The First New Works of 2010

After a long hiatus away from my easel this past fall and early winter, I have to admit that I've found it challenging to settle down into a good rhythm of work this month. Nonetheless, I'm starting to find my groove again. And I'm pleased with the pieces that I've completed so far. It's just been a slower slog than I would have liked.

My intention was to show you two new cityscapes and two new landscapes in this post, but as I was about to photograph one of the new cityscapes, I noticed something that I wanted to tweak.

It happens. Sometimes I take things off my drawing board and only then do I see a detail that is off kilter. For this reason, I'll often march around our home with the pieces still on the drawing board. I try to view works in progress under different circumstances. It's important to review works under different light and at different angles to really evaluate what's working and what isn't going so well (!)

Regardless, here are three new pieces that passed muster for this post. That elusive fourth one, a cityscape, will show up on my web site within the next day or two. I just have some more obsessing to do....

Winter Pines: Glow. 12 x 18 pastel on board. Learn more about this piece....

Black Moshannon, No. 28 - Jewel. 8 x 12 Pastel on paper. The latest addition to my ongoing series of plein air works from this Pennsylvania state park. I got most of this piece finished while working in the park in late October, but I had to dash in the fine details of the bare trees in my studio, which delayed the ultimate completion of this piece until now. With its vibrant colors, this is one of my all time favorites from this series. Learn more about this piece...

Grand Canyon. 12 x 36 Pastel on board. Inspired by my visit to New York City this past December. Learn more about this piece...

For kicks, I included this photo from my studio. This is one of the initial studies / sketches for "Grand Canyon" as well as the pastel sticks that I used to create the actual piece. You can see that what I do is by no means a tidy affair. I joke that I look like the Peanuts comic strip character, Pig Pen, while I'm working.