Experiments with Pastel - Landscape

I am still continuing to explore the possibilities of the medium of pastel. The colours can become so luminous with the layering effects which makes them ideally suited to the effects of light on the landscape and also clouds.

I am trying something a bit different from my usual subject matter. I drove up to the Glasshouse Mountains as I have always loved those monolithic volcanic rocks towering over the coloured fields. The colours in the landscape were very strong that day reflecting all the rain we have had and the fact that we really are in a semi-tropical area here in Queensland.

My big secret ingredient here is the paper. I used sandpaper! It is about P400 or P600 in sandpaper language. I love the texture and also the black surface. You have a lot of control over tone as you are consciously working from dark to light instead of the usual white to dark. 

These two are different angles of the Glasshouse Mountains. We drove down every back road to get the best vistas.

This one is much closer to home, being the view from my back deck. That is Torbrec on the right. It is really just a cloud study with the new medium.

I should stress that these are just experiments and I do intend to do larger works incorporating these landscapes as backgrounds.

This rabbit is also a shift for me instead of my usual kangaroos. I did him over the Easter weekend which was just a coincidence. He is also source material for some larger ideas.