Pastel
The Call: Gunston Hall — Jessica
Today we visited Gunston Hall, the home of the forgotten founding father, George Mason. George Mason, in case you are wondering, is the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. He was one of the contributors to the Constitution, but when all was said and done, he refused to sign it because he felt that it didn’t do enough to protect individual liberties. Eventually, his ideas (filtered through Madison) became the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
We were one of only a handful of people there. It seems as though, in our times, the Bill of Rights is being forgotten as quickly as poor George Mason.
Now, why does this fit pastel? That’s because I finally was able to put together a pastel-flavored Lightroom preset that I’m happy with it. It doesn’t work for all photos, but I do like what it does with architecture and nature. (It was also used on yesterday’s birdhouse.)
Response: PanPastels — Cheryl
I was very excited when, a few years ago, I opened a birthday package from my sister and discovered PanPastels inside. I was disappointed when I first tried them, though, as they are rather difficult to “paint” with. Fortunately, they’ve turned out to be great additions to my art journaling arsenal.
Love the warm earthy colors. How do they work? With a brush or sponge or stamp?
Nicely composed shot, Jessica. I love the branches of the trees. I look forward to seeing more photos manipulated with your Pastel preset.
As far as the PanPastels go, they come with sponges that remind me of the ones used for makeup, but you can apply them with anything: brushes, Q-tips, fingers, … As I alluded to in the post, they are harder to manipulate than pastel sticks, but they are great for color washes. One of these years, I’ll actually explore their capabilities in depth.