Indholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2019 i The Pastel Journal

It’s not just the grand vista that inspires Clive Tyler to dig out his pastels. “When you contemplate the Grand Canyon, you’re just in awe,” he says, “but then it’s like, now what?” You could say Tyler is more interested in the journey than he is in the destination. He encourages you to pause, to rest beneath a cathedral of aspens or along a stretch of alpine water. His landscapes depict intimate spaces that encompass acres rather than miles. They invite introspection, exploration and wonder. “You can paint the whole world, or you can select,” explains the artist. He’ll ask himself, “What is this painting about? Is it about the water or the cliffs, or the light hitting the cliffs?” Questions lure him, layer by layer, into the landscape. Tyler…

Step 1: After I’ve done the initial underdrawing, I create a light wash using pastel and water. I highlight some contrast areas in the waves and sky. Step 2: Working from the background to the foreground, I Iay down a dark and a mid-value of blue to create the appearance of movement in the water. I add highlights, being careful not to be too consistent with the shapes and spacing; otherwise, they’d look unnatural. Step 3: Adding the dynamic energy of the wave is the fun part. To depict movement, I add contrast and directional strokes to create the heavy foam and water spray. I blend white with blues and violets and then add highlights to depict the foam. Step 4: I introduce transparent blue and green for the rising…

When we think of the color green, most of us conjure up a natural landscape replete with green trees and meadows. For vacation, we often seek out green spaces as a retreat from our hectic steel-and-glass worlds. No wonder, then, that green usually is considered a color that evokes a sense of calm and peace. Green can symbolize the positive—life and vigor, youth and hope—but also the negative, as in inexperience, jealousy and even decay. The Beauty of Green Green lives between blue and yellow in the visible electromagnetic spectrum, between 490 and 475 nanometers. In our context of dealing with pigments, green is a secondary color, which means it can be mixed, in this case, from blue and yellow. When most people imagine green, they often think of “grass…

We’ve all been there, having experienced the feelings of bewilderment, frustration or anger when a painting just isn’t working. Whether it’s a small or a large piece, a painting we’ve been working on for just a few hours or days upon days, it’s never a fun experience. It can be a beneficial one, however, if you embrace the challenge—or multiple challenges—it presents. Before backing away from a failing painting entirely, try one, some or all of these practical troubleshooting tips. I’ve used each or a combination of these at one time or another, and it has always benefited my work—and my emotional state. Take a step back. Although you may want to be as proactive as possible when you find that your painting is failing, I think it’s the worst…

“I was invited to a ranch that had a beautiful aspen grove. The challenge was how to pare the scene down, but still paint something complicated and dynamic. I didn’t plan to paint the trees in each season, but discovered so much about color and light. In the winter, there were shadows and design elements that don’t happen in summer. “Aspen trees are complicated to paint—with changing elements and configurations of form, color and value. Most important is light, time of day and season. I learned that cool areas can still have warm colors from light reflections. The aspen leaf is somewhat transparent, so the color of the leaf will dictate the colors on the trunk. The same is true for the ground cover below. “Trees are like people; each…

New Zealand might be called a fantasyland of flora and fauna. Isolated by a vast ocean for more than 80 million years and featuring microclimates that vary from rain forests to near-deserts, the country possesses a rich biodiversity. As such, there’s no need for a representational painter to exaggerate color or invent scenes. Photorealist pastel painter Julie Freeman agrees. “To create what I see so realistically pays homage to the beauty that surrounds me every day,” she says. Freeman’s work possesses a diversity that vies with that of her native country. Her portfolio features both animals and humans, still life florals, and near-abstractions of water lilies and seaweed. “My subjects are varied, and that keeps me motivated and enthusiastic. Many professional artists are known for one style or subject, and…

Walking down a New York City street on a damp January morning, I was drawn to the reflection of a red traffic light on the wet pavement. I quickly grabbed my phone and shot a few frames. Intent influences every decision I make when creating a painting, so I always wonder if the camera will capture the inspiration I saw. As I plan a painting, I consider: What caught my eye? What did I see in it? What do I want to share? Anything distracting from this focus is eliminated. In this case, the passing car drew too much attention, so I moved it up a bit. I minimized or blurred the building detail and darkened edges to enhance the canyon-like feeling. The lightpost and crosswalk stripes are there, but…

GET INTO THE GROOVE Sometimes we need to be in the right mood to paint. So, let the music play! Check out a new station on Pandora or Spotify. French café music may help with that happily lit restaurant scene. Indian flute music may help to finish that mountain vista. Sometimes, you just need the right music to set the right tone. FOLLOW THE SIGNS The entry to my studio space is to the right of my front door, so I posted a sign in the hallway that reads: “Turn right!” I see it every time I walk into the house. Before I even step foot into another room, where I will inevitably get distracted by some domestic chore, this sign is there to remind me to head into my…

These color swatches featured on Wallis Belgian Mist paper are green tints and shades from Blue Earth’s “Earth Green” set. Blue Earth notes, “Warm green is perhaps the most complicated color to formulate. The primary challenge is the lack of dark green pigments that are suitable for making pastels. While phthalo green is the go-to dark pigment for making greens in oil and acrylic, it’s not so useful when making pastels, forming a rock-hard stick that’s transparent. Long story short: It takes some fiddling to come up with a workable line of warm greens. Cool greens, however, are relatively easy to create by using cool-shade cobalt pigments. To desaturate, we use a complement or an off-complement. The purest color is the bottom row, with more graying from bottom to top.…

“Above all else, what I care about in art is honesty,” says Kitty Wallis, veritable luminary in the field of pastel. “There are paintings made to sell, and then there are paintings made from the heart. Understanding the difference is really important. We’re making a treasure when we create art. It’s up to us whether we devalue that treasure or make it something useful, wise and honest in reporting the experiences of our lives. We need to connect with our artist self, not our business self, when painting.” THE JOY OF PORTRAITURE A natural-born artist, Wallis recalls, “When I was 4 years old, I showed my mom one of my drawings while she was doing the dishes and, without looking at it, she said, ‘That’s nice, dear.’ That was enough…