Achieving Richness of Color

My paintings are soft pastel on sandpaper.

To obtain the rich colors I desire, I spend several months of studio time and many layers of soft pastel to create each painting.

In a sense my technique is analogous to glazing done by the Old Masters.

They slowly built up layers of thin paint to achieve a high degree of finish.

Colors were not mixed physically, but optically.

I gradually build up layers of soft pastel, as many as 30, to create a pastel painting.

After a color is applied, I blend it with my fingers and push it into the sandpaper’s tooth.

It mixes with the color beneath to create a new color, continually adding richness, saturation, and intensity to the overall painting.

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