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| Magnificent Malibu by Gerald Rahm, 2005, pastel painting, 16 x 20. |
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When I'm hiking or walking on the beach, my attention span
is really short. I flit from activity to activity, sight to sight, just trying
to take it all in. That's why pastel painting is a perfect fit for me when I
want to create art outdoors. I can work quickly and see results equally fast,
creating a pastel landscape painting in a short span of time. And I'm by no
means an expert in pastel drawing, but it is great for painting outdoors, and I
have a few tips for getting the most out of the medium and the experience if
you decide to sketch outside with them too.
Pastel painting is sort of a hybrid, blending methods of
drawing and painting. One of the drawing aspects of pastels that I have really
glommed on to is using all the available surface edges of the stick, just as
if it was charcoal. I start with the broad side, covering the expanse of my
surface with broad shapes and adding definition with the sharp edge or blunt
tip of the pastel.
When making a pastel drawing, I want to give myself options
when I'm in the midst of working. Techniques, like dusting, are best done with
my drawing surface in a horizontal position, so before I plant myself down to
work I try to think ahead about how I'll manage that if I decide I want to do
it. Though sometimes dusting is an effort in futility on a breezy day out by
the water!
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Hazy Sunset by Peter Adams, pastel painting, 12 x 16. |
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The most important of all the pastel painting
lessons I've learned or, let's face it, stumbled upon after much trial and
error, is to
use a testing strip. What I do to keep values true on any work is
to start with a larger piece of paper than I intend to use and mark off an area
on one edge to test my pastels before I use them. This is crucial because you
don't use a palette with pastels, so the testing strip is the only place you
can play around before putting color and marks down right on your final surface.
The rule with the testing strip is to put colors side by side—if there is a
distinct edge, you've got colors of different value, so try again. It's a rule
of thumb I've found has helped me a lot. Later on, I just cut the testing strip
away.
Really thinking on it, I realize that I enjoy pastels so
much because they combine vivid color and drawing—two of my favorite things
when I am creating art outdoors. But a pencil and sketchbook will always be
what I reach for first. That's why I've tried so hard to work on my drawing and
sketching skills of late. The Language of Drawing and Sketchbook for the Artist
have helped me on that road. Both are beautifully illustrated with tons of examples and the authors—Sherrie McGraw and Sarah Simblet—are artists I deeply respect and hope to learn from in person eventually. That's how much I've grown from their instruction. I hope you decide to do the same. Enjoy!
And if you want to conquer one of the more challenging
aspects of landscape drawing and painting-capturing light and shadow—download
our free eBook, Landscape Painting
Techniques: Painting Light and Shadow in Your Landscape Art.