Chateau De Villeneuve De Milhac

It’s the 16th of December now and I should be settling into my year end hiatus, sitting back, reading books, watching Westerns and reflecting on another year as the Artistic Actuary. But I felt like I had enough in the tank for one final effort, so I went for another oil pastel landscape. This year’s LAOTY entry will probably be centered around pastels (both oil and soft) and I need to build up my portfolio and experience.

Today’s subject was the Chateau De Villeneuve De Milhac, a castle somewhere in France. I thought I’d better start painting some buildings in oil pastel now rather than waiting until I’m selected for LAOTY. As usual. I worked from the back to the front, putting down loads of different colours and blending them together. The shy was blended with polystyrene chips. And with colour shapers around the edges of clouds. For the building, I blended with colour shapers to get hard edges. And the grass was all blended with polystyrene chips. I also scraped out a few marks and highlights with a scalpel, in the buildings as well as in the grass. And I added the trees by rolling out lines with the edge of the pastel.

There’s a lot to like about this one. The sky has works out really well, the rocks in front of the building are great, the tower has a 3D feel to it and I’ve managed to keep the rocks and the background buildings out of focus so that the eye stays on the centre of interest. But I’ve not managed to fill the page with fiery yellows and oranges, the way I do with soft pastels. This is why I need to practice. And could I be accused of phoning in the grassy foreground? It is a bit basic, I’ll be honest. Still, I rate this one as a success. I’ve made good use of the huge range of colours I have available. This one’s up for sale, with the price to be found here.

And with that, my year end hiatus has started. Christmas dinner at the Rose & Crown tomorrow and no more painting until the new year. The blog will continue though. I still have year end awards, the 2025 video, maybe some new gear or books for Christmas, maybe some art work that I’ve not been able to show off before Christmas. Keep me in your favourites!