She Dances in Moonlight

This portrait of a woman dancing in moonlight was created using NuPastel hard pastel for original sketch and Rembrandt and Sennelier pastels as the painting progressed to finish. I always begin my figurative paintings with a sketch to get the exact placement of the figure. In this picture I made sure the head, arms and hand were situated exactly so as to get the viewer's attention and hold it. The face is the major focal point, and the hand is secondary, but extremely important as it holds the viewer's attention within the picture. The arm that extends beyond the frame is much less dominant, but still important as it conveys the realism of the figure. The position of the head and torso are believable and in sync; the tilt of the torso allows for the realistic highlights of "moonlight" from behind the figure to wash over the shoulders, etching light and shadow in the chest and onto the arms. Just as important as the "positive" designs of the figure are the "negative" spaces surrounding the figure. I am always drawn to emotion: light and shadows on a figure, the figure's position, movement, and what the figure is feeling at that particular moment. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not, but it is the challenge of capturing that moment that keeps me looking for my next subject and trying to capture something on paper.

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Pastel Paper Used