HowToPastel Archives

Showing Results for: Featured Artists – In their own words

Diane Rosen, "Möbius Redux," 2021, assorted soft pastels and acrylic paint on two joined sheets of Fabriano Murillo paper, 27x42 in. In mathematics the Möbius strip is an infinite loop featuring a one-sided surface without boundaries; here it symbolizes infinity and unity. Received the Blick Art Materials Award, 2021 Pastel Society Annual, National Arts Club, New York City.

Diane Rosen And Her Figurative Visual Language

I am THRILLED to introduce you to this month’s guest, Diane Rosen. I’ve been a huge fan of her work for years and so I held my breath as I reached out to invite her to guest post. She graciously accepted and I did a happy dance! Diane’s work always has me asking questions. Her

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Loriann Signori On Risk-Taking

Some painters wow you with their use of colour. Others evoke an emotional response through their work. My guest this month manages to do both at the same time. Artist Loriann Signori uses the luscious vibrant colour of soft pastels to their full effect, creating luminous spaces that elicit feelings of deep pleasure. When I

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Lorenzo Chavez,"Tsegi," pastel, 14 x 22 in.

Lorenzo Chavez – Plein Air Painter of The American West

I’m always in awe of artists whose main body of work is made up of work they’ve done en plein air. Lorenzo Chavez, our guest this month, is one of those amazing artists who paints mostly on location. In fact, as I was starting to organize this blog post, I emailed a question to Lorenzo.

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Silja Salmistu – Tackling The Darkness In The Nursery

Every October for the last four years, I’ve run a 31-pastels-in-31-days Challenge in my HowToPastel Facebook group. It’s awesome to see all the work and everyone pushing themselves (cos the going does get tough!). I think it was in our first or second year when this month’s guest, Silja Salmistu, was posting her still life

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Janine Baldwin, "Desolate," 2017, Unison Colour pastels, charcoal and graphite on Fabriano paper, 56 x 70cm. SOLD. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. What some view as an inhospitable, barren landscape, others see as a vast expanse of untamed wilderness waiting to be explored! Unsurprisingly, I’m in the latter group.

Janine Baldwin – Connected To The Land

I’m delighted to introduce you to this month’s guest blogger, UK artist Janine Baldwin. (I wrote about one of Janine’s pieces in a roundup – you can read it here). When I look at Janine Baldwin’s work, I can feel her response to her environment. She explores this relationship with vigorous strokes, with gestural lines, with scribbles,

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Diane Fechenbach, New Year Blues, 2014, Ludwig, Unison, and Girault pastels on Wallis paper, 11x14 in. From a plein air sketch made on the annual New Year day paint out.

Diane Fechenbach – Warm Up To Snow

I’ve had a number of requests asking: How do I paint snow? I have my ideas but why not go to an expert?! This is where my guest steps in. Diane Fechenbach paints snow scenes where you can feel the cold nipping at your face and hands, smell the freshness of new-fallen snow, hear the

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Yuji Sakuma - reclining model

Yuji Sakuma – Expressing A Model’s Heart And Soul

For ages now, on Instagram and Facebook, I’ve seen the bold, confident, colourful life drawings in soft pastel posted by Yuji Sakuma. Not only does this artist produce startling work, he produces A LOT of it! You can feel his passion for the medium and subject come blazing through. 🔥  Recently, I also noticed that

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Susan M Story, "Myosotis Thaw," 2020, oil paint, tempera, Terry Ludwig, Sennelier on Arches paper, 22 1/2 x 30 inches. Available. Inspired by my daily walk with my dogs. There was a beautiful white mist rising from the lake. Sometimes I just love a limited palette and absence of saturated color. Won 11th Prize at 25th Exposition Internationale, Choix Du Jury 2020 PSEC, la Société de Pastel de l'Est du Canada, 1st Place in Pastel Catherine Lorillard Wolf Art Club Annual Online Show 2020Pastel Society Of America Award, Allied Artists Of America Annual Juried Exhibition 2020

Susan Story – Painting the Spirit of Trees

I’ve always loved trees and that love has grown over the years. So it makes sense that I’m drawn to and fascinated by artwork of trees. Susan Story is an artist who focuses on these magnificent beings. Her work weaves together the intricacies of leaves and bark, branches and tendrils, and reveals the chaos that

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Bill Creevy, "Desert Cadillac," pastel on multimedia board, 14 x 18 in.

Bill Creevy – Pastel Explorer – In Memoriam…

Bill Creevy. Born 24 May 1942, William (“Bill”) Charles Creevy Jr, PSA-Master Pastelist, Hall of Fame Honoree, left this reality on Monday, 7 December 2020 from complications due to COVID-19. I was deeply saddened to hear the news, both because of his passing and particularly because it was related to this pandemic scourge that has

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