Deeply inspired by the rugged coastline of California’s Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, I pack my painting gear and head out several times a year to paint from life, gathering reference material through studies, sketches and photography. As a plein air painter, my goal is to document the values and colors that the fleeting light conditions of the moment reveal. I will often create several studies from one location, observing how the shifting light transforms the landscape. 

The diversity of color along the rocky shores of Point Lobos is awe-inspiring—from the ochres and rusts of the sandstone walls and coastal flora, to the deep greens of the cypress and pines, to the luminous blues and greens that glow from the ocean below. I am drawn to the vibrating interplay of warm and cool color that energizes the scene. The pastel medium is ideal for capturing this environment, with its immediacy and pure pigment. In the following pages, I will detail my approach to depicting the nature in pastel.  

My Art in the Making Intricately Interwoven

Stage 1  Notan

I use Tombow brush pens in light, medium and dark gray to create a notan. This process helps me design shapes and values while leaving detail and color for the painting. I know quickly whether the composition will work. 

Stage 2 Initial Design

On a pre-cut 36 x 24" mounted piece of UART paper, I lay in my initial design with a NuPastel #295, a lovely, clean Prussian blue color. Then I whisper a very light coat of the average color and value of the large shapes in order to prepare for the underpainting. There is no color laid in the sky or the triangular shape of the sea. These will be added later in the process. It is important to note that I do not fill the entire shape up with pastel. I need there to be enough color to spread around but not enough to fill the tooth of the sanded paper. 

Stage 3  Preparations

I take the large hog bristle brush and dip it into a jar of Turpenoid. (You can use denatured alcohol, water, watercolor or gouache to create an underpainting.) Squeezing out the excess on the inside of the jar, I then wet the pastel in each shape, creating a brush-like effect with my marks. I’m not interested in details at this time, I just want to fill in the shapes with their values so I have a solid roadmap for the next several layers of pigment. 

Stage 4  The Broader Strokes

With the underpainting completely dried, I start to layer in color and detail. My mark-making begins to mimic the gesture of the cypress, still thinking about large shapes and not details just yet. I find my darkest dark and lay that down near the deepest part of the shapes in shadow. Then I start to find the subtle warm and cool grays that will make up the large rocks. 

Stage 5   Adding More Color

I start to vibrate peach, pink, blue and violet in the sky shape, making sure my values stay close so I can keep the sky colors clean. I also introduce the beautiful blue note of the ocean in the background. I make sure to keep its value lighter than anything in shadow. At this time I also start to draw some of the gnarly and twisted little branches within the cypress. Now, I am careful to delineate between shadow and light, working to create the feeling of backlight behind the large tree and rock shape. 

Stage 6  Subtle Temperature Shifts

I’m beginning to refine the shapes and introduce more subtle color temperature shifts with the masses. Notice the cool blue notes on the top plane of the rocks. This is where they are receiving the cool blue influence of the sky, and notice how the grays warm up as they move away from the sky. 

Stage 7  Further Refinements

Refinement of shapes and edges happen here. I start to put bits of pure color in order to heighten our awareness of the temperature shifts within the shapes. Much subtler shifts happen at this time, more looking and evaluating, even getting set onto a shelf for contemplation while starting something else. 

Stage 8  Pops of Color

Notice the pops of pure color like orange-red and yellow-green. I use these color notes to help lead the viewer’s eye around the painting and to liven the color up without getting garish. 

Stage 9 Finished Artwork

Intricately Interwoven, pastel on archival board, 36 x 24" (91 x 60 cm)

Rooted in granite, swept by fierce winds. Dusted in rust, an algae that harms none. A tangled chaos woven into lace, forming a rich tapestry measured in time and place. You will find this beautiful cypress hugging the granite at the apex of the Cypress Grove Trail in Point Lobos. She overlooks the ocean with power and grace.