Nature always wears the colors of the spirit - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Bob Palmerton
- May 11, 2018
- 1 min
Pastel Painting: Pondering Spring
It seems that with a few days of temperatures in the low 70's, that foliage bursts furiously in Southeast Michigan. This pond and field scene can be found at the Pittsfield Preserve off Marton Road near Saline, MI. "Pondering Spring" is a 12x18 pastel painting on Uart sanded paper. Available for purchase on Etsy #Uart
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Bob Palmerton
- May 7, 2018
- 1 min
StudioSense: Pastel & Watercolor Underpainting
Spring has finally arrived in Southeast Michigan. Touring a local nature preserve with my dog Cosmo, I came across this scene, replete with early greens: To see what this locale looks like in mid-summer, see my plein air painting of this site below: I started this painting with an alcohol wash of dark pastel for the deepest values: I dried the surface of the Uart sanded paper with a desktop fan, then chose purple and green watercolors to fill up the canvas: I'm particularly
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Bob Palmerton
- Feb 17, 2018
- 1 min
New Pastel Painting - "Wind Chill"
Inspired by a cold late November afternoon on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, "Wind Chill" is a 21x27 inch pastel painting on Uart sanded paper. The beach is located west of DeTour Village on southeastern portion of the Upper Peninsula on Lake Huron, where there are several beachfront parks located off Highway 134. For purchase information on Wind Chill and other paintings, visit our Purchase webpage. This painting has been curated on Zatista and is also available through our Et
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Bob Palmerton
- Jan 19, 2018
- 3 min
StudioSense
Working in the studio each day, I come across adjustments to work-in-progress paintings that I like to share with my pastel enthusiast audience. Hence this inaugural edition of "StudioSense." Here is the current version of "Wind Chill." Followers of this blog have seen this painting before; it is a large 21x27 piece on Uart sanded paper, with a lot going on! What initially caught my attention to this scene on Lake Huron was the sky. It was quite ominous in the reference p
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Bob Palmerton
- Jan 15, 2018
- 2 min
Painting Technique: Capturing the Glow of Winter
Rolling Hills County Park in Ypsilanti, Michigan maintains 3 miles of groomed cross-country skiing trails. I've enjoyed skiing and gaining inspiration for paintings in this peaceful winter setting. Last weekend I skied at Rolling Hills and captured this photo. I must have appeared rather goofy skiing along with a 35mm Canon Digital SLR camera hanging from my neck. Here is the reference photo. Note how the brights of the snow are washed out (I did not have an opportunity to
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Bob Palmerton
- Jan 4, 2018
- 2 min
Pastel Technique: Adding a "Misty" look to the Landscape
Creating distance in a landscape is often achieved by muting the color as you near the horizon. You can also create a misty look to convey the impact of rain or (in the case of the painting below), snow. Here is the current version of "Wind Chill," inspired by a scene on Lake Huron in the upper peninsula of Michigan, near DeTour Village. We will focus on the right portion of the treeline, where you see the hazy impact of a falling snow. To create the misty look of light sno
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Bob Palmerton
- Jul 31, 2017
- 1 min
Pastel Technique: Acrylic Underpainting
I thought I would spice up my underpainting techniques to do paint this landscape of a field at Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor. As there is an orange glow to the field, I chose to do an orange acrylic underpainting. Once complete, I blocked in the darkest values. Jill Wagner, a most accomplished award-winning artist from Saline, Michigan, recently posted a pastel lesson on Uart with an orange acrylic underpainting (inspiring my approach). See Jill's tip here. My ne
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Bob Palmerton
- Jul 22, 2017
- 1 min
New Pastel Painting - Woolley Park Stroll
Woolley Park Stroll was started en plein air with my studio assistant Cosmo. Completed today, I decided to enhance some of the predominant colors of this landscape, located in Woolley Park on Textile Road in Saline, MI. Soft pastel on Uart (Grade 400) sanded paper. Here is the reference photo, a much blander view of this lovely early-morning landscape. Check out our Etsy storefront for available paintings. #WooleyPark #Saline #Uart #foliage
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Bob Palmerton
- Jul 5, 2017
- 1 min
Pastel Painting: Garlic "Out To Dry"
I have joyfully harvested my first collection of garlic!. After placing one clove each in about thirty raised-bed cavities in my nutrient-rich vegetable garden soil last October, I've been rewarded with an equal number of garlic bulbs. I could not resist of course to paint a bunch of garlic bulbs hanging out to dry on my deck. Here's my soft pastel painting: Here is a photo of a bulb lifted from the soil this morning: After gathering a bunch (there's another small crop yet
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Bob Palmerton
- May 5, 2017
- 1 min
Pastel Painting - Pittsfield Preserve
The latest version of my plein air painting at the Pittsfield Preserve. I guess it is 50% "plein air" as I am completing the pastel in my studio. This vista can be found off Marton Road in Pittsfield township, a modest hike from the parking area. Distant tree lines can be effectively conveyed with a light-to-medium value ochre, brown and a little bit of orange. A tortillion comes in handy to spread the pastel sharply upward to capture the hair-like treetops. More to come.
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Bob Palmerton
- Apr 13, 2017
- 1 min
Italy's Colors
I enjoy the oranges, reds and greens of medieval Italy! Here is the current version or Ravello. Working those greens, blues, purples, reds, oranges and the bright sunlight and shady contrasts of this scene in Ravello. The perch from which the reference photo was taken is from the edge of the main town square. There were several black cats meandering among the tourists (they received some fine crusty bread treats from us travelers)! What appeals to me in this scene is the b
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Bob Palmerton
- Apr 5, 2017
- 1 min
Pastel Technique: Carried Away with Complementary Colors
This is a scene from the town of Ravello on Italy's Amalfi Coast. Ravello towers above the Mediterranean, an arduous uphill hike from Amalfi on the coast. I've been fascinated by the red orange terracotta rooftops and the ancient stucco facades of the homes and buildings on the Amalfi Coast (and almost everywhere in Italy). I particularly like the bold greens and yellows of the lush vegetation. I decided to help the colors in this landscape "pop" by juxtaposing complementa
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Bob Palmerton
- Apr 2, 2017
- 1 min
Pastel Painting: Marsh Madness
New pastel painting: pond in Lillie Park, near Ann Arbor, MI. Soft pastel on Uart sanded paper. 10x13. See Marsh Madness and other available paintings for purchase at our Etsy store. #Uart #DakotaArtPastels #pastels #pond #marsh #water
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Bob Palmerton
- Mar 18, 2017
- 1 min
Pastel Painting: Judd Road Field
This painting was started as our field demo in "The Landscape in Pastel" class at the Michigan Art Center. I darkened the ground above the bright green grasses to help bring out their light value. A little more purple was added to the distant field. Note how the second row of grasses is less defined (more distant) than the foreground field. Likewise, the distant hill is hazier and softer. This study helps to convey the major planes of the painting and their proximity to the
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Bob Palmerton
- Mar 18, 2017
- 1 min
Pastel Painting: Early Spring Soybeans
In the Pittsfield Preserve off Thomas Road near Saline, MI. An early morning in June, the soybeans were starting to emerge with vigor as a thunderstorm emerged from the west. Created with soft pastels on Uart sanded paper. For purchase information, visit our Etsy shop. #Uart
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Bob Palmerton
- Feb 26, 2017
- 2 min
Pastel Technique: A Study on Paper
This morning I had the privilege to meet Ed Kennedy, PSA. Ed resides in the same town as I do, in Saline, MI., so we got together to share notes over coffee at Brewed Awakenings. Ed was featured in the recent issue of Pastel Journal. You can see his excellent work here at the Ed Kennedy Studio. At one point Ed talked about a pastellist that used Canson paper. I thought that was passe, as sanded paper seems to have become the surface of choice for pastellists. Recognizing
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Bob Palmerton
- Feb 23, 2017
- 2 min
Birch Ballet
Strolling through Furstenberg Park in Northeast Ann Arbor, I came across an open field housing scattered birch trees. I was inspired: I decided it was time to do a birch tree painting. Birch Ballet is my largest pastel painting (27 x 21 inches), using a full sheet of Uart archival sanded paper. A history of its development is posted in a separate blog on this site, from initial underpainting through the various pastel painting techniques used to complete Birch Ballet. My vi
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