Playing with Pastels

Playing with Pastels: Crowd Pleaser : Fearful of adding people to your painting? "Runnin' with the Crowd", pastel, 6x6" I had always felt intimidated about adding figures to my paintings. But in Tony Allain 's workshop this summer I learned some easy tips to make it look easy. Reasons to add figures to your paintings... When you add people to your landscape paintings you give the piece more of a sense of proportion People add to the "story" and emotion of the painting

Fearful of adding people to your painting? "Runnin' with the Crowd", pastel, 6x6" I had always felt intimidated about adding figures to my paintings. But in Tony Allain 's workshop this summer I learned some easy tips to make it look easy. Reasons to add figures to your paintings... When you add people to your landscape paintings you give the piece more of a sense of proportion People add to the "story" and emotion of the painting It's not as hard as you might think! This week in class I will be sharing some of tricks and tips! Have fun playing with your pastels! Judy

Playing with Pastels: Scribbling Like a Two Year Old : "Let the Wetlands Stand", pastel, 6x6" I regressed to a two year old at the workshop I attended last week! Robert Ca...

"Let the Wetlands Stand", pastel, 6x6" I regressed to a two year old at the workshop I attended last week! Robert Carsten led the workshop with enthusiasm, kindness and humor. He is the most wonderful teacher and I have to say, I tried many new things during the four days of painting at the Landgrove Inn , in Landgrove, VT.  I met so many wonderful artists (and ate way too many wonderful meals!) I pass by this spot near my home frequently and I have painted it before, but I never tried this crazy under-painting technique... First we did an under-painting using a light layer of pastel brushed over with rubbing alcohol. We kept close attention to values but used colors very different from the local colors of our scene. Then we randomly scribbled all over the painting with pastels until our original under-painting nearly disappeared. We were to pick any pretty colors we were drawn to and we scribbled with the abandon and joy of a two year old! Here i

Playing with Pastels: Being Open to Failure... : "Open to Everything", pastel, 14x11" I asked my students to do something new. Even though they didn't have to try...

"Open to Everything", pastel, 14x11" I asked my students to do something new. Even though they didn't have to try it, every single one of them did. When you try something new you have to be willing to fail, knowing that you will learn from it... Under-painting I thought I would try the same thing myself at home in my studio. I started out with a charcoal under-painting and began adding color. What started out ok, quickly became a mess! I was so frustrated! I washed the pastel off the pastel board, hoping to start again. I realized that I needed to add tooth to the surface so I painted a coat of clear Gesso over the ruined painting and walked away from it for a few days. I really felt discouraged! I don't usually like working on "homemade" surfaces and I wasn't looking forward to trying to save my mistake! The time away from it helped and I was able to return to my "failure" and create something that I like. I liked the

Playing with Pastels: Good Impressions : "Second Nature", pastel, 6x6" Learning to paint in an impressionistic  manner can be harder than you think. Somehow we ...

"Second Nature", pastel, 6x6" Learning to paint in an impressionistic  manner can be harder than you think. Somehow we find ourselves wanting to paint every blade of grass and twig that we see! Details seem to cray out to be put down!   It helps to focus on a few things...   Squint! Try to find 3 to 5 big shapes in the scene you are looking at Use broad strokes We will explore this more in class this week! Judy

"You'll Never Walk Alone", pastel, 6x6" I had a wonderful time trying my hand at more abstraction in my work at the CPS workshop taught by Tony Allain. Learning to see big shapes, loosen up and be bold and confidant with my strokes was a challenge! The painting to the left is one of the small studies I did incorporating figures into the landscape. Tony had some great tips which I will share with my students. I have so many ideas for explorations and exercises spinning around in my head! Classes start again this Friday and I am looking forward to having some fun with my students.

"Home to a Taste of Summer" "Home to a Taste of Summer" is the third in my series of empty vessels. Each subject speaks to a promise of future inhabitants. All of them have been clear glass objects... a challenge that I am finding really enjoyable. I have included the title within the painting, though I have tried to make it hard to see at first. This is the last week of the "Theme & Variation" series of classes. I hope you will join me in July for the next one! Judy Abstract Impressions... Learning to Simplify! July 10th to August 21st  (No class on 8/14) Six sessions - $240 Northlight Art Center , Amenia, NY Learn to create a more abstract impression of life, whether it be a still life, figurative or landscape painting. Various artists will be studied and many techniques will be explored. Choose your own subjects or use ideas provided. Loosen up and have fun! Contact me at 860-364-0477 or at judyalbright@snet.