Pastel Cups Sketch

It was Enid's class (https://www.enidwood.com/) today so I decided I better play in the dust.  She was planning on talking about using hard and soft pastels together for blending and how they work on different paper.  She said that as artists we need to find the paper and pastel marks that make us have butterflies in out tummies.  We don't all like the same paintings or techniques so we need to try different tools and techniques and find what makes us happy.  The result is better paintings.

Thin and thick pastels affect the outcome, too.  In general thin and transparent paint/pastel recedes and thick brighter pastels come forward.  

I wiped off the unicorn/hanging sketch I did a while back and proceeded for the Scavenger Hunt 87 item "cup".

I Heart Texas 

Pastel Sketch on Pastelbord

8 x 10 inches

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 87  https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-87-oct-9-oct-17.6110/

 

Number 10 cup- a couple of my Texas cups and a little pottery heart, smooth and rounded, that rattles.  Joanna told me that she sees it as a dish/bowl in the painting.  And, of course, now I do as well.  I'll see if I can change something to make it look that it is rounded up, not in.  Hmmm.

I thought you might like to see the process.

The board wiped off.  You can still see color and lines.

Then I put some dark blue, purple and orange pastel and wet it with alcohol on a bristle brush and let it drip down with some light lavender at the bottom, which I didn't let drip.

And here is the set up.  I think I see how to fix the heart.  (I need to wipe it off and do over and you know how much I like that, probably won't happen.)

I used some light scumbling to put down the dark blue and red.  Thicker paint on the white of the stars and the highlights on the rim of the cup.  If this were a painting I would have gone slower and layered with more care.  This is a sketch and took about one hour plus a little.

What kind of strokes do you like in your painting?  Do you leave brush strokes or blend them away?  I sometimes blend the sky more than other parts of a landscape and don't blend as much in still life.

Enid suggested to look at the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) competition and see what styles and paintings catch your eye and maybe you will see strokes (evidence of the artist) or well blended with no strokes showing and pick your favorites.

IAPS Juried Exhibition

http://www.iapspastel.org/exiaps_current.php

I seem to like the paintings with strokes or a combination.  My favorite pastelist is usually Richard McKinley (http://mckinleystudio.com/)  He uses lots of under painting and layering with a very light touch.  He is the president of IAPS at the present time.

I tend to like landscapes and still life.  In the contest for still life I liked Mary Aslin.  I follow her blog.  I like Natasha Isenhour landscapes.  I'm partial as I met her in Red River and she is from Socorro, New Mexico, and follow her blog.   I'm not as eye struck with portraits and abstracts.  A few catch my eye but...

Anyway, let us know what you like.  I like hearing from you.  You can send me an email if you don't want your comment posted.  jo@jocastilloart.com