Dunstanburgh from the North by Marjorie Firth

This is a good one Marjorie, I love the sky, in fact it all looks great!

Beautiful, the light is wonderful, the sky is great and I love the movement in the flora.

Thankyou both!

Very beautiful pastel, Marjorie, I like the colours and the scene well done.

I do love how you describe light with pastels Marjorie, the hedgerow is gorgeous.

I do like this Marjorie especially the foliage at the roads edge. I have also drawn this but in 8 b pencil but I sat on the other side on the cliff edge. Thank f I remember correctly there are lots of cattle up there. Such lovely views .

Thankyou Cesare, this is near our art club venue. Fiona, I think I was more interested in the hedgerow than the castle! Is that sacrilege? Sylvia, I know you've been up here because I've seen some of your sketches. I was sitting in the entrance of an old barn with a friend when I did this, a lovely morning.

Lovely sky, Marjorie.

Thankyou Seth!

I always love pastel work, this is super Marjorie.

Super sense of the light Marjorie. The warm and cools work well.

Love the way you have captured the light Marjorie, great Plein air work.

Thanks for the great support Alan, John and Barry.

That’s a beauty, Marjorie. Your enjoyment of the day shines through.

Love the light in the foreground Marjorie it contrasts well with the moody background.

I love this, Marjorie. It looks so tranquil.

The light you have bouncing off the floor in this is amazing

Many thanks, Tessa, Carole, Ellen and Jennifer.

You certainly have a grasp of pastel Marjorie. The path-side growth is well handled and the distant buildings are just right for atmosphere. I wonder; do you use pastel pencils for the detail work? I must get my pastels sorted out too, although I am practicing my watercolouring at present. This morning I found an uncompleted beach scene in my 'to do' stack, so this week, I am going to finish that as best I can. John.

I do have pastel pencils John but I rarely use them, I bought them when I first started with pastels - then my efforts were more pastel " drawings". I use Unison pastels ( bought them years ago after visiting Tarset, where they are made, in Northumberland). For fine lines I use maybe a sharp side of a piece which is broken, then pull it out with a shaper if that makes sense. Having said all this though, I love working in oils the most.

Marjorie: I use pastel pencils for fine foliage, after I have finished laying in in the dark areas. Yes, I love my oils, but my home-help is allergic to the smell of genuine turps. Even confining myself to the studio doesn't work 100%, and the turps odour migrates to other rooms. So it's open windows!

John, Why not odourless thinner like Gamblin's or a set of water based oils? I have Cobra, some of my oils on the Gallery are water based, good for using outside and you wash the brushes in water. Some people are dead against them but I think they do a good job.

A familiar and much loved view