Dogwood Festival

Artist's comment: One of the consistent challenges I face in using pastels is getting deep enough darks. I do not use white or black in my paintings so look for livelier colors to achieve the same effects. Though I have purchased the sets of dark colors offered by several pastel manufacturers, I have found them lacking. I use Sennelier's Intense Blue #463 in nearly every painting to get my darkest value. I wanted the white dogwoods in Dogwood Festival to pop out of the dark background. After laying in the Intense Blue #463, I then lightly applied with a soft brush denatured alcohol over the dark pastel. This serves to 'melt' the pastel particles decreasing their reflective properties and giving me the dark value I am sometimes looking for.

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