Clouds #3

A few posts down, there is the original photograph that I snapped from my car, and, above that, the watercolor. Here is the pastel painted from the initial photo and watercolor. It looks fuzzy and out of focus because it was painted on velour paper. If you're familiar with velour fabric, you know what the paper feels like. Joy Morgan was kind enough to give me a piece of the paper for my own use and experimentation, and the clouds seemed to be an appropriate subject for the fabric-like paper.

I've read several reviews of people on www.dickblick.com who love this paper; I'm afraid I don't share their enthusiasm. I find that the subject of the painting makes the difference in the support I should use. A painting with great rough texture might call for U-art paper; the clouds did work well on velour; clairefontaine paper is the best paper for almost everything; mi-tiennes is good for many pastelists. I don't like it at all.  Of course, it comes down to personal preference, as in all things.