Astrid Volquardsen pastellbilder » 2011

Posts for »December, 2011«:

Full speed ahead!

31st, December 2011 - 05:25 PM

Full speed ahead, 5×5 inch, Pastel
© Astrid Volquardsen, 2011

Who would have thought that the title Full speed ahead would make such a good new years resolution? Sometimes I think what a great pity it is, that you can’t see these small pastels with your own eyes. The pigment is just glowing, being a small red explosion.

This last year has been a really good one for me with many different experiences. The very last one was a trip to the Swiss company Caran d´Ache in Geneva. They have developed a new pastel pencil line which will be launched in the beginning of 2012. I was invited to their production and my synapses were glowing for two days. You can read the report about the how when what why next year when I say again: Full speed ahead!

Tags: 5 x 5 • Hamburg Port • Tug boat

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Upstream

18th, December 2011 - 07:17 PM

»Elbaufwärts«
Pastell, 2011, 20×98 cm, © Astrid Volquardsen

To view the painting please klick on the picture.

It was one of the last summer days on the river Elbe and the water was very calm. It can be quite different on this river, which leads straight to the North Sea. Most of the colors are very dull, but if one of those container ships comes close, all is very bright.

Tags: Hamburg Port

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Endless Sky (Triptychon)

12th, December 2011 - 05:50 PM

Weiter Himmel (Triptychon)

»Endless sky« (Triptychon)
pastel, 2011, je 97×35 cm, Astrid Volquardsen

From time to time it is good to move on to new ground. In this case it’s not so much about what I paint, but on what I paint. I discovered a paper from Uart which is also available in larger sizes. As much as I love the Sennelier card, I find its size sometimes very limiting.With a new paper and format I had to face new challenges. First of all it takes some kind of physical effort to rub in the first layer of pigments. To keep an kind of overview I painted with an outstretched arm most of the time. The pastel strokes appear different in a smaller format. With a size like this, I could keep it more loose and coarse.

Astrid im Studio
For the upper parts of the painting it sometimes was easier to use the small ladder.

Tags: Northern Lights • Triptychon

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Change of weather

4th, December 2011 - 02:39 PM

Wetterumschwung

I just love this kind of weather at the North Sea. Blowing winds, a steady surf and any minute it’s going to rain. Normally this is the typicall weather up here in the north during spring and fall. But not this year. Spring time was unusually warm and dry with a blue sky ( more like summer). Fall was about the same, but way too dry. During November the average precipitation is about 67 liters per square meter. This year it was just 3 liters!

A friend of mine send me some photos of the river Rhine two weeks ago. Well, there seems to be no doubt about a climate change.

Rhein Niedrigwasser (1) Rhein Niedrigwasser (2)

Tags: Northern Lights • North Sea