Expressive possibilies

These two small paintings were created on different colored pastel boards: one brick-red and the other black. As you can see in this comparison, each offers its own dramatic possibilities. The earth-hue of the one (top) is a natural for describing the warm mood of a desert afternoon, while the black board adds a contrast-bump to all of the colors applied to it, in its case to convey the chill of a desert morning after a dusting of snow.