"Colorful Lake"

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​This is a vibrant painting with cheerful colors and shapes that spark my imagination. The sharp edges of the bold balloons grab my attention first, then the fuzziness of the reflection washes away the boldness and brings a calming sense to this painting. After my eyes bonce down to the water they are picked back up again by that 3rd balloon off in the distance. The bush in the front frames the balloons and bridge, while bringing the picture back into focus after the intense amount of lake. As my eyes get lost moving throughout this painting, it takes me to a warm spring day, maybe early summer, when the sun is shining but the plants are still green. For me this painting brings back memories of watching hot air balloons float through the sky with my family. It truly warms my heart and makes me happy... Even if you don't have memories of balloons, I hope that the colors will at least cheer up your day.

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This painting was my first attempt at pastels, so I choose original references that would showcase the beautiful variety of colors that pastels have to offer. I also wanted to paint hot air balloons because they are beautiful, almost magical, and I have wonderful memories of looking out the window of my grandparents house watching the balloons, as they landed early on Mothers Day morning. But since this was my first project, learning pastels was very frustrating for me because of the lack of control that they gave me. This painting was difficult but after learning the techniques, and fixing every fine line that kept getting smudged away, by the end of this painting pastels had already become one of my favorites, along side watercolor of course.​

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Details

 

Medium:  Pastels

Original size:  11x14 inches

Original Paper: UArt sanded 240

Paint Brands:  Sennelier, Unison, Rembrandt,

   Prismacolor, and Faber Castell

Prints Available: Yes

Year Finished:  5/2016

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