Stonethwaite Approach

Pastel on Pastelmat, 19 x 27 inches

Here's my last Pastel for the time being which is going to be framed with the new ClearColour plus UV glass, which you need a mortgage for!  The glass alone for this one will cost around £90...gulp, but the clarity is unbelievable compared to standard picture glass.  I've long thought that my Pastels have taken on a less vibrant look when framed and found that standard glass has a slight grey cast which, of course, dulls the image underneath.  The new glass also has reflection control and it actually appears that there isn't any glass!  The price for this will obviously reflect (get it, ha ha) this glass...I thought about £750,000....oh no, what am I thinking - that's just for talentless daubs requiring zero design and skill...................

Pastels lack the crispness of Oils, but I love the softer feel, and this one was a joy to paint.  I loved the Eagle Crag towering above Stonethwaite hamlet, adorned in mauves, blues and beiges, silhoetted against the sunlit hills behind it, yet lighter in tone than the foreground mountain, which in turn provided a gorgeous backdrop for the right-hand tree in its winter garb. The road of course acts as a nice lead-in and invites the eye to roam through the composition, and the tree on the far left stops the eye flying out of the picture. Lots of light and dark in this picture, especially in the wall, sunlit on the left and deep shade on the right.