I’m delighted to bring Lynn Howarth to the HowToPastel blog! I’ve been following Lynn’s work for years now. I’ve always admired her portraits and it’s these that are the focus of her guest post here today.
I also appreciate the way Lynn manages to push her work, exploring new territory. An example of this was a surprising and luscious landscape which I talked about in one of my monthly roundups. Have a look here. You’ll also see some explorations in this post so keep an eye out as you read through!
Don’t know Lynn’s work? Have a look at this!
And before I hand you over to Lynn to share her story, here’s a wee bit about her.
Lynn Howarth Bio
Lynn Howarth is an award-winning Scottish artist who specialises in the medium of soft pastel for her figurative, portrait and landscape work. She graduated from Grays School of Art, Aberdeen in 1979. After a long career in Graphic Design she returned to her roots in 2012 and started drawing and painting once more. She now works from her home studio in Stepps, Glasgow. Lynn also teaches art part-time at Strathclyde University, runs her own online Purely Pastels classes via Zoom, and teaches pastel workshops abroad. Lynn is an elected artist member of Glasgow Art Club, Paisley Art Institute and Glasgow Society of Women Artists and is a Signature Member of the Pastel Guild of Europe and Associate Member of the Pastel Society of America. See more of her work on her website!
And now, here’s Lynn!
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Gosh – what a wonderful surprise to receive an email from one of my pastel heroes Gail Sibley saying “Hi Lynn I’d like to invite you to be my guest blogger!” What a huge honour!
Over the years I have always enjoyed a peek into the lives and work of the incredible pastel artists Gail has invited as her guest bloggers. Every blog imparts something new to me so it’s a must-read for any aspiring pastel artist! Gail’s passion for the beautiful medium of pastel is infectious and she features work by artists who create abstract, impressionist, realist, and photorealist pastel paintings in all genres. I look forward to each blog and sit myself down with a cup of tea to savour the beautiful works on show. I love how she gets the artist to reveal themselves not only through their works but through their words!
As an artist who picked up my first pastel just 10 years ago after a career in Graphic Design spanning three decades, it’s been an incredible journey. Giving up my Graphic Design business was a pretty scary thing to do but I was lucky enough to have an amazingly supportive husband who encouraged me every step of the way!
I’d had enough of design and wanted to pursue a career in fine art – despite being in my mid-50s – I reckoned it was better late than never! It actually all came about by chance really.
I had been invited by a friend to visit Wasps Studios Open Weekend which is only a few miles away from my home and while browsing the work of all the artists there, I spotted a huge oil painting by Glasgow artist Ronnie Heeps. I bought it there and then as I knew I just couldn’t live without it! At the time I had been feeling disenchanted with Graphic Design and was looking for a new way to live and enjoy my creative life. Meeting Ronnie and seeing how happy he was living the life of a full-time artist, I just knew I’d have to give it a go!
As luck would have it, six weeks later in February 2012 I happened across a Facebook group called 28 Drawings Later. Talk about serendipity! Every year in February you post a drawing a day on the group page. I only had a set of coloured pencils and some Ingres pastel paper that I’d used for some illustration work. On checking out the previous year’s work, I saw some lovely works in soft pastel which instantly appealed to me.
I bought myself a wee set of second hand Rembrandt pastels I found going cheap on eBay and it was such a eureka moment. I knew immediately that I’d fallen hook, line and sinker for the beautiful medium of pastel. The feeling of the pastel going directly from my hand to the paper was truly addictive. The fact that I went on to sell one of my first pastels to an art collector in London was truly the icing on the cake!
I started drawing as soon as I was old enough to hold a crayon! My maternal grandmother always encouraged me to be creative. Looking back, I can now see the creativity that she suppressed in order to work hard to provide for her family. That creativity had a great outlet in her home though which was always stylish and colourful and full of beautiful art and objects d’art.
She sat me at her kitchen table and provided me with all sorts of art materials and told me to draw whatever I wanted. Once I was old enough, she got me to do oil painting by numbers to decorate her home!
Art was the subject I really excelled at throughout school. Winning art prizes was a constant through primary and high school so it came as no surprise that I’d go to Art School. I got a much-coveted place at Gray’s School of Art in my home town of Aberdeen, Scotland and have to say it was the best four years of my education. I loved every minute of it, especially the life drawing class. In four years, I never missed a class. I do believe that life drawing is the absolute best way to improve your drawing skills. Graduating in Graphic Design and Printmaking in 1979 was one of my proudest moments.
Various jobs with design companies over the next 20 years along with raising my three children meant I rarely had time to draw other than occasional portraits of my family and friends.
I started my own design business in 1999 and ran it until 2012 working with some incredible companies – Linn Products being one of my favourite clients. They are a Scottish audio design company that creates world-class audio equipment. Working to tight deadlines on big projects helped me develop great focus and excellent time management skills. My keen eye for precision and understanding of good composition I hope is still evident today in my pastel paintings. So I guess you could say my 33 years as a Graphic Designer were the best grounding for my second career in fine art!
I have always gravitated towards portraiture. Even as a youngster my paternal grandmother would take me to Aberdeen Art Gallery and every time I went, I just had to stop at Titian Preparing to Make his First Essay in Colouring by William Dyce. It’s of a young boy in a garden staring into space, deep in thought. He’s surrounded by a beautiful statue and trees, colourful flowers strewn at his feet. I was only seven years old when I first saw it and I realised then and there that I wanted to be an artist! So I think my love of portraiture started right there.
I remember even at such a tender age I could capture a likeness that amazed my family and friends. At school, I developed a penchant for drawing caricatures of my friends and teachers and was always being asked to draw people. I don’t know what happened to all my paintings and drawings from that time but I do remember them fondly!
I’ve always been an admirer of portraiture in particular as I feel it’s a genre that’s extremely challenging. My view is not only to capture an excellent likeness which to me is paramount but to also encompass the sitter’s personality and state of mind in that moment in time.
What we are doing as portraitists is pinning down a fragment of time in that person’s life. In a way, it’s saying: This person mattered.
Emotion always plays a big part for me when it comes to painting people – I always hope to feel a strong emotional connection to my sitter.
One portrait I did many years ago was of a lovely lady member of our local tennis club. I spent the day with Jane just chatting with her about her life. I found out so much about her 90 years on this earth that I felt it would help me capture her very essence.
I felt the dozens of sketches I did of her informed the final piece as I thought back to what we had been talking about at that moment. She had lived through WWII and had some hair-raising stories to tell about being shipped off to Australia out of Singapore just as the Japanese were about to invade! You can see the sparkle in her eyes even at the grand age of 90!
On starting a new portrait I always do several quick sketches before setting up the final painting especially if I’m working from life. Working from photos is a bit quicker as I can set up my composition directly through my camera lens.
I always start with a mid-toned pastel pencil to sketch it out on my prepared drawing board with PastelMat (my favourite surface!) taped around all sides to keep it secure. Working on a 40x30cm head study generally gives life-sized portrait.
I’ll then block in my darks using an Inscribe Charcoal Pastel to create my design of darks. Then I’ll go in with bigger swathes of colour, building up my layers very lightly.
I’m often told I whisper the pastel onto the surface during live portrait demos so I know I definitely have a very light touch.
When I started out using pastel I was a serial blender but over the years I have learned to love my mark-making and now very rarely find I need to blend. Now I prefer to see my marks as it’s my personal mark-making that defines my style and my work.
On brands that I favour I’d say Caran D’Ache Pastel Pencils are my favourites as they have a huge range of skin tone colours that I use again and again. There is one pencil I’d never be without and that’s the Violet Grey – it’s an incredible colour to use on shadows in skin.
My favourite brand of pastels is Unison Colour – I love them for their rich buttery dense pigment and how they glide onto the PastelMat effortlessly.
Becoming a Unison Colour Associate Artist in 2017 was a huge honour and I ran a workshop with them last summer on life drawing for which I created my own personal set of pastels. I loved creating that set and use it a lot!
Another brand I like is NuPastels for their size and range of 96 colours which covers everything from portraits to landscape. They are a very useful set to have to hand.
For the darkest dark ever, you cannot beat Terry Ludwig’s incredible V100 aka Eggplant. It’s the most velvety dark ever!
Once I’m finished a piece, I wrap it in glassine to protect it and never ever use fixative. It’s just a personal preference. I’ve found that a sharp tap on the long edge on a solid surface will dislodge any tiny particles prior to framing.
Hopefully, this blog might just inspire others to go for it and take that leap of faith. You’ll never know unless you try and as you can see from my story – it’s never too late!
I’ll end with this quote:
“The sacred space, for the artist, is within the creative flow, at the crucial and fiery point of artistic intention, where time suddenly contracts and the work finds its power and its groove.”
~ Nick Cave
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Oh my! Were you as blown away as I was? What a treat to meet all these people…because really, don’t you feel like you’ve just made their acquaintance?
Lynn and I would love to hear your response to her post. Do you have questions, thoughts, reactions, favs? Let us know by leaving a comment on the blog!
Thanks so much for joining us here today.
Until next time,
~ Gail
PS. Here is the info about the image that starts the blog:
Lynn Howarth, ‘Her Coat of Many Colours,’ 2019, soft pastel on PastelMat, 50×70 cm. NFS.
Winner of the Paisley Art Institute’s Annual Exhibition Piazza Paisley Award. This portrait was inspired by a desire to challenge myself to do not one but two portraits of my daughter. I’d watched her standing at our fireplace mantle piece and saw her reflection in the big mirror above it and thought how it would make a really lovely painting. To make it that bit more complex I got her to put on my paisley patterned silk kimono which is brightly coloured and very intricate. I set the whole scene up in our sitting room to sketch her to get the best pose then took many photos to try and capture the feeling I wanted to convey.
She’s a very beautiful young woman inside and out as she works as a mental health nurse and is truly committed to helping people at their lowest and most vulnerable. She is an inspiration to all who meet her and this was my tribute to a much beloved daughter. I hope the love and admiration I have for her shines through in this painting!
50 thoughts on “Lynn Howarth – Portraits That Capture Likeness And Soul”
Such beautiful and inspiring work! Thank you to both Lynn, for creating it, and Gail, for inviting the post.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it Beth!
Thank you Beth! I’m so glad you enjoyed reading it!
Thanks for showing such a similar Story that represents mine as well. I love what you do Gail and please keep on doing it.
Thanks so much Abraham! I’m glad Stephie’s story resonated with you and you could see all the similarities with your own story.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word of this interesting, engaging, informative blog, by an artist I admire very much. I feel I have got to know her over the past year in lockdown and especially benefited from her 5 day portrait challenge. Thank you for the feature.
Lynn Cooper
You are so welcome Lynn! And lovely to hear that you were one of those who joined Lynn on her Unison Colour portrait challenge 😁
Aw thank you Lynn! I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed reading the story of how I got to be featured here on Gails amazing website! Last summers portrait challenge was so much fun to do wasn’t it?
I had the pleasure of being taught by Lynn at her pastel classes. She is a wonderful teacher and a very warm caring human being. I hope one day to return as reading this review of her work has reminded me of what a joy it was. She is inspirational.
Izzy how wonderful to have had the chance to study with Lynn! I’m glad her post has reminded you of your joyful experience with her. Here’s to another opportunity!
Thank you so much Izzy! I love teaching so much and find it incredibly rewarding to see my students progressing with pastel! Your kind words mean a lot to me!
Thank you Gail and Lynn for this wonderful Blog!
I’ve always admired your work Lynn. What a wonderful story and road you have traveled along. You are very talented and very connected to your work.
Congratulations on what you have achieved so far and looking forward to your future works. The possibilities are endless and if anyone can make them possible, you can. 😁😁😁😁😁
Oh Ed, thanks for your appreciative and insightful comment after reading Lynn’s post. And yes, I think you’re right!
Oh what a fantastic few minutes spending time reading Lynn’s generous outpouring of her life’s journey and seeing her expertise in those glorious portraits. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in her zoom tutorial for Unison last year. I have always felt a kinship with Lynn although I’m across the pond. I enjoy seeing not only her fabulous artwork, but following her posts with photos of her family, her precious new granddaughter, and her puppies. I’ve made so many wonderful FB friends thanks to you, Gail, and your How to Pastel FB group. Hugs to you both!!
Ruth I know exactly what you mean about kinship with Lynn! I feel the same way.
I’m delighted that you enjoyed her post! And her Unison Colour workshop sounds like it was incredibly popular. I remember seeing all the various interpretations of her portrait of Arnie.
Facebook does have its plus side doesn’t it, with all the new friends we make there and connections with old ones too. Hugs back 🤗
I really enjoy doing portraits. This blog has encouraged me to get back to work. I was especially impressed with her work using a very limited palate.
I always love to hear when a blog post motivates a reader to get back to work! So yay Particia!!
I loved this blog with Lynn – felt more like a visit. I took her FB Unison class and was amazed at what I learned. It was my initial portrait and though I really wanted to try, it was a challenge I had avoided. But Lynn was wonderful explaining, teaching and guiding us throughout the process. My finished piece was a serious surprise and has brought a lot of compliments. And confidence to keep working on more portraits. Have just started one of my granddaughter – the picture was too precious to leave unpainted.
Thanks for this blog Gail!
How wonderful to hear you got so much out of Lynn’s workshop Jeanne. AND that you gathered your courage and took the class in the first place. And look at the outcome! Awesome!!
Wonderful work and such an inspiring artist and great teacher. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
The portrait of “Robert” is incredible but all are amazing.
I was so lucky to do the Unison 5 day challenge and learnt so much from it as, like many, portraits are out of my comfort zone but Lynn made it less of a challenge and helped so much with the use of colours for skin tones.
So glad you enjoyed hearing about Lynn’s journey and seeing her work Hazel. And thanks for sharing your fav piece!
Love hearing about your experience in Lynn’s 5-day challenge with Unison Colour especially the specificity of colour in skin tones!
So happy to see your wonderful portraits displayed here. I’ve been a fan of your work for some time now. Gail just has a way of bringing the best of the best to her blog.
So glad you enjoyed Lynn’s post Gailen. And thanks for your kind words 😊
I loved this blog post. It’s particularly encouraging to read of someone who starts their art journey later in life and does so well by concentrated effort.
Focussed effort and dedication is the key! Glad you found Lynn’s post encouraging Ruth 😀
Focussed effort and dedication are the keys! Glad you found Lynn’s post encouraging Ruth 😀
Such beautiful and inspiring work! Thank you to both Lynn, for creating it, and Gail, for inviting the post.
You are so welcome Beth! Glad you found much to be inspired by 😁
I’ve searched for Caran d’ache pastel pencils in portrait but haven’t found them on-line. Can you direct me to finding these? Your work, Lynn, is magical. Thank you for sharing your journey.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Lynn’s post Sonya! And I’ll leave Lynn to answer your question….
Hi Sonya I live in the UK and got my Caran D’Ache pastel pencils from Cult Pens it’s a great website for stuff like that! Ok here’s my list of great pastel pencils for portraiture.
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : French Grey x 1 good for whites of eyes
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Pink White x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Light Flesh 5 Percent x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Dark Flesh 40 Percent x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Dark Flesh 5 Percent x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Light Flesh 10 Percent x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Dark Flesh 50 Percent x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Chinese White x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : French Grey 10 Percent x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Violet Grey x 1 brilliant for the thin skin under the eyes!
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Brown Olive 50 Percent x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Dark Flesh x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Violet Pink x 1
Caran d’Ache : Pastel Pencil : Burnt Sienna x 1
Caran D’Ache : Pastel Pencil :Bistre
Caran D’Ache :Pastel Pencil : Olive Brown
Stabilo : Carbothello : Pastel Pencil : Warm Grey No. 4 : 706 x 1 good for whites of eyes shadow under lids
Stabilo : Carbothello : Pastel Pencil : Caput Mortuum Violet : 640 x 1
Stabilo : Carbothello : Pastel Pencil : Caput Mortuum Violet Light : 642 x 1
Stabilo : Carbothello : Pastel Pencil : Caput Mortuum Red : 645 x 1
Wowsa!! Thanks for all this detailed info Lynn!!
No problem! Happy to help my fellow pastelists!
Yes! Thank you. I appreciate this.
Thank you for this wonderful piece about Lynn! Not only is her work fabulous but she seems to me to be such a kind and gracious lady!
You’re welcome Becky! And yes, Lynn’s warm and caring personality comes through loud and clear right?
No problem! Happy to help my fellow pastelists!
Thank you so much Becky! Such a lovely comment to leave!
Since Lynn was one of the original administrators at the beginning of HTP I felt like this was a visit from an old friend. Lynn, your portraits are astounding, so full of life and personality. I loved hearing your story and find it amazing that you have only been painting with pastels for 10 years. Obviously you have found your perfect medium! Thanks for telling us your wonderful story,
Gail, what a super choice for your blog.
Many thanks to you both!
Thanks for the reminder that Lynn was one of the HowToPastel Facebook group’s first administrators. How lovely that you remember that Weendy! And yes, it’s quite amazing to discover the short journey Lynn has had using soft pastels. So glad your enjoyed hearing Lynn’s story Wendy 🙂
Thank you so much for this blog and to Lynn for graciously sharing her knowledge especially on portraits which I love drawing but find difficult to paint. I can’t wait to have another go and experiment more. Thank you both for your enthusiasm – it’s infectious!
I’m so glad the enthusiasm is rubbing off Elspeth. And also glad to hear that you are motivated to have another go at portrait painting. Let us know how you get on!
I’m new to your blog but not entirely new to Lynn as I followed the Unison course as my entry to portraiture – Arnie was a delight to work on. I really enjoyed Lynns teaching style and her enthusiasm for the subject was evident. It has been wonderful to see her other portraits. It’s almost impossible to single any one out but I have a very soft spot for Sir Billy 😊
I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future
Welcome to the blog Kim and thank you for taking the time to comment. (I love commentors!!) And yeah, I can understand your soft spot for Sir Billy 😊 That portrait says so much and feeeeels so much!
I truly enjoyed this blog about Lynn. She is such an upbeat, joyful person which such a tremendous talent, and a wonderful, generous teacher on top of it
Agreed agreed AGREED Silke!!
So glad to hear how much you liked Lynn’s post!
What a great article from such a talented artist and a special person! Lynn’s work always stands out and her versatility amazes me with her breadth of subject matter. It’s so good to see this varied collection of portraits of such a high standard in one place.
Lynn’s path to fine art is a familiar one for me with so many similarities, so it’s an equally absorbing read as well as a visual feast!
Thank you Gail and Lynn!
Gareth thanks so much for your appreciative comment! It’s certainly a treat, as you say, to have so many of Lynn’s portraits here under the HowToPastel roof. And how interesting about the similar path you both took. I’ll just pop your guest blog in here for those who may be interested in reading and seeing it.
Still amazed that Lynn doesn’t blend. Wow. Great seeing the portrait of my friend Arnold too. Recognised him straight away.
Yup, blending doesn’t have to happen to get a blended look!
And Darwood, how cool you know Arnold 😁