Where are all the pastel painters?

Barbara A. Lewis wrote

on 16 Jun 2009 7:26 AM

I know you didn’t put your pastels away, so where are your posts? I will be doing a copper teapot this weekend - metal is a challenge. Any pointers? Let’s see your pastels

Tegan2 wrote

on 20 Jun 2009 11:24 AM

HI , well, I did not put my pastels away, just got sidetracked by cherries and flowers, I am going to try an upload a picture here, as for the silver goblet, I started over so am still in the middle of it. Hope the copper teapot goes well, One thing I did learn is that since I have to watch my pennies right now, I took a medium gray pastel andground it up along with a medium blue pastel and then mixed them together ( dry) in jar to get the base colour of the silver. that way I could add more or less of each colour to get the exact shdae I wanted. it might be worth a shot for the copper too!

donna

Barbara A. Lewis wrote

on 22 Jun 2009 7:21 AM

Hi Tegan, thanks for responding. I was beginning to think this forum had gone to sleep! I am also watching pennies too, so I like your idea of mixing pastels. I have to get some copper polish for my teapot. It had been kept in my friend’s garage for some time, so it is tarnished. I will pair it up with a little silver vase and try drawing them this coming week. Looking forward to seeing your picture too.

Robin11 wrote

on 12 Jul 2009 2:14 PM

that's a great idea, it's one of the things I don't like about pastels, feeling like I had to have EVERY shade.  How do you then apply the pastel to the paper?  Brush or something else?

Barbara A. Lewis wrote

on 13 Jul 2009 11:46 AM

I can’t answer for Tegan, Robin, but recently when I subscribed to the Pastel Journal they sent me a sample of loose pastels and it came with foam-tipped “cosmetic” type applicators. I would assume you apply the loose pastels with something like that or a blending tool or heck, your fingers. I would wear finger cots though instead of handling raw pigment. I am old school and still sometimes will blend with my fingers “au natural” although I know that I shouldn’t.

Anyway, I haven’t started on that teapot pic yet - been too busy working overtime on my regular job and tired when I get home. Hopefully I can get started back on my art this week - I have lots of projects started!

Tegan2 wrote

on 13 Jul 2009 8:17 PM

Hi robin, I usually use a small hog's bristle bright or my fingers depending if the paper has a lot of grit or not whatever you do don't use your fingers to blend on wallis paper as they will end up bleeding very rapidly Ouch!. Wildhawk had a good idea too to use a foam applicator, I will do that I buy cheap makeup applicators sometimes and use them for tight areas. gotta get back into painting again here soon been working a bit more then usual .Donna

DianeC14 wrote

on 12 Oct 2009 12:43 PM

Hi Barbara:

I'm new to this forum and I noticed your posting of over four months ago.  I just intro'd myself on the welcome section and I assume someone will see it sooner or later.  This isn't a very active forum and, there are other pastel forums you can try if you want someone to reply within a few hours or a day instead of weeks and months.  Email me at diamond@vnet.net and I can send you information on at least one.

Hopefully, the traffic here will pick up but the site here has problem.  When I hit reply to your post I almost had the option of putting a picture with this posting but it was taken away and I can only leave a message, so that is a bummer.

Anyway, I went to your website and I enjoyed looking at your paintings, especially the horses, you really have a talent for painting animals.

Sincerely,

Diane

http://www.artwanted.com/dianecaudle

DianeC14 wrote

on 23 Dec 2009 7:08 PM

Well, it's been over two months since I posted the above post...no replies on here...of course, but I did get an automated reply from Artistdaily saying that the above post had been approved.  Well, that's a relief I'd hate to think that it'd been on here for two months in vain!  I think this is the only posting I've made and since few people seem to come here I guess nothing is lost or gained.  Well, at least ArtistDaily writes to me daily, too bad they don't pay as much attention to their forum!

Diane

Tom Perry wrote

on 23 Dec 2009 10:27 PM

Here's what I use to paint with "dirt"   lol   Three pics from left to right in order

.

Across the top from left to right: Arista Frescol by Binney & Smith (and you thought pan pastels were new), Gallery Pastels set of 24 basic colors, Mungyo Soft Pastels - 64 half sticks, Maries 50 colors.

Second row:: Set of 90 Derwent pastel pencils with a sample set of their hard sticks.

Third row; Gallery Soft Pastels 12 earth tones, Gallery Soft Pastels 12 (charcoal), Gallery Soft Pastels12 grey tones, Grumbacher 12 neutral Gamma Gray Layout and TV Chalks, 72 Grumbacher Golden Palette Pastels (sort of like nupastel only older and better)

Last Row: Set of 40 Sennelier Half Sticks, Assorted Conte Crayons, Set of 48 Conte pastel pencils and assorted colors from an older set. the older set has the black ends.

The third photo is a full set of Art Spectrum Pastels With other brands added. Most of the Art Spectrum have two tints and two shades + full strength natural color. You see them here light to dark. There is an older set of Rembrants, Sargents, and Grumbacher plus several other brands in the mix, all arranged to the same values as the Art Spectrum.

I sure wish I had the talent to put these to better use, but I'm workin' on it and havin' fun.

I've actually been advised to take these pictures for insurance purposes on advice of my insurance rep.

These are older pictures.  I now have several more full sets of pastel pencils.  More Conte Crayons (48 colors) and several more Pastels in sets and from store stock.

I live 20 minutes from Jerry's Artorama and take advantage of close outs and sales.

How did your copper pot come out?

I've uploaded several of my works but not many comments.  I paint abstracts for the most part but have uploaded some realistic paintings to show I can do them if I try.  When doing realistic art I find it difficult to get past the "yuck" stage.

Barbara A. Lewis wrote

on 24 Dec 2009 12:49 AM

I am so sorry that I did not get back to you sooner - I wrote you an email. I am thrilled that you have joined us!! Your work is outstanding and I am looking forward to hearing more from you. Thanks for the kick in the pants - I needed that.

Barbara A. Lewis wrote

on 24 Dec 2009 12:52 AM

Tom,

Impressive array of pastels!! I wish I was that organized and had some of those in my collection! Great idea also to take photos for the insurance company - I need to do that as well. I mostly work with Conte, Nupastel, Rembrandt and Carré (no longer available). I have been working in acrylics that last couple of months, but will be getting back into pastels in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to seeing more of your work - thanks for posting!

DianeC14 wrote

on 24 Dec 2009 6:13 AM

Hi Barbara;

I really wasn't aiming my post at you specifically but at the lack of responses in general.  I see now that the forum here sort of moves along at its own pace.  However, thank you for your welcome and your nice words about my paintings.  I look forward to more posts here in the forum in the future.

Diane

Angela Farmer wrote

on 27 Dec 2009 7:45 AM

I'm fairly new to the site and have just begun exploring the forums.  I'm glad to have found this one!  I posted to the gallery hoping to get input on my work but realize this is the place to get valuable input.  Here is my first 'commission' piece.

I used a few photos to put together the drawing/painting (what term do you use?  I've heard both terms used with pastels) for a co-worker.

Barbara A. Lewis wrote

on 27 Dec 2009 1:17 PM

Hello Angela and welcome to the website and the pastel forum! Very nice work!! I had always considered pastels drawing in the past - I guess because I used Conte pastel pencils almost exclusively to render my pieces. But I have decided after speaking with so many pastelists that they are indeed paintings! I now use a combination of stick pastels - Rembrandt, Nupastel and Carré pastels in addition to the Conte pencils.

It is always a challenge to work from multiple images, but you have pulled the composition together nicely. And bravo for being commissioned - I am sure that the client loved it! Looking forward to seeing more of your work too!

DonnaA@3 wrote

on 4 Jan 2010 1:07 PM

I would like to get into pastels.  I am looking for a mentor to help me in this media.  I'm looking good tutorial to help me.