Tuesday morning on the beach at about 11 am. Before I hit the hot sands, I pulled out my pastels along the boardwalk path that opens up on the beach from the coastal forest. It’s one of those views that must have inspired prayers to God for the beauty.
The 400 Grit Uart paper at 6 x 6″ inch grabs enough pastel to produce color. The 400 grit is probably the highest of the Uart grade that I like right now. It runs up to 800 grit which is very smooth grit. I will hold those off for fine portraits in pastels. Right now, the 240 and 320 grit are the level of sand grit that works; it pulls off enough pastel to smudge but still keep that spontaneous happy square pastel dance.
The orange strings on the right bottom part of this small painting are where the turtles have laid their eggs. In Florida, some preservation societies walk the beaches to follow the leatherback turtle tracks and then post orange string with sticks. People will be severely fined to touch them. Later in the season, in August, I have participated in the turtle rescue. Those turtles that hatched later and have a tough time climbing out are then assisted by digging hands to set them free. This is supervised by a naturalist licensed to allow us to help.
The pastels I used on site were the Mungyo. At home, I finished them up with the same and a couple of touches of Nupastel. On the sanded surface, the Nupastel perform the same as the soft Mungyo. It’s a controlled drag.
Seagrape are coastal bushes and trees. They have the round leaves. In early days, the Spanish used them to write on and also for a type of toilet paper. Seagrape does grape. Some trees have fruit that are green and with sugar, can be eaten by humans. But it’s best to leave them for the wildlife. Raccoons love them.
After laying down this pastel, I jumped in the water. It’s hard to see from this painting but the pastel didn’t wash off my hands. I’m guilty of bringing color to the water.