The Pastel Journal Summer 2022

One summer, when my daughter was young, I signed her up for swim lessons at the neighborhood pool. After the second lesson, the swim instructor pulled me aside to say that progress was slow—that, in fact, there had been no progress at all because my daughter refused to put her head under water. Later, when I asked my daughter about her reluctance in the pool, I quickly fell back on a classic act of bad parenting: “If you dunk your head under the water tomorrow, I’ll buy you that Madeline doll you saw at the store last week.” It worked, of course, and although she never became a strong swimmer, she did learn the basics and (setting aside that bit of bribery) an important concept, too—that sometimes you can do…

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) oversees hundreds of subcommittees that create manufacturing standards for a wide variety of household and industrial products. The subcommittee D01.57, Artists’ Materials, is responsible for overseeing standards that relate to art products. I recently had the honor and privilege to chair the task group that oversaw the creation of a pastel standard. We began the process by asking a subcommittee of pastel artists about the lightfastness of the materials they use. The first step in creating any standard is to conduct a round-robin test with three groups—each agreeing to independently test a product. The test involved exposing various brands of pastels to different light settings. All samples were stripped of their labels and assigned a letter-number combination so that none of the…

The Musée de l’Orangerie hosted an exhibition, organized by Les Amis Des Arts, of 14 American women pastelists in Montlucon, France, this spring. The show, “Pastels du Monde au Feminin: Les USA au Bourbonnais,” which runs through June 12, is meant to continue the celebration of the “Year of the Woman,” as declared by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, in 2020, and the centennial year of American women’s suffrage. The commemorative exhibition is taking place two years later than originally planned, as it was twice delayed by the pandemic, but spirits remained high among participating artists. “I’m so eager to meet fellow women artists from the United States and to enjoy their art,” says Mary Aslin, who has five representational still lifes in the show. In addition to…

The painting Madame Théodore Gobillard (Yves Morisot, 1838–1893) is an early pastel by Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917). In contrast to the expressiveness of Degas’ mature work, it’s tightly handled and subdued in color. Lack of experience could explain this in part, but so would the drawing’s purpose: to carefully study the sitter’s character, her physical and psychological traits. Though it may be viewed as preparatory for a related portrait in oil, Degas thought well enough of the work to exhibit it at the Salon of 1870. This was, according to art historian Richard Kendall, the moment that “pastel became publicly associated with Degas’ name for the first time, establishing a precedent that was to dominate much of his subsequent career.” Yves was the older sister of Berthe Morisot, another prominent…

LOLLIPOP ON A STICK If I need Suzy to move her head slowly to the left or right, I tell her to pretend her head is on the stick of a lollipop and that I’m controlling the stick. As I move my hand, we pretend together that I’m moving her head. It works! LOOK BEYOND THE PHOTO Painting young children generally necessitates the use of reference photos, but you shouldn’t believe everything photos tell you. Skin tones, for example, are full of color, especially in the shadows, but photos often make skin look flat and brownish. Look again at a child in real life, if possible—even if it isn’t the one you’re painting—to find those fresher, subtle colors. KIDS DON’T WEAR EYELINER Another problem when using photos for reference is…

You may envision a regal or formal quality for the portrait, but that goal may not square with the child’s mood when you show up with camera in hand. Make time to play with the child: Check out that collection of Matchbox cars; play with some Lego; introduce yourself to the child’s stuffed bunny. Let a child talk to you (not the other way around). Getting to know your young sitter a bit will prevent that “deer in the headlights” look when the camera eventually comes out. If you have the time, meeting once just to get acquainted and then again for the photo shoot is helpful. I often come bearing stickers or small toys. Sometimes we draw together. Besides putting the child at ease, this small investment of time…