Helvetia Lavender Paint Out

Last Tuesday, I followed the loyal band of PPASP artists out to Helvetia Lavender Farm, north of Highway 16. Check out PPASP's Behind the Scenes blog for more information on the day.

I used Kitty Wallis' wonderful sanded pastel paper and pastels made from one of her kits. I did a quick design study on paper and then underpainted the major areas of the design onto the Wallis paper with watered-down acrylics. I used large motions at first to block everything in, medium strokes to build the imagery and ended with tiny mark-making dots.

The lavender is about two weeks behind at this farm, but there was still an abundance of color. I actually chose to focus on the small eucalyptus tree amidst the rows of lavender, and as I almost always do, exaggerate the color I saw. To make the tree more prominent against the greens and violets of the fields, I chose warmer colors for the tree.

It was a wonderful afternoon - after a wonderful breakfast in the morning at O'Connor's - all in all, it made for a great day. Hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did mine.