water that was in the field but closer to me and a figure that gave the trees scale.

It was the perfect day to paint and there were many activities for children as well as good food and music. Here are more pictures of the day.

I won a $50 gift card to Blick Art stores and it is burning a hole in my pocket. What do you think I should get?

You might be wondering what happened to my experiment. Well, I spent a glorious week hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park. It was exhausting but the scenery was breath taking. I couldn't take my easel but I have many photos I hope to use for future paintings. Now, back to the experiment.

I am curious to see if there is a difference in the final painting by starting with different surfaces when I block in the big shapes of the composition. My last two blogs were about under painting on white paper and then on black paper. I am now showing you the result of using a warm colored paper. To be consistent, I am using Art Spectrum's Colourfix paper for all of my trials and I am doing the same scene. Here is the under painting and the final result, Smokey Spanish Creek on warm paper.

I immediately noticed that I tended to use cooler colors for the under painting in gouache and for the beginning pastel layers. It wasn't until the end that I brought in the warm colors. Next, I will try a cool paper. Unfortunately I didn't have cool paper in the same value so, a deep purple will have to do.

Here is the gouache block in on purple paper with a little pastel in the distance. What do you notice?

Would a painting look different if I blocked in the under painting with gouache on black paper? Last time I painted on white Colourfix paper using gouache for the under painting. Here is the painting on black paper once again using gouache.

And here is the one on white paper again.

It is difficult to see in my photographs that there is a difference. The painting on black paper is darker and has more of an ominous mood which is what I was going for. Some of the black shows through. Remember there was a lot of smoke in the atmosphere which put me a little on edge when I painted at this location in Montana. One of my students liked the one on black paper more than the other one.

My next attempts will be on warm and then on cool toned paper.

After watching an instructional video by master pastelist, Richard McKinley, I have decided to take on a challenge. I am going to do 5 paintings of the same subject starting with different under paintings. He suggested a subject that you successfully painted before. I chose a scene where I painted on location in one of Richard's workshops near Bozeman, Montana. This is Spanish Creek. I had to slowly drive through a buffalo ranch to get to this beautiful but smokey scene. Not long into the painting a moose came out for a drink. I did these two paintings several years ago.

All of the experimental paintings are going to be done on Art Spectrum Colourfix paper. The first one was on white paper and I used gouache to block in the large shapes. This experiment was done from a photo of another part of Spanish Creek.

It has been awhile since I use gouache. I then used layers of soft pastel to finish this piece. This is the final painting, 9 x 12 in, Smokey Spanish Creek.

I will be consistent and continue to use gouache on black paper, a warm color paper and a cool color paper. Then I am going to try just a black and white value under painting which I have never done before. Even though I have experimented with many kinds of under paintings and many different papers, I haven't done the exact same subject with different approaches. It should be interesting. Next time, I will use black paper.