 |
 |
gallery of
~Imagination~
Wannabe Artists
BEGIN HERE!
|
|
|
Hi!
Blessings to all you Wannabes!
Welcome back!
LET'S QUICKLY CHECK OFF THAT SUPPLY LIST TOGETHER:
You have your easel set up. Tip: Always place your easel on a large towel, a piece of plastic, or washable throw rug. Pastel work is messy!
Masonite support board, placed on your easel at eye level, padded with a few sheets of paper, your sheet of Canson paper clamped on top. Tip: Which side of the paper to use? Contrary to what some artists may recommend, I always use the soft side of the paper. Look closely, you'll see a readable watermark embossed along one edge. Use the opposite side. It holds more pastel and you don't have to put up with those distracting "window screen" markings on the wire side.
Soft pastels -- hopefully, a set of 50, but a bare minimum of a 24 piece starter set.
Hard pastels, small set.
Pastel pencil or hard pastel stick sharpened to a point for sketching, and a single edge razor blade or craft knife.
Kneaded eraser. A roll of inexpensive paper towels, rags, or Handy Wipes.
You need a small table to the side where you can place your supplies. Find a small tray and cushion it with a couple white paper towels. Tip: As you use a pastel stick place it on this tray until you're ready to reach for it again. This is a great way to keep track of all the colors you have used on a single painting. Of course when the painting is finished, be a Neat Nick and wipe each pastel stick off and return it to its home in the carton! "Do as I Say, Not as I Do!" I have developed a totally different way of grouping and storing my pastels. More about that a little later.
Hands clean? Open your book. The Pastel Book by Bill Creevy. Here's where you are on your own for a while. I hope you have already browsed through the entire book and figuratively "drooled" over some of the pages!
Spend as much time as you can doing these exercises! A good painting begins with much thought and planning and a thorough knowledge of your medium. That comes only from practice and experimentation. No one else can do this for you! Spend several days practicing! Replace your practice sheet with a fresh one and we'll be ready to start!
WHAT SHALL I PAINT?
Start out with something simple, such as the fruit I have shown on this page. A fruit theme painting is great to frame and hang in your kitchen in a prominent place -- to modestly boast about! We'll talk a little later about matting and framing your pastel masterpiece!
Ready now? OK, hand over heart, face the east, and repeat after me:
"I AM a Wannabe Artist and I am a channel for God's creativity! My dreams and aspirations come from God and He has the power to accomplish them. Through the use of a few simple tools, my creativity will flourish. Through the use of my creativity I serve God. I AM a serious beginning Pastelist! God has..." I am desperate to be an artist!
Oh, well, you didn't really have to fall on your knees like that! But that's not a bad idea either! Tip: I breathe a prayer for inspiration and direction as I prepare for each commissioned painting. Sometimes I pray all through the thing! Like the time my subject was a black-frocked, pock-nosed, giant of a Judge who, decades ago, lost his charm in legal chambers, sat down on the modeling stand belching, "Paint me warts and all!" Can you imagine such a Happy Retirement Portrait, gifted by the Bar Association, gracing Superior Court? Oh, yes! Learning to paint STILL LIFE (and prayer) helps to prepare you for many challenges!
Anyway, let's start now with a less grandiose subject and reserve these thrills for a few years down the road of experience! What to paint? Tip: For budding Wannabes, think K.I.S.S. - you know, Keep It Simple, Silly! Works quite well when deciding what to paint!
You have my blessing to copy the Plums and Peaches, shown above. Print these pages to use for reference if you like and keep them with your pastels. It is perfectly permissible to launch your way into Pasteldom by copying! We have to start somewhere. But only for a short time! Don't be caught two months from now still using that crutch! You want to express yourself as an artist, and you are more courageous and creative than that!
Should you be a Wannabe Artist who is a little more advanced in the use of pastels, set up a few objects you love that will inspire you! Or raid your refrigerator for fruit or veggies. (See Pears, on sanded pastel canvas, below.) The choices are endless!
In summertime, grab up that ripe watermelon your family thinks is for lunch! Cut it in half lengthwise and...no, no! Not right now! That's called procrastinating! I promise, you will forget all about food after you get your painting started! Tip: Just imagine the weight we can lose by painting instead of eating! And what a unique diet to discuss with your friends!
WHAT SIZE PAINTING SHALL WE CONSIDER?
|
|
Pears © By Mary Beatty
Nothing real small now! Tip: Tiny paintings make us feel all tense and uptight, and scrunch-mouthed -- and stingy with our colors! Let's leave room for expanding the subject as your imagination stretches! The page can be cut down after you are finished, should you decide. And you may use the scrap for practicing your strokes.
So with your pastel pencil very lightly mark off roughly 12" x 14" boundary in the center of your paper just to help visualize your fruit placement. Tip: You may want to erase this line later, so remember, keep the mark very light -- and no lead or graphite pencil!
Now as you progress with your first painting, if you don't remember anything else, listen! DO NOT BLOW those loose pastel particles off your paper! One fine day you'll blow, and... uh oh, there go those creative juices all over that masterpiece! DON'T ask me how I know!
Original
Pastel Paintings: Plums and Homegrown Peaches
© By Mary Beatty
Background Music: Lady In My Dream
Original midi by Jim Stark
