challenge CHATTER - 2012

EVERYONE:   I posted some questions about Pastels I sure hope someone comes forward with some suggestions....

Geri:  very nice graphite rendering of your frog escaping a bass or carp....  good job...

-Fred-

Your mountains are very very nice! The values you have in them are so good it seems as though you painted them somewhere in Arizona during the afternoon light.

Marsha, I didn't respond to your pastel questions since Jen is more expert than I am.  You don't want to work with chalk since it doesn't have the pigment that soft pastels have.  Regarding soft pastels, I like the Nu pastels by Prismacolor the best for the drawing and the first layers since they are harder.  The Sennelier are very soft and good for subsequent layers.

A good paper for soft pastels is Canson Mi-Tientes- textured side.

I also like the PanPastels which come in little round containers like pan makeup.  You use sponges of various sizes and shapes to apply the pastels.  These are not as messy and you won't have near the colored dust afterward.  They have an excellent Website with video demos.  Do a Goggle search for Pan Pastel demos.

I use pastel pencils for very detailed work like eyelashes or fine lines. I would not enjoy trying to create an entire painting with them.

Oil pastels are an entirely different ballgame.  They are oil in stick form and working with them is like working with lipstick.  You apply the colors to your support and then blend with rubber tools or your fingers.  They are quite vibrant and beautiful although many people find them difficult to work with.

Colorfix is a good paper although it is expensive.  You can apply clear gesso to a piece of watercolor paper and smooth it with a foam/sponge roller to make it smooth.  This will create a nice texture to give you the tooth you need.  You can do an underpainting with acrylic and then apply the clear gesso.

Good luck.

  

Wetpaperfan, I wasn't going to write back because I am new at art/painting and all, but I do buy a set of MUNGVO soft Pastels and for me they work great.  I used CANSON paper made for pastel with a old watercolour brush but remember you most likely know more than me about paper and pastels.  

Marsha, thanks for the cc's about my trees and grass.  I wish you would add a little more about my touch technique not sure what you mean but I really really would like to know.  thanks again

Here is the finish picture of my trees 

Made a mess of it so don't blow it up but from far away it looks ok...........................I am throwing it out!!

Marsha sorry I didn't reply but I have a Curly person who has taken over my iPad! You are all so prolific at the moment I can't keep up with you! So welcome newbies and well done everyone!! As Sammy told you there are two kinds of pastels soft which is what I use and oil pastel which is what Holly and Sandi use. I prefer the soft for myself. There are various levels of softeness to soft pastels. Nupastels are the hardest and what my teacher started me with on Canson paper (smooth side) Canson is cheap but can't take many layers but is good for practice and many people love it. The softer pastels use up a lot of tooth so if you use them on Canson just use them lightly in the latter stages. Rembrant pastels are a good work horse pastel and are between hard and soft and work well with nupastels. The half sets are good and reasonably priced. The soft pastels are more expensive and some are really soft you just touch them to the paper. Soft are Terry Ludwig, great American, sneliers and more. The best way to get to see what you actually like is to get a sampler of all types from Dick Blick. I like the sanded papers like Wallis and Uart as they hold more tooth. Pastel Talk on Wet Canvas has some really good articles on using pastels including a long one " titled how to get started in pastels". As Sammy said you can get colourfix sanded primer mix to put on water colour paper but you might do better trying Canson paper. You can do WC underpainting on the sanded paper and then go over with the pastels. Or you can lightly put on an under base with pastels and use water or alcohol to paint and seal the pastel as an underpainting.then go over with pastels. One thng you cannot do is mix soft and oil pastels. This will just make a big mess!! The powdered Pan Pastels are great for skies and underpainting and come with sponge applicators like painting with a brush. Many people paint whole paintings with them there is a huge article on pan pastels in WC Pastel Talk. Best thing to do is try what you can do with them. Try different strokes and presures. There is a learning curve and I am still learning. Look on tube for some pastel demos. Hope this helps!!

 For Joyce.

No No! Don't throw anything out unless it's something your kids could use as a reason to put you in a home! lol. Really. I save almost everything and I plan on either going back once I've learned some more skills or cut out the bad parts and make a cool mixed media picture with the good parts. I was trying to learn how to paint a Brown Trout and have probably close to 50 rejects that I'm going to cut up and use for an abstract piece.  I like this picture, especially the white birch trees.

I have an orchid blooming and I was sitting there this morning doing my underpainting of it when I noticed that my dog Stella looked like she had gone insane since the last time I looked at her. Her ears were really sticking out crazy like that and she looked all dreamy or something.  As you can see on the left she has a very nice chew bone. The dirty looking thing in front of her is a rotten potato she snuck in from the compost bin. :)  Of course I had to draw her. I have a lot of pictures I've done of her and I'm going to make a mixed media work of her using all of them.

Hey All - Have been absent for several weeks on the site - Have been keeping up via email though - LOTS OF GREAT POSTS!!!! 

Oh Joyce please don't throw it out.   I really like it,   hold it up to the first one you posted and you can see how far you have come. 

you added the darks to the undergrowth in the far distance and made that area pop.  great!

you darkened the cast shadow and that made it feel like you are really there,  Next time you add a shadow cast through water make the water wiggle with the shadow.

Your rocks rock!  The darkside of the trees are done really well.  the color in the water is really good and makes it look as though it is moving.  good job

What I meant by your touch was:  when I zoomed into it to see how you were applying your strokes I noticed you have a more, sort of, stipple effect and that is your very own technique and I applaud it.  To do that with watercolor and still come up with an end result is very hard to do.   Oil and acrylic can be done that way and usually is, in it's un-liquified form, you did it with water...  really good job.  its your own and I personally like it.  I like the dark tree and the gentle touches you used on it.

I think this is worth a signature and a to be kept.   after you have done a few more you will want to bring it out to see just how far you have come.  

kuddo's to you Joyce.

JEN:  Thank you for taking the special time to explain all of this to me.   I really really appreciate it.  I will look into going to Blicks and picking up some samples as suggested.  I had heard that Sennielier was the best choice.  I picked up some pastels before I asked the question and picked up oil pastels and wowl   are they difficult.  The pans sound like some fun. I didn't realize there were degrees of softness. I don't think I would like the chalky ones, I don't like the mess.  thanks again   Have fun with the Curly one and cant' wait to hear about the newbie... 

SAM: I appreciated your advice as well and will take all into consideration  The paper selection help as well.   I didn't realize how difficult pastels were when you have to consider the paper prep and all.  What are good pastel pencils.   are Conte good?

Joyce:  Thank you as well for your help  I have never used Pastels, Ever, and just thought I would give it a try to see If I can do it.  

Has anyone used Holbein Pastels?  There wc paints are nice.

Jen, what brand gives the best colour?  (I'm talking about pastels).  The only art store here is Michael's and they would not let me try them out before I buy.  I can order online but if I do that I would like some with deeper richer colour.