Artist Spotlight – Kim Leanne Gibson

Artist Name: Kim Leanne Gibson

Location: Gympie Queensland Australia

Title of Artwork: Country Morning Spectators

Dimensions of Artwork: 500mm x 700mm

Medium: Pastel

Support: Art Spectrum Colour fix paper

Website: http://www.kimleanneart.com

Describe this Piece: Country Morning Spectators was compiled from a selection of reference photos. It depicts the atmosphere of a typical farm morning….feed the chooks…milk the cow….. It is my 1st serious self portrait and I wanted to convey my love of the country lifestyle in the painting. The complete process I followed for this is documented on my blog “Art Adventures” at www.kimleanneart/blogspot.com

(Please Click Image Below for Larger View)

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Introduction to Pastel Drawing Mediums

Pastels are one of the easiest mediums to work with and therefore are a very popular choice amongst artists. Pastels combine the immediacy of a drawing medium while at the same time provide the artist with a color rich, paint like environment. With pastel drawing, there is no need to prepare your drawing surface, as pastels can be applied directly to your support. There are no harsh chemicals or mediums to be concerned about and cleanup is a snap! It is no wonder why artists adore this medium so much.

Pastels are available in a wide range of exciting colors and materials from soft pastels and oil pastels, to pastel pencils and crayons. You could literally spend a lifetime exploring this versatile and exciting medium.

TYPE OF PASTELS

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“Pastels for Life” – Pastels Demonstration By Pauline Adair

“Pastels for Life”

Author: Pauline Adair – Australian Artist

Note: This painting won the Pastel Award at the 2006 Gympie Gold Rush Annual Art Exhibition.

For this Soft Pastel Demonstration I am using a double sheet of Canson Mi Tientes pastel paper, in a warm grey colour. I prefer to work on the smooth side of this, but I know many pastelists who choose the textured side. The smooth side still has a good tooth which suits my application.

The model is Sophie…. a favourite of mine, and I am working from a photo as it will probably take me several days to complete this to my satisfaction.

Here is the reference photo, which I cropped to achieve a more close up and intimate feel in the
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Artist Spotlite – Dianne Bertold

Artist: Dianne Bertold

Location: Grande Prairie, Alberta  CANADA

Title: Morning Sentry

Medium: Soft Pastels

Dimensions: 15.5″ x 22″

Support: Fabriano Pastel Paper

Comments from the Artist: This Wood Lily stood amongst tall grass but the strong lighting through the leaves and on the stem made me want to simplify the background so I used a blue-grey (complementary to the orange) to help it stand alone.  It needed no “supporting actors”.  The flower itself is done in multiple layers (fixatif between layers) to achieve the shape through shadow and light.

September Sunflowers – How to Paint Sunflowers with Pastels

This beautiful pastel painting demonstration is courtesy of Dan Gray. Thanks Dan for sharing another wonderful painting with us!

You can learn more about Dan and view more of his work at his website:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/dfgray/home.htm

September Sunflowers

From the garden into the studio

I had a extra sheet of Fabriano pastel paper in poppy red so tried the still life on this

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Artist Spotlite – Sabine Vicinus

Artist: Sabine Vicinus

Dimensions: 21 x 29

Medium: Pastels

Website: http://www.seraphin-art.de/

Use Pastels To Enhance Your Command Of Colors By Karl Sultana

By Karl Sultana

Because of its ease of handling, pastel is an excellent medium for a beginning painter to learn about color or become more familiar with the various pigments derived from diverse sources and how effectively they blend, contrast, or complement one another.

Plan Colors in Advance

A good color reminder is to prepare a custom color chart after you’ve planned your pastel drawing and chosen your colors, but before you begin work. Using the pastel colors you’ve chosen (leaving aside black or very dark colors), apply a one-inch horizontal strip of color across a piece of paper (the same type of paper you plan to use for your work). Leave an inch of clean space between each stripe and write the name/number of each color at the far end.

Then, turn your paper 90 degrees and using the same pastels in the same order apply another one-inch strip of color. You may have to clean each pastel after it passes through each of the cross stripes. Take your time so you end up with each color passing over every other color with pure color between. Don’t worry if the colors smear just a bit as you’re going to be smearing some of them anyway.

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An Introduction to Pastel Drawing & Painting

Pastels are a wonderful medium to work with. If you are used to painting in wet mediums like oils and acrylics then you should give pastels a try. They are a very refreshing and enjoyable approach to creating art. This article will introduce you to the various pastel mediums that are available as well as touch on a few pastel panting and drawing techniques that you can incorporate into your next work of art.

SOFT PASTELS

Soft pastels are probably the most popular of the various pastel mediums. Artists love the soft texture and the ability to paint on the colors which allows more freedom and usage of various techniques. Soft pastels can cover large areas and are well suited for blending. By varying the pressure, soft pastels can be applied in very light layers or impastos.

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