Purple Reign

I love purple, always have. But ever since I bought the Terry Ludwig Ultra Violets pastel set, my love for purple has become a full-blown obsession. The purples in that set are just so vibrant and dark at the same time, which make them utterly luscious for shadows.

Here are two recent animal pastel paintings I did using purple as a base:

First up is this kangaroo on Pastelmat. I was attempting to adopt a more Impressionistic approach - more strokes and less blending. After I'd given King Kanga a royal purple coat, I decided it wasn't bright enough and added some fluorescent pink streaks. I think my inner moderation meter is broken.

Second was a series of three bunnies. I wasn't intending on painting them purple as my daughter said not to.

Me: "Ok, I won't."

One hour later: DAMMIT! WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED??

Dotter (stares at painting in silence for a minute) : "It looks like an ad for Ribena."

Anyway, in the end, I decided maybe I should tone it down, so I changed the colour instead. Not sure it's better, but the background still predominantly has a purple base. This was done on Pastelmat - I find that I still prefer Velour for animals.