Pastels: Get You Hands Dirty

The past two weeks at the Assisted Living Center, where I am volunteering, we worked with pastels.

I sat and drew with them rather than teaching.

The first week, I took an assortment of old pastels and let everyone just choose a few out of the box. I sat at the table and drew with them, rather than attempt to teach. It was more fun for me and they just did their own thing, asking questions when they needed to. I realized quickly that I didn't have enough stuff when they started to ask for specific colors, including black and white, and something with a smaller point for details.

Although many pastel artists never pick up a pure black or white stick and they don't paint every detail, I didn't think it was the time to tell these folks any of this!

They had to use these in place of black and white

 I dug around in the box for the darkest and lightest thing I could find and they had to make do. As for details, they had to use the pointed corners of the square sticks.

The other mistake I made was including some soft pastels in the mix. Way too messy! Everyone was clamoring for paper towels and I had to run around the halls looking for someone to find some and dampen them for me.

I decided to go back to watercolors the next week, until the Activity Director told me how excited they were about working with pastels. One lady who had moved in recently was thrilled with her drawing and had a good day, which is something to cherish in this situation. Good thing I got that piece of news before the next class!

We needed more colors so I took this box to class the next week.

The following week I filled a bigger box with more colored sticks and a box of pastel pencils for details. I took out the messier soft pastel and added wet wipes for our hands to my gear. It was a hit again. People left the room telling everyone they met in the hall how much they loved pastels.

Pastel pencils for the details.

Next week they will wear their oldest clothes, those who watched from the sideline may join in and I will bring wax paper to cover the masterpieces. Each time is a lesson for them and for me.

The Four Planes

After a three day outdoor landscape painting workshop with D. Eleinne Basa, my friend and I headed to Kure Beach to create some plein air paintings for the annual Painting North Carolina show at Germanton Gallery.

 I had taken Eleinne's workshop two years ago, but I managed to retain a lot more this time. She presents a wealth of info and refers often to Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting by John F. Carlson which is a great reference.

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, 1958

One of the princples he adheres to and that Eleinne emphasized in her teaching is the four planes of the landscape. To create a believable landscape, the following value relationship should be retained. The four planes, from darkest to lightest, are uprights (trees), slanted planes (mountains), ground/water, and sky. 

The sky is lightest because it is the source of the light, the other three are based on their angle to that light source. Possible exceptions are snowy ground and man made structures. I finally understand this!

A second truth is that to create depth in the scene, you must lighten and cool the colors that are in the distance and warm those closer to you. Often the scene you are viewing while painting will not follow these guidelines. Photographs are even less likely to conform. 

That is why we need an artist. The artist must create this relationship in the work to make a believable painting.

Here is a photo I took before I began to paint in case I might need it as a reference later. Notice how the trees in the distance look almost as dark as the trees in front and almost everything in the photo is too dark?

Photo taken before beginning to paint.

To paint this piece, I had to lighten and cool the trees in the distance by making them more bluish. The ground plane had to be lightened and made warmer. I exaggerated the angle of the trees to emphasize their attraction to each other and left out the distracting yellow gate to make sure the tree on the right got most of the attention.

The finished painting. Opposite Attraction.

I now need to practice so it becomes second nature when I go out to paint.