I'm getting ready for a show; going through materials for ideas for my next project and looking at a pastel that I've been working on for a couple of weeks. There's something about it that isn't finished. I haven't pushed it far enough yet. 

It's a scene I experienced several years ago in Canmore, Alberta. Beautiful bright yellow larches against evergreens against a foggy peak in the background. And it sits on my easel looking back at me.

Sometimes that occurs and usually I put it on the wall somewhere where I can look at it and think about what is next ... that happened with a pastel from Edisto Marsh earlier this spring. It was just blah. The light wasn't right in the painting. So occasionally I would look at it and wondered if it could be saved.

As you can see above the water further back was not well defined; there were no highlights to help light up the painting and it just needed something! So, I took it off the wall and began to work on adding more character to the painting. First I got out the alcohol wash and worked on the reflected grasses and the lower left side of the painting. I defined the waterway with darker blues and continued the lighter green to the horizon line. I brought up the purples and scattered them throughout the grass and as a reflection in the foreground water. That began to wake up the greens! Then I began to pick out the light in the tree and darkened the sky behind it. I'm much happier with the painting now and enjoy it each time I see it. Remember living with a piece sometimes lets you figure out what could be better about it!