I learned a lot about portraits in pastel from William Schneider and a lot more about landscapes in pastel from Lorenzo Chavez...take a minute to Google their names and you will see that I was learning from the best!
Every evening the clouds were spectacular at sunset - there was a lot of smoke in the air too, so the colors were muted near the ground. Though it looks like rain, this is virga; rain that never reaches the ground.
We were very near the Sandia Mountains which were formed when tectonic plates collided. In the foreground, is the ubiquitous Pinion Pine.
They haven't had even an inch of rain in 8 months and still the plants are alive - really amazing. I painted in the shade of a pinion pine.
This piece was completed in class with Lorenzo Chavez, from a photo I took years ago. I didn't have an enormous array of pastels, so some of the colors are a compromise. I am happy with the looser, more painterly look to the piece though.
This is another class piece that is also from an old photo of mine - it came together quickly with all that I learned from Lorenzo. Can't wait to get back in the studio....right after I mow the lawn!