Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2023 från The Pastel Journal

The Pastel 100 is, by its very definition, a competition. Now in its 24th year, the annual event invites the participation of an increasingly global community of artists to enter their best work in pastel. With the collective efforts of five category jurors, the assembled “Top 100” creates a showcase not only of exceptional artistic talent but also a presentation of the creative potential of the pastel medium. ‘What keeps me going is not winning... It’s the pursuit of excellence.” — RON O’BRIEN (OLYMPIC DIVING COACH) This year, we saw among the 100 winners, artists from the United Kingdom, France, China, Belgium, Malaysia, Italy, Taiwan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the Philippines and Australia—in addition to the United States and Canada. The extent of international participation enlarges the competition, I believe, in…

Many creatives have, on occasion, wrestled with the uncomfortable fear that there’s a finite number of ideas in the un iverse, and that perhaps we’ve arrived at the end of them. Every year, however, the Pastel 100 comes along and offers evidence to the contrary. In this 24th year of the competition, were delighted to share the five top winners, 25 category winners and 70 honorable mentions that make up the latest Pastel 100. Whether it’s an entirely fresh take on a traditional subject or imagery that’s astonishing in its originality, these works of art provide all the necessary reassurance that, indeed, creativity knows no bounds.…

SILJA SALMISTU IS NOT A STRANGER TO DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, Born and educated in Soviet-occupied Estonia, she struggled to complete an art degree at the Tartu Art School. Throughout her studies, she had to cope with the challenges of state control, censorship and a shortage of many things, including art supplies. “We painted on bedsheets instead of canvas and on discarded packaging boxes we stole from the backyards of shops at night,” Salmistu says. “We painted over our previous works. We cut off the ferrules of paintbrushes to prolong the use of worn-down bristles. There were even periods when we only had madder lake and phthalo green to paint with! I think all that scarcity forced me and other artists to find creative solutions. On the other hand, play and experimentation…

FIRST PLACE TATIJANA JACENKIW Chicago artist Tatijana Jacenkiw (tatijana-jacenkiw.com) says her painting, Vivace, was inspired by the reflections of buildings in the Chicago River. “Walking around downtown Chicago, one can’t escape reflections,” she says. “Depending on the distance and time of day, it’s often difficult to distinguish where reality ends and reflections and refractions begin.” Jacenkiw didn’t want to simply paint the reflections as they were, however. “It was the patterns that intrigued me, so I played with values and looked for ways to really push the color,” she says. “After laying out the composition, I chose my colors— or rather my colors found their way into the painting. This seems to be my typical modus operandi: compose, instinctively choose colors, then get lost in the layers and mark-making. I…

By the mid-18th century, pastels had reached an unprecedented peak of popularity and acclaim. The dry, satiny pigments, manufactured in sticks of every hue, were not only portable but promoted swift execution—allowing artists to essentially “draw” a painting. The medium’s portability allowed many portrait painters to travel far and wide in search of commissions. The artists and sitters represented in a recent Getty Museum exhibition, “Eighteenth-Century Pastels,” hailed from Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands—a testament to the Pan-European nature of the pastel phenomenon at the time. The exhibition, which closed February 26th, highlighted works from the museum’s collection by such artists as Jean-Étienne Liotard (Swiss, 1702-89) and John Russell (English, 1745-1806), among others. Also included were recently acquired paintings by Pietro Antonio Rotari (Italian, 1707-62), as…

PIRKKOMAKELA-HAAPALINNA’S AWARD-WINNING rendition of aquatic plants was inspired by visits to the botanical garden in her new hometown of Turku, Finland. The artist doesn’t know the exact species of the plants she painted in Plantes Aquatiques, but her fascination is consistently ignited by the natural world. “I’m always in awe of the variety of the botanical world. Also, water has been a very close and important element for me all my life, so creating this painting was pure joy. The main goal for the piece was to ignite admiration for the beauty of the organic world.” Like Claude Monet (1840-1926), who also found water lilies inspiring, Makela-Haapalinna was mesmerized by the shimmering interplay within the jewel-like depths, the mysterious shadows and the sparkling reflections in the fluid scene before her.…

Seduction (pastel on UART 400 dark, 12x16) by Renee Marz Mullis Las Cruces, New Mexico…

During a magical trip to Normandy to teach last spring, I had a chance to visit the port city of Rouen. After passing below its famous clock, I glanced to the side and saw some intriguing light patterns on the building. Light and shadow are like magnets for me, and they challenge me to explore value range—to get the subtle nuances right to depict detail without getting fussy. The reference photo I snapped on the scene is a somewhat monochromatic image. To bring some life to it, I chose to work on a gessoed Gator Board that I’d prepared some time ago with a layer of transparent pumice gesso and pink— yes, pink—acrylic paint. The brushy underlying texture and color made for more interesting mark-making, and also warmed the tone…

FIRST PLACE LIBO ZHU “There’s a bold yin-and-yang feel to this composition,” says Portrait & Figure juror Corey Pitkin, of Libo Zhu’s Portrait of Vagrant, No. 1. “The frail, bony branch seems to counter the weathered flesh of the old man,” he says. “Both are rendered similarly but at the same time, each is distinct from the other. The burning cigarette could destroy the tree, yet the tree will likely outlive the old man.” Pitkin was drawn to the quiet and meditative quality of the pastel. “The stillness of the background,” he says, “helps to emphasize the unity between these two solitary beings—both alive but often disregarded.” The artist, Libo Zhu, of China, says, “I like drawing old people because their faces are full of change.” Inspired by the composition…

FIRST PLACE ANNIK JANSSENS Beneath the highly detailed surface of Belgian artist Annik Janssens’ pastel, The Sprinter, lies her philosophy, as well as a glimpse into her inspiration. The hyper-realistic portrait of a cheetah clearly achieves the artist’s goal. “I want people to see animals as individuals, each with their own character and rights,” Janssens says. Accordingly, her rendering has much in common with cheetahs’ very distant mammalian cousins—the subject is centered in the frame and its soulful gaze is focused directly at the viewer. “Through photorealistic pastel portraits, I try to represent the animal’s character as much as possible. After all, images say so much more than words,” says Janssens, who also works full time as a veterinary representative and is surrounded by dogs, cats and horses at home.…