In case you were hibernating, it’s January (!) and that means it’s time for a humungous HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It also means it’s time for the monthly round-up of ten pastels chosen from the many many I selected from those seen throughout December. Bring on December’s Dynamite pastels!

Every month I think I’m going to run out of possibilities and every month I find a whole heap of pastels I like. This time there were 63. It’s never easy to make that final choice of ten especially once I’ve got the collection down to 15 to 20 and that didn’t change this time round. Let’s have a look.

December’s Dynamite Pastels

It’s wintertime which can be very cold and/or very dark (rain, clouds, and snow in parts of the northern hemisphere). When I saw this painting by Lorenzo Chávez, I could immediately feel the cold of winter but also that ahhhhh, warmth of the sun on my body. Chávez has successfully captured that moment when the sun blazes through heavy winter clouds, sometimes only for a moment. It’s a time that changes the whole view of the world and can take your breath away. Nature’s glory comes flooding in, hope rises, and all seems possible and well with the world in that moment. I love the way our eyes wander the painting, never caught in one place – we circle from dark and cold to light and warmth and then back around again. You can see more of Lorenzo Chávez‘s work here.

Another winter scene this time of vast space and quiet. I can imagine only hearing the sound of my own footsteps through the snow and perhaps the occasional cracking of the thin layer of ice on the pond. There’s a feeling of solitude but not of loneliness. This pastel reveals a simple landscape yet is full of the essence of this place. Love the sense of grey but the actuality of colour. When I first saw it, I immediately was reminded of the work (especially the watercolours) of Edward Seago. Noticing the title of the piece, I tip my hat to Trevor Osborne at the honouring of that master painter. Click here to see more of Osborne’s work.

A winter night with snow on the ground around clumps of dry grasses. The snow in shadow is cool but the grasses, which have been brilliantly created by negatively carving out the shapes, are warm because of the reds and yellows of the paper beneath. The moon (full?) illuminates an area of snow in the background which lies in stark contrast to the dark wintery-green sky above it. The paper peeking through the sky almost gives the effect of stars. (I kinda want to burst into song with “Starry Starry Night”!) Our attention could be caught by that high contrast area of white against dark but there is enough activity and warm colour in the grasses to bring our contemplation to the lower parts of the painting. Such wonderful control of values! Check out Evenhus’s website for more of her work.

We move inside from the winter landscape to a beautifully drawn head. This demo shows that understanding values allows an artist to play with colour. I love those accents of greens and purples on the face, all working perfectly because they read as the correct value. I also revel in the various strokes (different widths, different directions, different pressures, different energies) made on the lower part of the piece – in the body and garment. And look at the way More has negatively created the contour of the back of the head with very light pastel. Marvellous!! See more of Manjiri More’s work here.

I’m impressed that this pastel was done in two hours! Such accuracy and boldness! There’s the sense of the figure’s contour barely indicated and then the layering of pastel on in varying pressures. There’s focus on the lit parts with careful attention to the shapes the shadows create. I like the way the face is indicated substantially but when you look more closely, there’s really only just enough there to represent what we need to read it as a head. I love the way the colour red is moved about the body with emphasis on the hands and of course the turban. I also like the way the light is brought in with the pale blue pastel to emphasize the head (especially the right side) and also, in the strokes themselves, to give the sense of light streaming down over the figure. Check out more of Yann Hovadik’s work here.

Going from a figure that’s easily recognizable to one that is not, we can still recognize what we are looking at, namely a figure swimming underwater. It’s amazing to me that even though all we have is a painting of broken up areas of colour created with various marks, we can still know what is there. This is a careful rendition of what the figure looks like under the swirls and eddies created by the body as it moves through the water. And yet it doesn’t feel careful, or still, or methodical. Rather it feels energetic, dynamic, and exciting. It’s a delightful breaking up of the figure! See more of Elizabeth Wallace’s work on her website where you can also read more about this prize-winning painting.

There are so many things I like about this piece; most of them are about contrasts. The painting has an abstract feel and yet there are recognizable forms such as leaves and branches. Although we see a scene from nature, there is a rather mystical feeling that makes me think of a temple full of columns with a glistening floor and perhaps with an oculus in the roof through which light pours. There’s the contrast between areas of darkness and areas of light, between hard edges and soft, between the dynamism of the main diagonal line subdued by the quiet of the solid horizontal line, between large blocks of colour and small details, between the main complimentary colours of yellow and purple, between the chaos of the foreground and the quiet of the background. Check out more of Antal Takács’s work here.

Okay, I admit it, I rather swooned when I saw this pastel! A fairly large piece, it’s filled to the brim with the delicacy and lightness of colour and content. It’s a showpiece of talent showing Duff’s comfort with painting anything from petals to glass, from lace to ceramic, all from a high perspective. We move down through the softness of the petals, to the hardness of the crockery container, the porcelain teacup, the ceramic vase and the crystal container, through to the cool smoothness of the tablecloth punctuated with embroidery and lace. As we make out way over the table covering, our eyes rise of the left and we see hints of what lies beyond the window – a tiled floor perhaps bordered by dry grass? This painting is full of details yet doesn’t feel fussy. Instead it feels like a study in pinks, whites and greens, with a story to tell. To see more of Leoni Duff’s work, click here. (According to Duff, ‘Bowden Board’ is canvas on ply coated with gesso and egg yolk. “The egg yolk binds the pastel into the board turning it into egg tempera. These unique boards will be available in the new year. They are amazing to work on.” I’m very curious!)

What’s not to love about this piece? Look at that vibrant yummy colour and those energetic lines. I like the way you can see solid shapes of colour forming a foundation beneath the frantic marks. The subject is both the path along the forest edge AND colour, light and dark, and mark-making. We follow the path down and out of the darkness (yet still filled with colour) into the warm light. In the distance, we will go through yet another section of dark woods before emerging into the light on the other side. For now, we are bound by the forest on three sides with a field opening to our right. What a feeling of constriction and release there is in this piece! Tarcsay doesn’t appear to have a website but you can see more of his work here.

Lots of the same warm colours used by Tarcsay above. I’m a sucker for a sunset, what can I say. But so many of them aren’t done that well, and often, when they trod into the ultra coloured versions you so often see, they really aren’t very successful. For me, however, this one by Tierney Graham works. I can imagine standing and looking out at this blazing glory. When you see a sunset that lights up the clouds like this, you can’t help but by awed by the grandeur and beauty of the world around us. Everything is possible. And on that note, welcome to the possibilities of the New Year!!! To see more of Tierney Graham’s work, go here.

And there you have it – December’s Dynamite Pastels!! I’d love to hear which are your favourites so please leave a comment.

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Upcoming Survey

I’ve been working at this blog for a couple of years now. I sort of know the posts you appreciate most by the comments I receive but I’d love your feedback. In preparation for the year to come so I can serve you best, I’ll be sending out a short survey in the next few days. Your answers will help shape the look and feel of the blog in the months to come so let your ideas, questions, thoughts, and comments spill!!

As always, I look forward to hearing from you!!

~ Gail