Winter From My Window

The view of the very north end of Lincoln Park is always changing.  There is usually a steady stream of people - walking dogs, jogging, biking, sitting on benches.  The lake beyond the park changes color and motion from minute to minute.  But on this particular morning, no one was out and about - a random person would pass by every twenty minutes or so - and the lake was frozen stillness.  The sky just melted into the lake, and there were no shadows.  It was beautiful and peaceful, and I wanted to capture that feeling on paper, but I wasn't sure how to begin.  Ultimately, I decided to try the pan pastels that I had recently purchased.

Sometimes, I think it helps to not know what you are doing!  I just had fun with the pastels, on tinted blue pastel paper.  I added in trees (not all of them - there are hundreds!) with a dark brown Micron pen.  When I was finished, I sprayed the image with a fixative.  Some time in the near future, I would like to sit closer to my window and do another piece from a different vantage point, adding in the highway below for a more urban feel.