Well, this one was really different for me. Even though it is soft pastel on Mi-Tientes paper (smooth side)…which I do a lot….I found that I had chosen a picture taken years ago on a trip and didn’t spend much time planning the painting. I use thumbnail sketches about half the time in planning, otherwise, I just take a pencil or stick charcoal and mark where things are going to be. It’s not unusual with that method to have to make adjustments as you go along, but that’s ok with me.
In this case, it turns out that positioning within the painting wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I hadn’t worked out exactly how I was going to illustrate the layers of rocks growing right behind the bushes and small trees. And to make matters worse, I decided to do the foreground first……not my usual style. I just loved those plants and couldn’t wait to start painting them. In truth, the rocks are very complicated and would have been difficult painting in soft pastel even without the bushes.
I have to admit that I have never removed and repainted an area as many times as I did with this one. Finally, I surrendered and just put smeary lines the color of the rocks in the background and accepted that some people will think it’s a very BROWN stormy sky or an out-of-focus landscape of sand and rocks. So be it. I guess sometimes I learn more than others!