Played at 4 times speed. Pastel Techniques Class Demo - Ten 2-minute paintings done in one sitting. Quick sketches are an excellent way to warm up and to explore an idea or color combination. The time goes so quickly that you can't be fussy or fearful. It's the most fun I have as an artist. The preparation time was WAY longer of course, and being a confident artist is a lifelong pursuit.

This posterized photo was taken in the living room of friends who have an eclectic and interesting art collection. It was of a small antique painting of a copse of trees, framed under glass. The glass, in particular over the darker areas of the painting, reflected the bright side window and other parts of the room. The framed and matted artwork appearing in the tops of the trees are reflected from across the room, and set up a wonderful juxtaposition of form and meaning on several satisfying levels.

A note about the photographs:

The steps were photographed with my old iPhone4, which  pumped up the colors and shifted them towards blue. The finished work was scanned directly, so it has the more acurate colors.

I used a variety of pastel brands both hard and soft, but the big deep red is one that I made. 

The color palette:
My color sense tends to be rather bold and saturated, so I wanted to explore a more subdued palette. I pre-selected a range of values in 7-8 colors.

The excercise of painting 30 paintings in 30 minutes really gets the creative juices flowing, and forces you to focus on the essentials. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the event, I found myself getting quite irritated at that minute going by so quickly. Just as I was getting into the flow of each painting, "Ding!" the minute would be up. It would be easier if it was just charcoal, but I'm a color addict. The entire excercise, including a few seconds between each to put the old one away and prepare for the new one, took about 45 minutes or so. Preparation and clean up added a few more hours.

The advanced planning helped. I had gathered papers in several different colors and textures, and pre-selected a palette of largly compatible soft pastels from which I only occasionally strayed. Also, I already had in mind what I wanted to explore -- geometric shapes (squares, rectangles, stripes, and frames). I feel as if I've barely scratched the surface of possibilities. I am so pleased with the experience and the production that I intend to repeat the process, maybe a 60-60, or one with 90 seconds each, or maybe even two whole minutes!

I often work with the triptych format. I like the challenge of making each panel stand on its own, as well as contribute to the whole. The edges, dividers and surrounding area are also important elements. I like to paint a built in frame or mat.

Here is the most recent step-by-step pastel painting demo. I have a big backlog of demos to get up, so it was especially satisfying  to get one done.


Click here to see the demo.

"WINTER SKIRTS"
Pastel painting Step-by-Step demo

This is part of the "Of Cabbages and Things" series.  I didn't make any of these colors up! (Well, mostly not.)
I really enjoyed doing this painting.

Because of this blog, I'm getting much better at documenting the steps, something I should have been doing all along.

APPS for ARTISTS
The home page for the Apps for Artist section is up.

There are several more apps pages that are still being populated. These things always take longer than you think they should, but I hope to get them all up soon.
Click here.

NEW NAME!
 
And the winner is ...
Nancy Freeman Studio
(NancyFreemanStudio.com)

Nothing flashy, just easy to remember and descriptive.
Now, since the name isn't fancy or compelling, the artwork will have to do the job, as it should be.

Many thanks to all who responded. There were a number of thoughtful suggestion, and several more good options.