Same Parking Lot, Somewhat Revised

Two days ago I posted ‘Entrance to a Parking Lot’ and since have redrawn it several times as I experimented with using pastels, a new medium for me.  Some of the changes are compositional and others have to do with the application of the pastels. I simplified the buildings, sky and trees and reversed the car’s direction on the right. I think overall, these changes enhance the sense of depth. Additionally, I painted over some of the pastel with water and that is how I got the more luminescent look on the buildings and lower sky. I am still confused about showing the lights from the cars in the foreground. In the end I used unblended chalk marks to suggest bouncing lights but want to try other options in the future.

Last December I sketched the same parking lot twice, both times with watercolor and pen in a sketchbook. The first sketch was a midday drawing of the same entrance from almost the same vantage point and the second was an early morning detail of the palm trees and sky from my parked car within the parking lot. This last one is my favorite of the three sketches because the blending of watercolor and line conveys what I thought was so beautiful that morning.

This is a vine charcoal and pastel sketch on pastel paper.