Winter Sun Along Castleton rd.

 11x14in pastel

 detail

I painted this little pastel in the studio from pictures I took on a winters evening near Darlington, MD. This little house was an African-American school house that the community has preserved as a memorial. It is a beautiful building in its stark simplicity.

I was extremely fortunate to catch this moment of sunlight. It was gone in seconds. I plan to make this a study for a larger work that focuses on the house and not the sky. The sky was  interesting  attempt as it is comprised of a half dozen blues,yellows,oranges,and greens in many crosshatched layers. The light,wispy branches were done with a paintbrush brushing OFF the pastel and I was really happy with using violet as a shadow instead of a darker red. This is also my attempt to paint smaller pastels just to see how difficult they may be. I am used to larger pieces where I can really open up.