Little Pond - Day 1, 2, & 3

I really have been bad about updating this blog (along with just about everything else). Here's the current painting in progress:

Day 1 - I did a very loose underpainting with pan pastels, sticking to a (somewhat) limited palette and defining large shapes for later.

Day 2 - I finally overcame my fear of Ruining Everything and did an alcohol wash over the underpainting, which had some odd effects. I'd never done a wash on this type of paper before, and I wasn't prepared for how much pigment got lifted up and deposited elsewhere! Still, it's just an underpainting...it doesn't have to be perfect. And to be honest, I kind of like the random pigment deposits. Sorry about the shine -- I took this photo while it was still wet.

Day 3 (today!) - Using pan pastels, I started to lay in more color on top of the underpainting. I was going to use regular stick pastels, but decided against it -- and I'm glad I made that choice. Sticks would have covered up all the color in the underpainting much too quickly. I'll save the sticks for finishing touches.