The Pastel Gems

It’s the end of November already and it’s time for another gathering of pastels that have wowed me over the past month. Extremely hard choices again this month especially with everyone posting their pieces accepted into the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Online show. (The show will available for viewing in December at this website.) Over and over the possibilities I went. Always hard to make the cuts but as I said back in September when I started this monthly feature, I’m keeping it to ten pastel gems only!

Okay, let’s go take a look.

 

I only came across this masterful 30 minute pastel a couple of days ago. I love the deceptive simplicity of it. Look at the way Andy uses the warmth of the paper contrasted with that cool violet. Known more for his colourful landscape pastels than figure work, I’m delighted to see Andy’s beautiful life drawings that he posts from time to time on the Federation of Canadian Artists’ Facebook page. (Andy also happens to be President of the FCA.) To see more of Andy’s work, click here.

 

I was blown away by this sensitive and detailed portrait. I feel as if I could reach out and feel this man’s skin. One of the things I love is the reflected light on the shadowed side of the face which appears to have been created by leaving the warmth of the paper coming through. There is so much to appreciate about this portrait. I like the vignetting and Christine explained on her Facebook page why she decided on that look: “Aside from an aesthetic reason there is another reason I chose to do the portrait this way. The man in the portrait’s life was cut short in a cycling accident. His life was unfinished. This was a commission I did for his family.”

I have to say I was torn between this piece and a pastel Christine did of a sleeping dog called, “Sweet Dreams.” You can see that pastel and others on her website.

 

 

Powerful portrait! Did you notice that Carlos used only a limited palette of maybe seven colours plus the colour of the paper to express so much? The application of pastel is gutsy and straighforward, just getting down blocks of colour in a very strong understanding of value range. I will direct you to Carlos’s website here but I have to say that I was surprised to find a different look to his work there. If you check out his work on his Facebook profile, you’ll find work more similar to this one. Here, Carlos used pastels from the 21-colour Portrait and Figure Sampler set. His first time using Blue Earth pastels (I myself have never used this brand), this was his verdict: “My initial impression….VERY favourable.” Now I’m very curious!

 

 

An evocative painting of that certain quality of a day in winter, with cloud and shadow and sunlight peeking through. Imagine deciding to paint this scene. Really, there’s nothing there except road and bush in shadow, and a cloudy sky, but it’s the quality of light that evidently was the attraction and the message. Lovely. What’s really surprising is that I believe I read that Anna painted this from her imagination! If that’s the case, she certainly has considerable experience painting this kind of snow scene. I love how she’s caught the way snow clumps in a bush of many branches. The longer I look at this painting, the more I am reminded of the light in the paintings of Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael (c.1629-1682). You can see more of Anna’s evocative work here.

 

 

Here’s another winter scene where dark and light values are dominant yet because of their extremes, we have a totally different feeling from Anna’s painting! I love the drama of the dark trees against the lightness of the snow. I also appreciate the saturation of colour throughout even though it’s mainly a ‘black and white’ picture. And look at that vigorous application of pastel! Yum! Check out more of James’s work here.

 

 

Dusk: a time of lessening light but not yet dark, a time of little shadow and little highlights and that means a smaller value range. Look how effectively Jeri has used purple over green to present the greying of colour that happens at that time of day. Her painting also shows how the simplest subject – a tree and space of land and sky – can create a painting that stops you in your tracks. Go see more of her work by clicking here.

 

 

I love the cool/warm feeling of this painting. Going from the value extremes of James’s piece and from the darker quality of Jeri’s end-of day-pastel, we see here a painting where the value range is small and hovers in the middle of the value scale. Even so, you can see, with deft attention to choice of colour, temperature, texture, and design, how beautiful small and subtle shifts in value can be in a painting. Christine’s painting begs the question: what will I find in the clearing? Light for sure and a mystical experience perhaps? See more of Christine’s work here.

 

 

And now we go from the cool shade of Christine’s painting to being out in the blazing sunshine. What impressed me most about Lyn’s pastel was her ability to take seemingly inconsequential details – part of a house, some  signs, a hill, a road, some bush – and make a beautiful and mysterious painting of them. Where is this place? Where is the road leading to? Why is there a barrier? What do the signs say? So many questions and so much story-making material. The title, of course, gives us a clue, but without it, the possibilities are endless. Check out more of Lyn’s work here.

 

 

I love the colours in Lynn’s pastel. I love how she takes the landscape and goes beyond it, abstracting it. Or should I say, she has taken abstract forms and seen and enhanced an emerging landscape. So is this an abstract or a landscape? Go check out more of Lynn’s work on her website.

 

 

This rooster reminds me so much of the cocky roosters I see when I visit Mexico. This pastel absolutely caught my eye! Look at all those colours captured in those fleshy wattles, in the interior of the beak, in the glint of the rooster’s eye. Wonderful!! Can’t you just hear him crowing?? Many of you will know Rita’s pastels of farm animals – rabbits, chickens, cows, goats, donkeys. You can see them and more of her work here.

 

 

I’d love to hear what you think of these pastel gems. As difficult as it is to make the choices for these blogs, I so enjoy bringing you my totally subjective and personal selections. It blows me away when I see the variety and expertise in pastels out there. Thanks to all of you for sharing your talents with us.

 

A reminder about my upcoming demo

Next Sunday, 7th December, I will be at the Opus Art store in Victoria from 11am to 1pm demoing a colourful still life in pastels. You will need to register if you’d like to attend. Click here to do so.

 

As always, lovely to have you along for the ride.

Until next time,

~ Gail

 

PS. 3 December 2014. I’ve just heard that Christine Obers won first prize in Pastel Artists Canada online exhibition. It was for her piece, “Sweet Dreams.” I deliberated for ages as to which piece to include in my pastel gems and eventually I chose the portrait. BUT since Christine won for the other piece, I have decided to include it here. Yay!