Pastel

Painting with Pastel

Pastel painting, or something very close to it, is the most ancient technique used in art, but at the same time is one of the most modern.  That seems confusing until you examine that the earliest of cave drawings were done with charcoal sticks and earth elements. Cave drawings in France, Spain and South Africa (15,000 years old) show that early artists used earth pigments and burned bones for marking.  These are very primitive forms of the pastels we know today.  Modern artists select colors and textures of pastels ready-to-go, but the foundation of this type of material began thousands of years ago.  Today, pastel painting is considered on the same plane with oil painting and watercolor.

Fewer artists use pastels for painting than all other forms of painting.  There are multiple reasons why this is so.  Pastels suffer a reputation for being difficult to master, can be thought of as a type of crayon/chalk and thereby not suitable for “real” artists, present challenges when it comes to layering colors and selection of ground, and must be handled with more care at all stages of completion than that of oil, acrylic or watercolor.   Rubbing or smearing is easily done without vigilance and protection.  Rolling, along with the use of some type of slick, non-absorbent paper between the paintings, is wise at all times.

Described as “the most permanent of all media,” pastel will last centuries without deterioration if done on a proper base material and properly framed (under glass).  It has no liquid binder; therefore, there is little danger of any change in color, it won’t crack or peel and will not fade or yellow.  Examples of pastel paintings from the 16^th century look as fresh as when they were painted without any restoration.

Rumors of pastels having a low light tolerance are untrue.  They maintain their colors because they are pure pigment, without strong binders and without synthetic dyes.   There was a time when dyes were used, but it was determined that their permanence was inferior.  Today no such synthetics are used – just pure earth pigments.

As an opaque medium, pastel does challenge the artist when blending colors.  Too much of the dry material on the surface opens the opportunity for flake-off or slaking.  A gentle building of color is recommended rather than heavy applications of “powder,” since blending is most easily achieved with a gradual buildup of color.

Sticks (square and round) can be made into points for line designs and detail work.  This is easily accomplished by rubbing the tip to form a point.  With care, the dust removed can be added to the painting with fingertip or stump and gently worked into the surface along with other colors.

There are two schools of thought on ways to “hold” the particles on the surface of a pastel painting.  One is that no such hold is possible and that any added fixative dramatically and irreparably alters the painting.  Others think the change is acceptable and the value of the fixative is worth more than any alteration.  Each artist makes his/her own decision.

Certain safety thoughts should be kept in mind when working with a volatile, dusty material such as pastel.  Never eat or drink while working in pastel.  Clean your hands before leaving the studio or work area for a snack or meal.  Don’t blow across your work and breathe the dust.  The work area should be cleaned often, as the dust falls from the surface and collects around the artist.

Tips for success include:  Store your pastels in dry rice to keep them clean.  The rice is slightly abrasive and cleanses any stray color from each piece.  Blending tools can be made from old foam scraps and chamois.  Use a kneaded eraser formed to a point to pick up and highlight.  Avoid layering cool over warm or warm over cool to prevent “mud.”  Try to avoid overworking an area, as the paper loses its strength and may tear.

Some of the most famous pastel artists include Edgar Degas, Leonardo DaVinci, Auguste Renoir and Whistler.  Become a pastel artist and share something with these famous and dynamic artists!

Exhibition

Pastel Portraits:  Images of 18^th-Century Europe is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, through August 14.  It includes some 40 pastels that represent Italian, French and English works, supplemented by several German, Swiss and American examples.  Eighteenth-century pastels are brightly colored, highly finished, often of large dimensions and elaborately framed, evoking oil painting, the medium to which they were invariably compared.  The powdery texture of pastel and its diffuse, velvety quality were particularly suited to capturing the fleeting expressions that characterize the most life-like portraits.

Art Competitions

Small Matters of Great Importance:  Interior/Exterior
Edward Hopper House Art Center
Nyack, NY
Sept. 22 – Nov. 13
Deadline:  August 8

This 40^th anniversary “Year of Edward Hopper” presentation is open to all artists 18 and over and all media, including drawing, painting, photography, prints, mixed media, collage, computer art, video, wall relief and sculpture.  The theme is frequently represented in Hopper’s art, and works submitted should explore the interior/exterior relationship in an original way.  Selections will be made based on interpretation of theme, technique and originality.  $500 Award for Excellence plus additional cash and other prizes will be awarded. http://www.onlinejuriedshows.com/Default.aspx?OJSID=46.  845.358.0774.

2011 Adirondack Plein Air Festival
Saranac Lake ArtWorks
Saranac Lake, NY
August 18-21
Registration by Aug. 11 is $20; $25 afterwards.

Now in its third year, artists working in any appropriate media, including photography, are welcome to participate in this festival in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains.  The “Paint the Town” event on Aug. 18 is optional and artists can paint at any location within the village.  On Aug. 19-20 artists will be asked to paint at select locations, and on Aug. 21 participating artists may present three works at the Show & Sale that’s open to the public, and the awards juror will make his selections.  www.saranaclakeartworks.com/pleinair.htm.  518.891.1490.

Sculpture Exhibition 2011-2012
McKee Botanical Garden
Vero Beach, FL
Dec. 1 – April 30, 2012
Deadline:  August 15

In selecting entries for this exhibition, emphasis will be placed on artwork that reinvents common perceptions of trees, flowers, ponds, birds, sky and other natural garden elements.  Special consideration will be given to extremely large-scale sculptures that incorporate movement, light, sound or water.  Up to 50 sculptures will be selected for display and each artist will receive a $500 stipend upon receipt of sculpture, as well as the chance to win cash prizes for first, second, third and visitors’ choice awards.  www.mckeegarden.org.  772.794.0601.

Seuss Inspired Sculpture Competition
Abilene (TX) Cultural Affairs Council
Oct. 15 – Jul 31, 2012
Deadline:  Aug. 31

The Cultural Affairs Council is now accepting Seuss-inspired sculptures from professional and collegiate artists to be exhibited at indoor locations throughout Abilene and the Downtown Cultural District.  Selected works will also be featured during the Seuss-Fest in June of 2012.  Create a child-appropriate sculpture inspired by one of 10 specifically designated Dr. Seuss books.  Up to 10 winning pieces will be purchased by the Council, with purchase awards totaling $6,000. http://www.bigbendartscouncil.org/main/images/stories/Documents_and_Forms/Seuss_Call_For_Entries.pdf.  325.677.1161.

25^th Annual – Materials:  Hard & Soft
National Contemporary Craft Competition and Exhibition
Greater Denton Arts Council
Center for the Visual Arts, Meadows Gallery
Denton, TX
Feb. 3 – March 30, 2012
Deadline:  Sept. 9

Open to all artists residing in the U.S. or its possessions.  Works produced in any craft media—clay, fiber, glass, metal, paper, wood—or any combination of craft media are acceptable.  Entries must be the complete work of the submitting artist.  Kits or commercially designed works will not be accepted.  Awards total $5,000.  http://www.dentonarts.com.  940.382.2787.

Kids’ Korner

Fun Summer Projects

Want an instant and fun project for the summer?  Consider trying Ampersand Claybord Black.  It is a neat product that uses high quality hardboard backing onto which snow white clay is laid.  This layer is then covered with black to create a fast and easy surface in which to scratch.  Any sharp tool can be used:  push pin, darning needle, needle tool, fine metal crochet hook or even a nail – anything with a point.

The object is to scratch lines through the black layer into the white layer.  It’s like a negative drawing where the lines are white on black.  Any subject can be rendered on this surface and it has the added feature of being easy to “take along.”  If you are working on a drawing and need to leave – take it with you.  All you need is the board and your scratch tool.  This makes it perfect for travel and the materials can be easily tucked into a suitcase.

If you prefer a more active project, consider doing work in clay.  American Art Clay Company offers several types of clays, some in cool colors, made from safe, non-toxic materials.  Cloud Clay is super-light clay that is easy to form, comes in 10 bright colors and is great for ages 3+.  It air dries to keep your creations or you can simply rework the clay and reuse it.  Self-hardening clay comes in several types and will harden to a permanent form without heat of any kind.  It can be used for those special or more advanced clay projects.

Hand forming clay is easy and allows many youngsters to discover their creativity.  When given a ball of clay, kids can come up with some original and interesting “animals” – creatures from their imaginations - full of personality and fun.  Self-hardening clay will give them a more permanent material, so they can make and collect a full complement of creatures.

General Pencil Company’s Kimberly Classic watercolor pencils offer great color variety and are fun to use.  Drawings done with these pencils can be lightly dampened with a brush to blend and create washes.  There is endless fun with these versatile, rich, watercolor pencils.  To use them, you can either draw a complete sketch and then carefully use a wet brush to blend and join colors; or you can complete the drawing on paper that is slightly dampened.  The second of these options gives you darker colors, more pronounced lines and lets you create unique and dynamic drawings with both wet and dry areas where penciled colors have been added.  Great contrast and designs are possible.

For some unusual fun, create wearable art with a sprinkler, some crepe paper and a T-shirt.  Begin by putting on a plain white T-shirt.  Have a buddy wrap crepe paper around your torso.  Use two or three colors for a dramatic result.  Run into the sprinkler and get damp, but not soaked.  Sit still a short time to let the dye transfer into your shirt and then remove the paper strips and the shirt.  Hang to dry and then run it through the dryer to “set” the color.  Iron the colors for even longer color life.  While not permanent, the colors will look cool and rich the first few times you wear the shirt.  Wash in cold water and line dry.  Even the pastel shades left in after several light washings are cool looking.

Have a great summer and look for friends to share your art adventures.  More is better!

Museum Opportunities for Kids

Miami Art Museum, FL – Second Saturdays are free for families.  Scheduled for July 9 from 1-4 p.m. is “Wood You, Could You?”  Look for a very large artwork by Leonardo Drew in the upstairs galleries.  In the hands-on workshop, construct a wonderful wooden creation to take home.  www.miamiartmuseum.org.   305.375.5466.

Museum of Fine Arts-Houston, TX – This summer kids and families can become art detectives, investigating a new work of art each week in the galleries—looking carefully, uncovering details and thinking about the cool stuff you discover.  Each time you complete a case, you’ll earn a cue for your “Clue Book,” which you will use to guess the mystery work of art to be unveiled at the end of the summer—when all art detectives are eligible for a special prize drawing.  www.mfah.org.

Museum of Arts and Design, NYC – Summer Studio Sundays are fun intergenerational workshops inspired by the exhibition Otherworldly:  Optical Delusions and Small Realities.  Scheduled for July 24 is Personal D(io)RAMAS and for August 28 is Teeny Tiny Fantasy Scenarios with SYMA, from 2-4 p.m.  Fee includes admission and all materials.  No reservations required, but space is limited.  212.299.7780. http://www.madmuseum.org/events/studio-sundays-personal-dioramas

The Art Marketplace

Jack Richeson & Co. – New Painting Panels

The new Richeson Painting Panels are professional, high quality acrylic gesso panels on professional hardboard that offer beautiful beveled edges.  The Premium 1/8” Hardboard Panels are tempered, high-density smooth hardboard with a solid fiber core and are moisture resistant, so warping is eliminated.  These are available in 19 sizes from 4” x 4” to 24” x 36”.  The Gessoed 1/8” Hardboard Panels are tempered high-density smooth hardboard that has a soft tooth finish as well as excellent adhesive qualities.  These are available in the same 19 sizes.  The JRC 1/8” Hardboard Panels are untempered, versatile and economical.  Use them as a painting surface or tape down watercolor paper.  Choose from 17 sizes from 5” x 7” to 24” x 36”.  See your retailer and visit www.richesonart.com.

Schmincke – New MUSSINI Golds

Now you can replicate the works of the Old Masters with the richness of gold from seven new gold shades from MUSSINI.  These new colours complete the range of MUSSINI finest artists’ resin oil colours in 35ml tubes.  All are highly pigmented, extremely lightfast and opaque.  The colors include Warm Silver (Aluminum), Renaissance Gold, Antique Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold Bronze, Rose Gold and Copper; and they diversify from light yellow to a greenish tinge, from brownish to a reddish shade up to a copper and silver shade and thus complete the full gold palette in an impressive and colorful manner.  See your retailer and visit http://www.schmincke.de/startseite.html?&L=1.

Artist Homes

Cedar Grove – Thomas Cole Historic Site

Cedar Grove, the Thomas Cole Historic Site in Catskill, NY, is open for the 2011 season.  Admission to the grounds is free of charge; the Main House and Studio are open by guided tour and paid admission tickets can be purchased in the Visitor Center.  A series of guided hikes on the Hudson River School Art Trail are offered during the season (fee).  Featured is a new exhibition titled Robert S. Duncanson:  The Spiritual Striving of the Freeman’s Son, through Oct. 30.  This is the 8^th annual presentation of 19^th century landscape paintings at the Thomas Cole site, fostering a discussion of the influence of Cole on American culture through a generation of artists known as the Hudson River School. www.thomascole.org. 518.943.7465.

Airbrush

Helpful Hints/History for the Airbrush Artist

Disconnects—Pop ‘em On, Pop ‘em Off – Have you ever been in a situation where you wish you could easily switch an airbrush or a hose without having to unscrew it?  Well, yes, you can.  There are quick disconnects available that connect the airbrush, spray gun or air tool hose to the air hose and the air hose to the compressor.  These are available in different thread sizes to fit all models and makes.  This accessory enables you to remove either the airbrush or the hose quickly and with little effort.  There are male and female fittings in the connection that snap together to allow air to flow and then snap apart to stop it.  Remember, for the quick disconnects or any other air fitting for your airbrush or air source use Thread Sealant Tape on the threads as a preventive measure to insure that there are no air leaks.

Stenciling/Masking with Fabric – Some airbrush artists use fabric as a stenciling material to develop different special effects and textures.  For example, if you were to spray through a piece of lace, an exact image of that lace would appear.  Airbrush artists experiment with materials such as burlap, cheesecloth and ripped or cut cloth, etc., in the development of their paintings, illustrations or retouched photographs.  You can coat the back of fabric with replaceable spray adhesive for tight adhesion to the work surface.  You can also spray through fabric without using adhesive, thus allowing the fabric to flutter with the force of air, resulting in a soft edge.  Experiment with a variety of fabrics to see which effects you can utilize in your artwork.

Very Realistic! – In the 1960’s abstract painting was in the spotlight and then along came sharp focus realism.  Paintings in this realist style were almost realer than a photo and usually much larger.  (This was prior to the invention of giclee printing.)  Among many photo realist painters, the airbrush was a preferred tool. Artists such as Don Eddy, Audrey Flack and Chuck Close utilized the airbrush with its innate ability to mimic a photograph to paint subject matter ranging from gigantic portraits to still lifes in acrylics as well as oils. Today most galleries have examples of photo realist works; and in some galleries in SOHO and elsewhere you can see exhibits by these three artists.

ArtPourri

Blue Star Museums Program Launched – The second annual launch of Blue Star Museums has been announced.  This partnership with more than 1,300 museums across America offers free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families through Labor Day 2011.

New Park Section Open — The second section of New York City’s High Line, a highly successful public park built on an elevated railway (originally built in the 1930’s) has now opened to the public. The two-year-old High Line continually renews its public art programming.  New pieces this year include Julianne Swartz’s Digital Empathy, which delivers messages of empathy and love; Sarah Sze’s Behavior and Its Evidence, an elaborate sculpture that frames the pathways and allows visitors to enter and pass through the space it outlines; and the Trisha Brown Dance Company’s Roof Piece, a recreation of the seminal 1971 piece.

New Admission and More from The Met – The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC) has announced that effective July 1, for reasons of economic necessity, the price of museum admission will rise to a recommended $25 for adults, $17 for seniors and $12 for students.  This marks the first admissions increase in five years.—The Alexander McQueen:  Savage Beauty exhibition has been extended by one week to Aug. 7.  Tickets for special viewings on Mondays, when the Museum is closed to the public, are available. 

New Galleries Open – The Art Institute of Chicago’s superb collections of African art and Indian art of the Americas has returned to brand new galleries in the Museum’s lower Morton Wing.  This space presents an exciting range of forms and materials in a new light.  This world-class reinstallation includes special loans like the spider silk textile and video installations by filmmaker Susan Vogel.

—The newly designed European sculpture and decorative arts galleries in the North Pavilion at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA, are arranged according to period and theme, with different materials—including 2-D works of art—intermingled to visually and conceptually play off one another.  Each of the four galleries emphasizes a different type of collecting interest.

Auction News—Sotheby’s auction of American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture brought $27.1 million and was led by George Bellows’ Dock Builders at $3.89 million.

—At Christie’s, Maxfield Parrish’s monumental North Wall Panel (1928) sold for $2.8 million.

—Bonhams & Butterfields’ Made in California auction brought more than $2.3 million, including a stellar result for Milkshake & Sandwiches by legendary artist Wayne Thiebaud at $1.07 million.

—Swann Galleries set an auction record for the work of Mary Nimmo Moran, wife of famous Hudson River School artist Thomas Moran. Long Island Landscape, an 1880 oil on panel, was her first painting to appear at auction and sold for $64,800.

Museum Changes Schedule-–The Brooklyn Museum has announced it will enhance its Thursdays @ 7 programming this fall to better meet the needs of visitors who work during the day.  However, effective July 1, the Museum will no longer remain open until 10 p.m. every Friday, as a result of the challenging economic climate.

Stamp News – The U.S. Postal Service has welcomed Gregory Peck to its celebrated Legends of Hollywood stamp series with the issuance of a new Forever stamp honoring the Academy Award-winning actor.  Designed by Phil Jordan, it captures the pensive and stalwart lawyer Atticus Finch, who Peck played in the Oscar-winning movie, To Kill a Mockingbird.  The stamp portrait is a still photograph from the film.  And the new Purple Heart with Ribbon Forever stamp honors the sacrifices of the men and women of the U. S. military.  It features a photo taken by Ira Wexler of the medal awarded during WWII to 1st Lt. Arthur J. Rubin (1917-1978).

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 21, No. 9 — July 2011