Indholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2022 i The Pastel Journal

The International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) hosted its 14th convention in June, in Albuquerque. Given the length of time since I'd last attended a large event of this kind, it was a pleasant reminder of the significance of convening with fellow creatives. It's clear that artists benefit from viewing inspiring work and showing their own; from demonstrating and practicing techniques; from observing different ways of working, sharing insights, asking questions and listening; and from joining together to celebrate the many joys of the creative life. As IAPS President Richard McKinley observed during a gallery walk in the Pastel World on-site exhibition, “You will paint better after you leave this show.” (See page 58.) This event got me thinking about how we learn, how we teach and how we pass…

When working on a dark surface, you need to use more intense colors. In the image below, the colors in row one are the same, but the swatch on dark paper looks lighter. In the second row, I substituted a different color on the dark paper—one that visually matches the swatch on the white paper. For the third row, I used the same colors as I did for the second row, but when placed on white paper, the color on the right looks much darker and more intense. This is an example of the law of simultaneous contrast, which states that the perception of colors is influenced by the colors around them. I love the fact that working on black makes me use pastels not generally present in my palette.…

When asked how painting portraiture differs from figurative work, W. Truman Hosner says, “Simply put, in one scenario, my painting is for the sitter; in the other scenario, my painting is for me.” His goal then is to try to obliterate the line between the two—to bring to his portrait work the same freshness he manages in his noncommissioned figurative works. “To carry it off, I insist that my commissioned portrait pieces are painted from life as well,” Hosner says. The artist's decision to place a figure within an environment is an important choice for establishing mood. “A setting can enhance a design and make a painting more dynamic,” he says. “It can also aid in capturing a sitter's personality by depicting where and how the person lives.” Hosner is…

Surface: Lux Archival sanded paper, which is creamy white, mounted to 20×20 white Gator Board Setp 1: I began by selecting and laying down colors for an underpainting. The most important thing at this point was to choose pastels that would match the values of the finished painting; color was of secondary importance. I chose the somewhat monochromatic hues of grayed purple and blue. These colors provided an underlying base that would complement the predominant oranges in the final painting. I prefer softer pastels for an underpainting, in this case Terry Ludwigs and Diane Townsends, because they wash down easier than harder pastels. Step 2: Using large strokes, I applied 72-percent rubbing alcohol with a soft, flat synthetic brush, washing down all of the dry pastel. Once the surface dried,…

“A rose is a rose is a rose,” said Gertrude Stein, but many people have felt quite differently. Over the centuries countless horticulturists, both amateur and professional, have worked to manipulate the forms and colors of the rose through selective breeding. Their efforts have brought into being a parade of blooms with spectacular colors, glorious forms and heady scents that have reinvented what a rose might be. Recently, California-based painter Daniel Keys has made a series of pastels based on his own love of roses, using the inherent brilliance of the medium to re-create the almost impossibly rich color of the subjec. “My first love, before painting, was flowers,” says the artist. “My earliest memories center around my attraction to the colors, scents and growth patterns of flowers—especially roses.” His…

The jurors of selection for the 8th Master Circle Division and the 40th Open Division, which together made up PastelWorld 2022, were artists Robert K. Carsten, Isabelle V. Lim and Wende Caporale. The Judge of Awards was artist Colette Odya Smith, who—in her on-site gallery walk—offered this challenge to the audience: “There are elements of subjectivity to all jurying, and you may not agree with all of my choices, but use those discrepancies to clarify what it is that you value most in a work of art. Are you inspired to follow your muse?” Award winners in the 8th Master Circle Division included: Prix de Pastel—sponsored by IAPS In My Dreams (12×24) by Anna Wainright Gold—sponsored by the Daniel E. Greene NA, Memorial Fund Morning Glory (18×24) by Margaret Larlham…

The pastel community was saddened to learn of the passing of iconic artist Harvey Dinnerstein (1928-2022) this past June. A realistic painter and illustrator, Dinnerstein launched his art career in the early 1950s. At a time when most of his peers were turning toward abstraction, he remained defiantly committed to realism. The artist documented the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott in pastel drawings that captured the dignity and resolve of the Civil Rights Movement. He would later become known for his expressive, grand-scale paintings of city street parties, subway scenes and people at work. He drew much of his inspiration from ordinary people and events he observed while walking through Central Park or taking the subway from his home in Brooklyn to art classes in Manhattan, where he taught for 40…

Exploring the capabilities of your medium and pushing beyond your normal boundaries is good art practice. Not only does it keep your work from getting stale, but it can open doors to new forms of expression. I like to challenge myself by changing my painting surfaces, moving back and forth between sanded paper and nonsanded paper, often changing the base color as well. This keeps me on my toes and open to new directions. Recently, I decided to investigate how working on two very different surfaces in two opposite colors would affect the look and feel of an identical subject. For my reference, I chose a dramatic image of crashing waves during an offshore storm at sunrise on a Rhode Island beach. Then I painted Red Sky 1 (right) on…

Step 1: Working on 400-grit UART pastel paper mounted to board, I began my painting without a preliminary sketch, placing some of the main elements in broad strokes of soft pastel and starting with the most brilliantly saturated color. I'd need to keep these areas fresh throughout the work in order to retain 1he clarity and vibrancy of the color. Step 2: I finished blocking in the image with broad strokes, using the side of the pastel sticks and leaving lots of gaps. Step 3: Here you see the surface after I'd blended the pastel, using a brush dipped in denatured alcohol. This helps the pastel soak into the paper and softens the image to a set of suggestive forms. It also creates a hard film, so I can work…

Sally Strand rarely paints portraits. “I'm more interested in the figure as it relates to the space it inhabits,” she says. “In portraiture, artists paint the specific likeness of the sitter or strive to portray an emotion common to humanity. A successful portrait reveals something of the inner life of the sitter or a common truth that's universal. For me, the gesture—and the relationship of the figure to the surroundings— tell the story.” Strand is among those painters who find setting to be an important tool for creating narrative. “It sets up an interactive dance between the figure and the supporting environment,” she says. “Sometimes, the figure itself is the subject, while the setting is secondary or only a foil to enhance the figure. Alternatively, I sometimes make the setting…

Design is all important, but to become more powerful, design should also be bolstered by an artist's special insight. It can't be solely about simple shapes and colors, nicely balanced, or an artist's work would become merely about repetition—just revisions of previous ideas. For this reason, I like to include a drawing challenge in each new piece. Beauty can sometimes be found in complexity, and I enjoy the potential for capturing a subject with a bit of verve to create drawings that feel freshly born rather than painstakingly copied. I aim for renderings that are deliberately nonphotographic and yet are both tactilely and structurally sound. Even now, I continue to feel the magic in using simple blunt tools to create the illusion of something real. Alan Larkin (alanlarkin.net) taught drawing…