The first colour wash, establishing warm and cool areas:

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 19cm x 28cm, pencil and watercolour on watercolour paper

Today I've been working on a preparatory sketch for my next watercolour:

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 19cm x 28cm, pencil on watercolour paper

And here is the finished pastel of the sun-lit field at La Cappella, Italy:

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 45.5cm x 70cm, pastel on watercolour paper

I've been pulling out shapes and defining branches and leaves today. I feel like the piece is getting pretty close to finished, so now seemed like a good time to stop and back away! I'll look at it again with fresh eyes to see what's left to do.

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 45.5cm x 70cm, pastel on watercolour paper

Progress on my latest pastel painting... I've been working on top of the underpainting, focusing on the darkest darks and lightest lights. Working back and forth like this has allowed me to fine-tune shapes, particularly the heavy tree trunks and the delicate leaves on the branches at the top left corner. Again, I'm amazed at how much life a complementary-coloured underpainting gives to the whole piece!

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 45.5cm x 70cm, pastel on watercolour paper

Inspired by the description of this character in Christopher Moore's book, Sacré Bleu, I decided to illustrate how I imagined him. I give you Le Professeur Gaston Bastard:

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 16cm x 25cm, pen and copic marker

I love drawing leaves, and digital watercolour is fun (once you get enough RAM)!

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 15cm x 20cm, digital watercolour done using Corel Painter 12

Today I took another look at my pastel underpainting and realized that I'd lost the darks and lights from my value study of the piece. In addition, some of the major landmarks needed to be made more apparent. That done, I'm now ready to start painting in local colour.

With the days getting shorter (and often darker) around here, I wanted to take a moment to mention studio lighting. At the beginning of the fall I added daylight bulbs to my studio lighting, and it has made a huge difference in my work environment. Not only are the bulbs brighter (100 watt), but they provide me with a truer light to work by, as warmer coloured light tends to distort one's perception of the colours they're working with. I've installed two bulbs overhead, and one in a stand-up light that I can angle over my shoulder. The effect is a consistently bright, sunlight-lit environment I can work in even after the daylight is gone for the day – good for my work, and my mood!

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 45.5cm x 70cm, pastel on watercolour paper

Here is the brilliantly coloured underpainting for my next pastel. I've used complementary colours once again, this time with isopropyl alcohol to move the pastel around the surface:

©2012 Jennifer Georgeadis. 45.5cm x 70cmcm, pastel on watercolour paper