School days

Waiting for the Bus 18x24 pastel, copyright 2010

Although the local weather has offered no hint of a change in seasons, fall has officially arrived at our home with the start of the school year.  I am fortunate in that both my kids still love school and do well.  Our shepard mix however, does not look forward to it as it means missing a couple of playmates.  Every morning she watches as they get on the bus and in the afternoon sits in a shaded spot waiting for their return.

This pastel took me a bit longer than usual as I struggled to get the corn fields to look like corn and the tree at the end of the lane to stand out from the background trees.  The trick was to exaggerate the highlighs and shadows a bit to keep it all from getting too dull.  And in reality the dog is black, but she kept disappearing into the shadow so I had to lighten her color a bit.

I have submitted this pastel to a monthy online challange at Artists Helping Artists blog, which is an excellent resource for the emerging artist.  It will also be in the Greenville Art Guild's Annual Fall Art Show along with the brownstone painting.  I'll let you know how all that goes!