Jasper Alley in the Fall Lorraine Young 4 ½ x 6 ½ Sennelier soft pastels on pastel card   $120 framed

My favourite artists are the Impressionists (I discovered Renoir at the tender age of 12 and fell hard), closely followed by the Post Impressionists.  One of my biggest challenges has been to paint less “realistically”  (but still representationally) with the ultimate goal to arrive at my own “impressionistic” style. It’s a challenge I’ve been avoiding for the most part. Until now.

I decided to make a real effort, an honest attempt at finding my “Impressionist soul”,  and  Jasper Alley in the Fall is the result.  I am very happy with it!  The best part is that it’s from one of the photos I took on our trip to Jasper – but I’ve broken away from trying to paint what I see – what I know – is in the picture, and paint how I feel when I see it and remember that moment.

A contemporary artist on Flickr whose work I admire a great deal inspired me for this painting.  Kira Culufin does soft pastels on black pastel paper with great effect.  I work only on sanded pastel paper (with a few exceptions) but haven’t been able to find any black paper, so I decided to cover my pastel card with lamp black Sennelier pastel as a ground to begin this work.