Painting

HELLO, WANNABE ARTISTS! Welcome! As mentioned at the beginning of my website I promised to share

God may have gifted us with a desire to create but the final decision to get in there and get our hands dirty is up to each of us! These pages are created to encourage you to take those first simple steps toward realizing your dream of becoming a working Wannabe Artist! I will share with you some guidelines for using soft pastels, my medium of choice. What you will learn will be the basics of painting in any medium!

I want to share some of the tips that have worked for me through four decades of practicing. I'll include paintings, as examples, most of which have not been shown in other pages of my website. Also included is a pastel portrait demonstration.

First, let's chat about the type of art you are interested in. Are you fascinated by the portrait? Prefer the landscape? Maybe you enjoy found objects that can be transformed into the intimate still life.

In my opinion and experience, as well as the opinions of many artists and nationally known authors, if you want to be a portrait artist,

Point being: after you learn to paint still life you will be able to paint any other subject!

Why? In painting a still life you learn a lot about composition, perspective, color, and especially the handling and control of the medium you are using. You are not overwhelmed with that panoramic mass of sky and trees, with some building stuck in the wrong place! The sun doesn't constantly change your lights and shadows. Nor are you concerned with the hurdle of getting a likeness. You are grasping the basics without the stress of someone glancing over your shoulder, "Who in the world is THAT!" And the still life doesn't wilt or squirm! You set up a few of your keepsakes, aim your spotlight just right, and you are on your way to painting right through lunch!

But you gasp, "How quaint! I would never have an interest in painting just things!"

Oh, really! "Just Things" can be transformed into a beautiful work of art! And before long you will be able to create a mood in still life and be well on your way to creating your own style. More about this later.

Below is an example of simple objects placed in a pleasing composition, then spotlighted from one side for dimension. Now squint, and you'll see my main objective was to create light flooding across this very simple and playful still life set up.

Painting is all about learning to see as an artist. Then putting down what you see: light, mid-tones, darks, shadows and reflected light. Simple as that! A major consideration in any composition is always light direction.

If you have accumulated books on the subject of painting, great! But if you are a serious beginning WANNABE pastel painter (pastelist), here is one of the best books you will ever need: The Pastel Book by Bill Creevy. I will attempt to follow along with the layout of the book and be here to offer tips and suggestions as you hone your skills!

Now, let's talk a little about the supplies you will need. Compared to materials required for painting with oil and watercolor, the list is short. This page will familiarize you with the basic requirements for beginning your painting experience using the pastel medium. Pastel has been my choice for more than thirty years. I may have one commissioned oil painting to forty nine pastel paintings! So pastel is what I have learned to know best. Emphasis here will be on the particular materials I've used to create the paintings shown.

Pastels fall into these categories: soft, hard, oil and pastel pencils. Since I have had little experience with the oil pastels, those will not be considered here.

INVEST IN THE LARGEST SET OF SOFT PASTELS YOU CAN AFFORD if you are serious about learning the medium! Otherwise, a small starter set will do. There's limited mixing of colors so you need many choices. Nothing hampers creativity more than not having the right color. Rembrandt is an excellent brand, medium in softness and moderately priced. Individual sticks can be purchased for replacement.

HARD PASTELS

In stick or pencil form, hard pastels can be applied alone or in combination with soft pastels. Nu-Pastel or Conte brands are easily found and very affordable. They are useful as drawing tools and for fine-line details. I begin my composition using the hard pastels, followed by the soft pastels. The hard sticks can be sharpened to a point with a single-edged razor blade or craft knife.

KNEADED ERASER

No gum erasers and no graphite or lead pencils please! You will never be able to cover those lines that were made with these pencils! Ask me how I know!

PASTEL PAPER

Pastel paper has tooth -- you know, those little crevices that grab and hold your pastel strokes and allows you to build up layers of colors. Right now use a tinted paper, not white! That stark white thing works havoc with our creativity! The classic French pastel paper, Canson MiTeintes, is my paper of choice. (See Techniques and Materials.)

PASTEL CLOTH

If you are new to pastel you will want to wait a while before using this as corrections are more difficult to make. Comes only in rolls. You cut to size and stretch over a wooden frame much like oil-painting canvas. It holds pastel very well, giving a very soft, "painterly" image. (See Apples, above, and Bronze Lady, below.)

MASONITE BOARD

Masonite at least 20" x 28". Using four BULLDOG CLIPS clamp to the board several sheets of paper for a padding. No newspaper please! The folds in newspaper will show through your pastel work and are impossible to cover or remove! I use three or four sheets of my pastel paper.

AN EASEL

It is better to stand while painting so you can step back frequently for a fresh evaluation.

Bronze Lady © By Mary Beatty

WORKABLE FIXATIVE SPRAY

To spray or not to spray? That is the question among pastel artists. A workable fixative is good to use between layers. But you can give your paper a few thumps with your thumb and middle finger to release loose pastel particles. This loosens the crevices in the paper allowing for more pastel to be applied. I don't spray my finished work, learned that the hard way too! Spray fixative lightens your dark colors and darkens your light tones. Flattens out all your colors.

SPOTLIGHT

One of those inexpensive clamp reflectors from the hardware store (or your hubby's tool shed) works fine. Use at least a 100 watt bulb.

A METAL YARDSTICK

Now, FINALLY, here are those six little magic words I promised to share that will turn you into an ARTIST:

PICK UP YOUR BRUSH AND PAINT!

In this case, Pick Up Your Pastel and Paint! Absolutely no other way to become an artist! We may buy up all those impressive coffee table art books, read dozens of how-two manuals, attend every art exhibit and lecture, purchase a room full of pricy art equipment.

All this does not an artist make!

We must throw ourselves into the actual hands-on thrilling labor of creating!

Now, don't you think this is enough to get us moving! Collect your pennies and gather your supplies. Pick up The Pastel Book or order it.

Check back soon, and I'll have more tips to help you get started on your road to becoming a real working WANNABE Pastelist!

Original Painting: Jean Joan, A Modern Mona Lisa

26" x 22"

Rembrandt Soft Pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Paper

This painting won Best of Show honors at a local Annual Art Exhibit
as well as a Regional Juried Exhibit.

Artist's Permanent Collection

Background Music: Visiting A Rainbow

Original midi by Jim Stark

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