You know when you’re painting and it just isn’t working out? Then perhaps you get a sudden impulse to do something, make a mark for instance, but your mind stops you saying, “No, no! not a good idea.” I want to encourage you to trust your impulse! Let me tell you my story of doing
It all started at a recent demo I did at my local Opus art supply store. The presentation was called “Use Colour Studies To Unleash New Possibilities in Your Paintings.” I took one subject and created four different colour studies. Each piece had two layers of pastel. The only thing that was different between the
We’re almost two weeks into the 31-pastels-in-31-days Challenge (our 4th Annual!) and the HowToPastel Facebook group has been lit up with amazing work and wonderful encouragement between members. One of my ideas for this challenge has been to take a subject and work with it in various ways. (I did this last year and wrote
We had a plan. I would go to Salt Spring Island for three days and I, along with my mum and dad, would go out to work en plein air every day. It had been sunny for weeks. I went to Salt Spring and the next morning…. it was cloudy. And cool. And grey. Really.
I was delighted to be invited by Ed and Gary to demo at the Schmincke booth at the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Conference again this year. What to paint? I had a few possible reference photos collected but just before I left home, my mum, excited about some Iceland Poppies that a neighbour
As you probably know, I’m a big believer in the power of thumbnails. I create three-value thumbnails in black, grey, and white, namely, I use the extreme ends and mid-point of the value scale. In this way, I produce a very clear, high-contrast map of what I’m going to paint. Students, however, are often confused
Recently I received an email from someone going to Tuscany. Knowing I was also soon to travel to that part of Italy, she asked if I would mind making suggestions about what colours she should take, i.e. help her in choosing a colour palette for travelling. I answered her directly but thought that since it
A plein air painting in 20 minutes? Why not! Ever had a burning urge to paint, to sit down and paint something, anything? I know the feeling really well! Yet so often we succumb to the excuses we’ve made like not having enough time. It’s amazing how we create obstacles to prevent ourselves from painting.
I’m back from a wee holiday in our favourite village of La Manzanilla. This getaway was all about taking it easy, swimming, reading, catching up with the locals. Aaaaaaand, I also hoped to do a couple of pastels. As you probably know, laundry is a favourite subject of mine so our beach towels on the
Ambiguity in art: art work having several possible interpretations or meanings; of an uncertain nature. And why am I bringing this up? Think of the Mona Lisa’s smile. It’s ambiguous- we don’t know why she’s smiling and there are so many possible stories we could create. She’s kept us intrigued all through the centuries and
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