Pastel Landscape Demo Step by Step

About Karen Margulis

karen margulis 150x150I was born in Connecticut, grew up in South Florida and spent summers in the North Carolina Mountains. I currently live in Marietta Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. I graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in Education.

I operated a family day care for 21 years so that I could stay home with my own 2 children. We traveled every summer with the kids and tried to visit every National Park. Most of my paintings are inspired by the photos I took on these adventures.

I am now painting and teaching pastel classes and workshops full time. I am represented by several galleries in the Southeast as well as several online galleries. I am a Member of Excellence in the Southeastern Pastel Society and a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America.

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Pastel Portrait Painting Demonstration Step by Step

About the Artist

Jean Hildebrant paints in oil and pastel mediums. Specializing in portraits and figurative works. Jean also teaches classes and workshops on how to paint the portrait and figure in oil and pastel. For portrait commissions, contact the artist. As Jean continued seeking out ways to improve her talents, she attended workshops held by local artists and enrolled as an art major in the local college.

As a result of her efforts, she won two scholarships to Scottsdale Artists School, based strictly on the merit of her work. She has studied with nationally known artists Albert Handell, Richard McKinley, Phil Beck, Bob Lemler, Ben Konis and Clayton J. Beck 111. Artists that have influenced her work include John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla and Anders Zorn. Jean’s favorite subject is the human soul.

She desires to capture the essence and inner beauty of the human spirit through the use of light and color. She wants her paintings to speak to the emotions and spirit of each person who views them. She paints realism with the purpose of leaving an indelible impression. Jean has exhibited and won numerous awards in local and national shows. Read more

How to Paint a Landscape in Pastel

Artist Biography – Phil Laughlin, PSA

portraitEVOLUTION OF A LANDSCAPE PAINTER

Phil Laughlin was born in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Like most kids, he enjoyed drawing, but you wouldn’t have guessed from his childhood that art would become his passion. At home, the idea of a career in the arts was never discussed. School offered one art course in 12 years of public education. The prevailing attitude was “Okay… We’ve checked the art box on the curriculum form, let’s move on to the real business of life.”

From Engineer to Artist

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How to Draw Apples with Pastels Step by Step

About Jo Knoblock Castillo

jowhoJo Knoblock Castillo has always had an interest in art and working with her hands. Whether it was cooking, sewing or making gifts, she was happy to be “doing”. While living in Bolivia, she finally rediscovered her love of painting. Her interest is in landscapes and paintings that have connections to her life.

Jo works in most media, but has discovered she really enjoys the special luminosity of pastels. They are tactile, immediate and long lasting. Other than smudging if touched (they should be framed under glass), they are very durable. The colors are clear and vibrant. “I enjoy painting from life and use my own reference photos just as a reminder of shape or lighting,” says the artist.

Winters find Jo and Gene, her husband, living in Bastrop, Texas. It is near family and offers a mild climate and plenty of golf courses and opportunities to paint. Jo looks forward to plein air painting in New Mexico each summer. “It is a challenge to set up an easel and paint a scene in just a couple of hours,” Jo says, “The light is very fleeting and you have to get down large sections of light and dark very quickly to establish your painting. Weather doesn’t always cooperate and uninvited visitors like mosquitos or snakes are not uncommon.”

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Step by Step Pastel Demonstration

About Karen Hargett

Karen Hargett is a Christian, Native Texan and self-taught artist with a natural desire to create. She has been involved in arts and crafts most of her life but when she began riding horses, the heart of her drawing talent revealed itself. Her love for her horse, the demands of an excellent horse trainer, and the deep satisfaction of “getting it right” at the end of a hard day of training became inspirations for her drawing.

After one particularly satisfying day with the trainer, Karen felt a strong connection between the trainer, herself, and her horse. She realized that the bond her trainer had with horses was pivotal. To thank him in her own way, Karen put down on paper how she felt. The finished drawing (shown right) revealed a reflection of a horse and rider deep within the horse’s eye, hinting at the unique connection between the two. His response to the drawing demonstrated to her that she had indeed touched the heart of his feeling for horses.

Since that drawing, Karen’s art has become an effortless flow through the pencil onto the paper. A wellspring was tapped in her. She continues to feel a special connection with each drawing and it shows in each piece she creates. Karen has captured pets, friends, wildlife and landscapes in graphite and, more recently, pastels. Let her capture one of your favorite subjects. Karen hopes that you will make a deep connection with a drawing she does for you. Read more

Mixed Media Art Demonstration using Pan Pastels and Ranger’s Distress Ink

About Katherine

katherine herriman artistMy name is Katherine Herriman and I grew up in a small fishing town in Victoria, Australia (down the bottom), called Lakes Entrance. After finishing school, I moved to Melbourne to study psychology and social work. I chose to work with asylum seekers and refugee youth, helping them settle into their life in Australia. It was around this time I found my way back to making art. I can’t remember exactly when or why this happened. Although in hind-sight, at that time in my life there was more space, and more quiet, and more safety, than there had been in a long time. There were just less things getting in the way, so it naturally bubbled up to the surface ever so casually.

After a couple of years working as a social worker, in June 2009 I moved to Europe with my partner. We bought a motorhome, called her Nettle, and drove. We stop driving every now and then so I can draw and paint and my partner can pursue his passion, programming. With this life change, there is more space and quiet in my life than there ever has been. Audacious dreams began to tentatively emerge. I felt unsure about their right to exist and didn’t give myself permission to think them too much at first and yet they were there. They grow a bit bolder with every new discovery of other women who are already doing it. Women with businesses, who design and create and paint! I yearn to be one of them! I’m working towards this goal.

We’re still travelling but we’re beginning to dream of home, and nesting, and the life that’s waiting for us back in Australia. Instead of longing for quaint mediaeval European towns, my heart goes thump when I think of long dinners with friends, buying a house and making it a home, and regular trips to the library. We’ve reached the tipping point of our travels and are coming out the other end.

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Pastel Painting for Beginners Step by Step

About Christine Kane

Christine Kane is a pastel and watercolor artist who is inspired by the Midwest landscape and it’s seasons. To find new ideas for her paintings, she hikes in the forest preserves during all seasons.

Christine began drawing at an early age. She focused her education on art and has a degree in Graphic Design. She is continuing her studies and is currently pursuing a degree in Natural Resources.

Translating weather is also evident in her work. “Weather makes a landscape painting come to life. How I love to show leaves blowing in the Autumn time, snow falling in winter, or a beautiful thunderstorm approaching in my summer paintings.”

Christine finds God’s handwork in all aspects of nature and tries to translate her awe and reverence in her artwork. Never disappointed, she relies on His creation for inspiration.

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Step by Step Soft Pastel Demo

About Faith

faith te

Graphite Pencil, Charcoal Pencil and Pastels Artist

Hello! My name is Faith Te. When I was 16, a great desire to capture nature and the people around me started my passion for drawing. I began to look at drawing not just as a hobby but something which I wanted to do all my life.

I practiced every day and for many hours since. I taught myself to draw by experimenting with different techniques and materials and through helpful tips and advice from other artists.

Initially, charcoal and graphite pencils were the only mediums I used. When I began working in color, I used pastels, and more recently, oils. My main subjects are portraits but I also enjoy doing many other subjects including still life, landscapes and flowers, especially orchids.

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Step by Step Mixed Media Art Demonstration

About Sandrine Pelissier

I grew up in France but have been living in Canada for the last 12 years, I am currently located in North Vancouver and work from a studio on Pemberton Avenue.

Watercolor is my medium of choice because of the unique way it allows me to render light. The transparency of this medium can make it look like the painting is lit from behind and the light is shining through the paper In my portraits, I like to tell stories about the people around me. I am very interested in childhood fantasy or fairy tales (I wish it would snow Flowers, Hair Balloon, Georgia, the Spanish dress and the Eclectus Parrot). I also like to induce a dialogue with the viewer in some paintings dealing more with introspection and mood (Mixed, In the studio).

Those portraits are not about likeness or knowing the people that are being painted, as I see my models as actors in a movie, they are the faces that will allow me to tell a story or to show emotions. Those faces are a source of endless fascination and I find the subtlety that can be achieved with watercolor well suited to the complexity of the human face.

My technique involves the accumulation of many transparent layers of watercolor. Then I like to incorporate mixed media in the background, work sometimes with some contouring. I also sometimes like to add some drawing on top of the painting or some graphic elements…

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Wildlife Art Demo of a Lion Cub

About Eric Wilson

eric wilson artistEric Wilson has established himself as one of Britain’s leading wildlife artists, a multi-award winner whose paintings are now widely collected throughout the world. His artistic ability was evident from his earliest schooldays; “Eric has an artistic talent way beyond his years” wrote his art teacher in 1967.

As a child of Scottish parentage, Eric would spend his formative years roaming the highland mountains of Scotland where his lifelong love of wild places was born. It was natural and inevitable that Eric would combine his talent with his love of wildlife and become a wildlife artist.

Eric has exhibited widely in London, Germany and the United States, exhibiting at the prestigious Florida Wildlife and Western Art Exposition and The National Exhibition of Wildlife Art where his work has won several awards. His paintings have appeared in magazines and books such as “The Best of Wildlife Art” and “Keys to Painting Fur and Feathers”, by North Light Books. Read more

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