I'm going to miss you.

I just completed my first 8 weeks of teaching Beginner  Pastel  Class. This class has been a delight. I had so much fun with everyone. I think the class had a great time also.
This week we concentrated on painting a scene that could be used to make a card. It could be a Christmas theme or not. They could use an under painting or not. They just had to use their skills to paint.
Here are the results

Connie's Pastel , Bales of Hay on a winter day.

Charlene painted this pastel of a winter evening scene
She didn't use a photo- it was right from her head.

Arlene painted the scene of the Bales of Hay in the winter.

This is Arlene trying to hide from the camera. Gotcha!

The is Valerie's pastel of her disgruntled cat.
On the outside looking in.

Rita painted this Pointsetta flower

Rita packing up. See you in May Rita.

Notans

Today we started our paintings is a different way...we began with a Notan. This is a drawing done with one color that denotes the value structure of the picture. Notan is a more traditional way to execute an underpainting. Notan comes from the Japanese meaning dark/light. Notan produces harmony in the painting with its dark and reflected light for varied value tones. To create a Notan, Work with as few values as possible, this creates an abstract pattern of values. After drawing the composition, layer the areas with water or mineral spirits. A Notan underpainting enhances the overpainting.

Rita working on her pastel painting after she did her Notan

Rita's painting in progress. Wonderful composition and  great values.
Good work, Rita.

Arlene's pastel painting is in progress. She has a great start with the Notan underpainting
Arlene is able to keep the dark values which produces a very effective painting.
Arlene this is going to be a great painting, good job.

Jean concentrates on her pastel painting. Her Notan gave her a great underpainting
that enhances the values in her composition.

Jean's Pastel in progress. This painting has great values and tones.
Jean will finish this next week and I will be sure to post it. Great job Jean!

Charlene, working on her pastel painting.

Charlene's pastel is rich in values and color due to her
Notan underpainting. Wonderful pastel painting, Charlene.

Challenge:30 strokes or less

Yes, The challenge this week was to paint a painting in 30 strokes or less. What fun. The class was a bit taken back by the challenge but they stepped up and produce some fantastic paintings. Painting in 30 strokes or less forces the artist to pay attention to the shapes in the painting. It produces a more abstract painting to begin with and as the painting progresses the details can be painted or not.
This first painting was done by Arlene. She painted this painting in less that 30 strokes. Her use of the pastels was genius. She painted the shadows in the far mountains in a cool blue and the shadows in the middle of the painting in a slightly warmer blue. She then painted the foreground in warm yellows and reds. The bit of green stripe in the front of the painting sets the road off along with the green bush on the right. The clouds are in contrast to the mountains. Beautiful Painting Arlene...it's your best one.

Arizona landscape by Arlene

Mt Katahdin  by Jean

Jean painted this lovely painting of this famous mountain. She created this with great depth by using a light blue on the water. The sky is central to this painting and is in contrast to the mountain. The shadows in the water are soft and flowing. This photo doesn't  do this painting justice. Great job Jean.

Charlene's garden with rock wall

Charlene painted this painting in less that 30 strokes. She painted the shapes quickly and then began to paint the details with color. She used mostly hard pastels and as she got near the completion she switched to soft pastels.

The painting is very successful. The rock wall is the focal point of this painting. The flowers are secondary. Charlene worked hard on these rock to get them just right. I think she was very successful.

Beautiful painting, Charlene.

Rita's yellow flowers

This painting is so successful. The foreground is warm...the eye moves across the painting to the darker shadows the warm stripes are beautiful. The mountains are inviting and Rita softened them with a pale lavender. The sky is dramatic. I love the colors she used in the clouds. That little splash of blue is zest of color that  is a wonderful surprise. Beautiful painting in less than 30 strokes, Rita

Valerie colorful landscape

Valerie painted this in under 30 strokes.. I,m not sure how it happened but the color in this paining is cool yet the painting is overall very warm. I love how you used the pastel and the strokes you made. It is very effective. The trees look as if there is a wind blowing through them. Beautiful job, Valerie!

 

Making paper and painting pastels

This weeks class was on making your own paper.  We began by using Heat set watercolor paper and Art Spectrum Colorfix primer  with a fine tooth. The primer was poured onto a paper plate and then rolled with a small roller on to the water color paper. The great thing about this procedure is that is dries in 5 minutes and is ready to paint on.
We used Ultra Blue and Aubergine and Clear. This process was fun and made a great paper for pastel painting.
After the paper making session the class completed the pastel paintings that they did last week...and then proceeded to the newly made paper and painted another landscape.
As you will see the class is progressing nicely and have made huge strides since the first class. I think they are hooked on pastel......See below

Connie had fun today in class!

Connie's pastel ...love the gray building and the
many colors you used. Beautiful!

Rita getting ready for critique

Arlene's painting that she finished from last week,
Great use of color, love that tree on the left!

Arlene getting ready to paint

Jean is loving pastel class!

Jean, these dark Irises are the envy of every gardener.
Love the beautiful color you used and how you treated the background.
This is a very successful painting. Kudos, Jean!

Rita just finished her pastel painting....and she likes it!

Rita's pastel with lost and found edges. Beautiful use of pastel
and the foreground is warm and  fabulous. The clouds are  great...I
love the use of several colors to get that puffy cloud. Wonderful job, Rita!

Valerie brings her painting to the critique.

Valerie has done it again...Wow! love the color. The beautiful composition
you son's photo is the inspiration you needed. This painting
has a great use of color and composition. Fabulous job Valerie!

This class has outdone itself. I am impressed how quickly they have embraced this medium and the beautiful paintings they are producing each week. I just love to come to class to see what they are going to produce.

The key is "what's under"

The key to a great pastel painting is what you do for an under painting. There several methods to under painting and we are  using the alcohol to wet the paper. Here are the steps used:1. Block in your paining with complimentary colors ( if it is a landscape use reds for the areas that will eventually be green etc.)
2. Using a soft paint brush wet the colors that you have painted. Brush each color separately to avoid bleeding of the colors.
3. Wait until it is dry. ...it shouldn't be to long since you used alcohol.
4. Now you are ready to paint over with the local color...( color that is the actual)
This exercise proved to be interesting. After using the above mentioned system the paintings took on a vibrancy that just made the colors sing.
I'm not sure how Charlene got by me without me taking a picture of her painting. Hopefully she will bring it back next week so I can post it.

Valerie putting on her gloves

Valerie's painting with an underpainting. Fabulous!

Rita is working while Connie is ready for the camera

Connie's pastel with vibrant foreground Great Job Connie.

Rit's pastel has a warm rich foreground. Beautiful Rita.

Arlene getting out her pastels

Arlene's pastel with great use of color variations .You created
good form for the trees. Wonderful work.

Jean's beautiful pastel. The warm colors in the foreground
along with the variation so color make for a
beautiful pastel.  Kudos, Jean!

Week 3 and WOW!

This is week 3 for my pastel class and I must say the group is really doing very well. They are finding pastel to be a colorful medium that is very forgiving. Today we used Canson paper that has much less tooth than Wallis ( our favorite). Paper plays a big roll in a painting. Some papers have texture which can be used to enhance your painting. Some papers can hold many layers of pastels while others are limiting as to the layers you can apply. Lots to think about when planning you painting.
We welcome two new people to our Class. Charlene Sirois and Valerie McLeod. You will see that they adapted quickly and produced some wonderful paintings.

Rita displays her painting

Rita's painting in progress. I know this is going to be a beauty!

Connie begins her painting

Connie painted this old rusty truck. The texture of the paper was an added bonus. Great job Connie!

Alene is bashful to show her painting in progress. We will be looking for this painting next week!

Charlene holds her 1st pastel painting!

beautiful painting Charlene! That door is such an exciting color!

Valerie displays her 1st pastel painting

Wow...energy in color with beautiful strokes and a 1st pastel
this is a beautiful painting.

Jean's finished her painting from last week, The water is so nicely done. Exceptional, Jean

Jean is ready to paint!

Jean's Iris garden in progress. Very preliminary stage...we'll want to see it next week!

Great Job this week...I know you worked hard and it may have been a challenge but you each painted beautiful paintings that you can be proud of.

See you next week at HSSC.