All male testosterone in figure drawing session last week! This strapping young football player posed in his uniform for the class. In this pastel portrait I decided to take a step back from all the color I usually use, and work only in black and white pastel.
Maybe I was overloaded from the 5 hours it took me to completely revamp my pastel set-up in my studio. I’ve known for a long time that I really needed to take off the papers on each stick and arrange all of them by color and value–not by brand, the way I had for years. Everything I’ve read says that this is the best way to work. I finally bucked up and did it. I broke each pastel in half and put one half with the code number on it in a storage box. Now, when I run out of a color, I can go to my stock, get a new stick, and know which pastel to reorder at Dick Blick’s. I usually use NuPastels and a variety of soft pastels. Here’s what my new set-up looks like:
Pastel portrail of a woman looking down while reading.
Pastel painting 10 inches x 14 inches
Unfortunately, we had another model who didn’t show for our figure drawing session last week…Fortunately, one of our artists offered to sit for the group! Nancy was so kind to give up her own drawing time for the good of the rest of the painters. We really owe her! I had to leave early to give a client her commissioned portrait, so I wasn’t able to do a very finished pastel portrait of her. But I think I was beginning to catch her likeness…
I was just recently notified that I had two works accepted into the Pastel Society of North Florida National Juried Exhibition. We travel to Florida in winter and I love to paint the Everglades en plein air. Below are the pastel paintings that will appear in the show at Northwest Florida State College from October 22-December 2, 2010.
Pastel figure drawing of a nude model in various poses.
Pastel drawing ing 11 inches x 17 inches
Some sketches from a recent figure drawing session. These were some of the 10 minute poses we have at the beginning of class to warm up. As the class goes on, we move to longer and longer poses. I felt a little like I was channeling my idol, Degas, in these quick pastel portraits. Lots of color and layering and also poses that are very similar to ones captured by the wonderful impressionist.
Pastel portrait painting of an older man with a beard.
Pastel painting 11 inches x 16 inches
The best part of our figure drawing sessions is that we get a chance to paint many types of people: men, women, old, young, heavy, skinny, happy. sad. There is such a huge range of differences in humans that each pastel portrait is a completely new challenge. This elderly middle eastern man is an accomplished poet and an artist in his own right. He was calm, serene, and comfortable in his own skin in a way which I have not seen in many others.
Pastel portrait painting of a mother and young daughter.
Pastel painting 10 inches x 13 inches
What fun! We had a mother and her daughter for our models for 2 figure drawing sessions in a row a while ago. It was a real challenge to paint 2 people together so we were all happy to have the extended time to work.
I painted this pastel portrait on Barbara Mattson pastel paper which is an extremely “pebbley” sanded surface. I’m tryin hard to find the right subject for this paper but it may not be right for my style of application…
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
It’s time to do a little spring cleaning in the studio and I need to “shed” a few art works. Although its been a great year for me so far, I have various pastel drawings and watercolor paintings that need to move on to new homes.
I’ve decided to have a sale with 30% OFF all small works on my blog that were originally $300 or less. Limited time offer–the sale will last only until June 15th, 2010.
Take a look through previous entries on my artblog by clicking on the arrow at the bottom of the page, or zero in on your favorite mediums or subject matter by clicking on the categories in the right column. If you find an available piece that speaks to you, contact me directly. (Don’t use the Buy Now buttons because they still show the original prices). I’d love for you to have an original artwork at “sale” prices…and I would really love to create more room in my studio for future art work.
Small pastel portrait painting of a young girl in profile
Pastel painting 4 inches x 6 inches $80
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Our Pastel Portrait class this weekend with Vianna Szabo was wonderful! She started out with some basic but essential tips on how to draw the head using axis lines and went on to give mini lessons in drawing the eye, nose and mouth. She did an amazing pastel figure drawing demonstration using her beautiful daughter as a model. It was inspiring but also quite daunting! She has such an excellent eye for capturing form, light and color. Our first task was to create a small sketch of the model using our chosen color palette. We were not to work for a likeness, but more of a form and color guide for our larger portrait to come.
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Last week our model Lynn, sat under a hot spot light for a good 2 hours and hardly blinked. She told us she was planning her next Girl Scout meeting! The light was coming from above and probably wasn’t the best for a pastel portrait, but it made an interesting challenge.
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Another pastel figure drawing of Sarah from a different viewpoint. I drew on a “repurposed” grey Mi Tiente paper. (In other words, I scrubbed out and old drawing and used the paper again!) These are quick sketches meant to capture the essence of the model in a short amount of time. They should be fresh and dynamic, not necessarily a perfect representation of every aspect of the subject. I decided to use only 3 values to represent the figure in this piece, so that I wouldn’t get too caught up in all the luscious colors in my pastel box!
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Our figure drawing sessions have started up again and I am so excited. We took a break this summer because so many of us had vacations and other plans. 3 months doesn’t seem that long but I was PINING to get back to figure painting again! Sarah was a new model for me and she was wonderful. I could tell she had been a dancer because of the ballet-like positions she took. She had a wonderful “old fashioned” look about her, like the models of the late 19 century. I decided to do a pastel portrait to try and capture her delicate features.
Pastel painting portrait painting of an older man with mustache.
Pastel painting 11inches x 14 inches $300
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
We had a fantastic model at our pastel portrait class yesterday. He had such an interesting face with lots of character. A portrait painters dream! I decided to use only a rich, dark brown and avoid all the other scrumptious colors in my box. It gave me a chance to see light, shadows and volume without all of the confusing hues in the way. Sometimes you just need to get back to basics for a bit.
This morning when I went to retrieve a favorite pastel out of my plein air box, I discovered the box was missing! ABSOLUTE PANIC. I can’t live without my traveling pastels. I realized that there was a chance I had left it at my drawing class. A quick phone call confirmed it and calmed me down…
