A Tranquil View From the Beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains

Left: "Blue Ridge Morning"
Pastel on Ampersand Board
11x14"

Below: "Peonies"
Pastel on Canson paper
14x16"

Finally shifting into gear, with two new images done all in the space of a few days... and another, large format oil painting underway. I climb ever-so-slowly – but surely – along that steep learning curve.

The first image is one I've wanted to do for many months: a typical scene from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Specifically, this view is in the proximity of Todd, NC (a town you can read about on the Blue Ridge Blog, as well as in the New York Times, of all places! Todd is located in the extreme northwest corner of North Carolina, in Ashe County.

The support is a green-tinted 11x14-inch Ampersand Pastel Board – which was a random choice, but the right one, I think, for this subject. I'm quite taken by this view, and since I've needed for many months to come up with something to fill a space on our living room wall, I've begun working up a much larger version in oils.

The second image is my very first attempt at a floral, and a rapidly done one at that. It's executed from life with semi-soft and soft pastels on a creme-colored Canson paper; probably not the best choice, as I brushed on a bit of isopropyl alcohol here and there, which tends to buckle the paper somewhat. But it was all in fun, as well as in the interest of experimentation. For a first attempt – a glorified sketch, really – I'm actually rather pleased. You should probably count on more florals to come!

Copyright ©2008 by Rick Koobs

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