Austin Pastel Society Meeting Photos

Yesterday, June 26, was our last Austin Pastel Society until September.  It was also the last meeting that Johanne Morin will attend on a regular basis.  She is moving away to New York.  We are happy that she will be close to her family and that we can still be in contact with her, but ......  It was a sad happy time. 

Johanne has been a very important artist in our group.  She was the person we turned to most often for exhibit coordinator and "hanging" person.  She says  after volunteering to help, she discovered she liked to do the exhibits.  She was very good at it.  She worked behind the scenes, too, with the website and keeping the wheels turning on our group efforts with shows, demos and more.  She will be truly missed in the group and as a friend.

 Johanne receiving her bluebonnet wine glass.

Johanne and Sue Bailey.

The demonstration artist for the day was Mike Windberg from the Windberg Art Center in Georgetown.  Mike is a wonderful artist and his talk was full of information.  It would be great to take a class with him and learn more about oil painting.  Oil painting works like pastels, building from dark to light.  Mike says we pastel artists "cheat" as we don't have to mix colors.  The equipment he uses is mostly items that his father, Dalhart Windberg, Mike and the Center have invented and made.  The easel is wonderful, it rolls around, adjusts with an attachment for everything you need.  His paint box keeps the paint wet for ages.  They have a great medium to assist the oil paint in drying,  and other  painting tools.  Mike had a board that you stick your canvas to, then you can take the canvas off and roll it up.  For traveling, it would be great, take one board and many pieces of canvas without taking wrapped canvas or canvas panels.  You will not be disappointed if you take a class with Mike or stop by the Center to buy supplies.

Mike suggests doing thumbnails in various color combinations when you are planning value and composition.  He prefers Old Holland paint because it contains so much pigment.  He likes Winsor-Newton and Gamlin, too.  He explained that paint manufacturers are cutting costs by adding more oil and less pigment.  So good paint costs more!

He did a quick sketch on the toned canvas with chalk - white pastel.  His under painting on the canvas was tinted acrylic and marble dust to have a nice surface to paint on.   He keeps a pink mixture on his palette to mix into landscape colors and his white is titanium white with a bit of cadmium yellow medium in it.  He suggested adding yellow to make most bright colors as white reduces the value.  Doesn't work too well in pure blue.  :)

He was working very quickly as much of his demonstration time was explaining equipment and technique.  He only had about 20 minutes of actual painting time.

He developed the painting from the horizon line upward for the sky first and then worked down to the foreground.  He painted everything behind the main tree first.  He put in the dark of the tree before adding the highlights and color.  His horizon shadows were a shade darker than the darkest part of the sky.    He "threw" on the foreground with his knife to be able to finish by our deadline.  We still kept him there overtime!