Pencil to Pastel

Adapting a gray toned pencil sketch 

into colour (pastel)

is like a translating a conversation 

from one language to another.

 In my sketch I was interested 

in exploring the textural contrasts of shapes and line

( the softly curving ferns versus the vertical grasses and trees).

There is also an indication of filtered light in the upper third.

When I adapted these ideas into colour

interesting changes became necessary.

Those strong verticals 

(grasses and red brown tree trunks)

 dominated the composition

so I increased the number of ferns 

and allowed them to carry the eye into the background.

The filtered light

prevents the tree trunks 

from being too dominate

and pulls the eye back down 

to the forest floor.

April Cold Snap!

Winter has one more blast of snow and cold!

No chance of painting/sketching plein air...

a few photos instead.

 

Views from the canoe

Around the bend in the river

Pastel sketches based on photos 

and the pleasant memory 

of canoeing along the Bonnechere river 

on a peaceful summer's day.

Last of Winter

The Old Willow - Lemoine Point - Leslie Snider

 

Last year winter

 refused to leave us.

I took the following photo 

at Lemoine Point, Kingston.

It was early morning,

fog enveloped the trees and snow covered ground

as the morning sun warmed the air.

The pastel

  at the beginning of this post

 is an old willow wreathed in snow and fog.

It was based on photos from that same day.

Rain Shower

Bonnechere 2015 - Leslie Snider

 

 

From the moment I took this photo 

I thought the subject 

would translate well into pastel.

Pastel - Rain shower - Leslie Snider

I didn't make major changes to the composition

 but did crop the height of the trees 

and simplified their  textures.

I increased the depth 

of the quiet reflecting water

but retained the subtle balance 

between coolness of the greens 

(trees and their reflection) 

and warmth of the browns

(trunks, ground, reflections.)

 

Winter Trees

Hanging On  - Pastel - Leslie Snider

 

 

 

A winter walk in Lemoine Point, Kingston looks like this,

The leaves of a young maple stubbornly refusing to drop.

The moody scene inspired my pastel.

Change in the Weather - Winter 2015-16

Winter Creek -  Leslie Snider

I created this pastel celebrating the first significant snow of 2016.

(a pretty meandering stream contrasted nicely with the snowy field and bare treeline.)

It's surprising to remember that less than 2 weeks ago,

 Christmas 2015 in Ontario looked like this!

December 25, 2015 - Leslie Snider