Marcia Wegman
My Inspiration
My pastel landscapes are done entirely from photographs I take, many along rural roads in my county in eastern Iowa. You don’t often see sheep out in the pastures so I was delighted to come across a large group. When I began photographing them they were close to the fence, then they all turned tail and ran over the hill. Reviewing my photo files some years later I was quite taken with the rear view of these running sheep. I love the way the sun is lighting the animals, the interesting texture of the grass, the contrast of the silhouetted grove of trees, and the lovely warm colors of the distant crops.
Finalist
My Design Strategy
I am currently preparing for a future show of my pastel landscapes, which will include Sheep Pasture. I had previously completed a piece I that was wide and narrow, not my usual format, that I wanted to include in the show. Since I like working in pairs I decided to make this painting the same size. I cropped the photo in the computer to fit this format and printed it out for my reference. I often use several different photos for a painting but for Sheep Pasture I felt the composition was perfect.
My Working Process
All my pastel paintings are done on Uart 800 grit paper, which I tape to a foamcore backing. I work quickly and directly, no preliminary sketches. I broadly determine the composition with local color using hard pastels, often Rembrandt. I rub this into the grit of the paper with my hands. Starting with the sky and working down through the distant fields I add colors with softer pastels, my favorite being Terry Ludwig, then the dark grove of trees, then a variety of soft colors for the grasses which are also worked into the paper well enough that it is easy to paint the sheep forms on top. Then comes the fun of adding the sheep working from left to right and using a combination of hard and soft pastels, and some pastel pencils. Such delightful shapes to work with! My goal was to give a sense of the energy of the running sheep as well as the way the sun delineates their bodies. A few highlights on the grass completed the painting.
Contact Details