Fearless Friday, Pastel Pot of Posies
A long time ago I was very interested in pastel painting and bought a large set of semi hard pastel sticks and a set of pastel pencils. I dabbled and played and did several paintings but somewhere along the way I lost interest and shoved them aside
I am truly self taught when it comes to pastels, it is a complex medium and I am only just beginning to learn through experimentation, books, and good ol’ You Tube videos
After back to back busy weekends, I am enjoying some down time at the beach this week, and decided to dabble with my pastels again
This is the perfect medium for painting on the porch because pastels are MESSY!
Lots of blue inspiration here…
If you can find a shady spot outside, you can breathe fresh air {pastel dust can be toxic} and let the dust blow away in the breeze
The oil painting I used as a model is Nasturtsiums in a Blue Ginger Jar by Jan Voerman, Sr. 1935
I have been watching pastel videos from Marla Baggetta and one of the first things I learned is that I need to try a different type paper or use a pastel board
See how the heavy texture of my paper prevents the pastel from going on evenly and adhering to the paper? This results in a lot of dust
Marla Baggetta says if you have quality paper and quality pastels your results will be noticeably obvious. She recommends a sanded paper or pastel board. I am anxious to try a different surface because I think the earlier frustration I had with pastels was related to the paper I was using
Then there is the great pastel controversy, to blend or not to blend
For this painting I blended the the first layers of color
blending dulls the pigment down and you will notice it changing tone significantly
Then I added fresh pastel over the blended areas to bring the vibrancy back
The thing I find exciting about pastel is how fast you can work and it’s so much fun to madly scribble and color
I am going to continue to read, watch and learn about this fascinating medium, and experiment with different paper
How do you feel about pastel?
Do you have any tips?
Do you like rough textured paper?
I can’t wait to try some smooth sanded paper or pastel board
“Pastel Pot of Posies” after Jan Voerman Sr., 10″ x 14″ pastel on paper
Try something new and Be Fearless!
🎨 🎨 🎨
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Dishing it & Digging it, Between Naps on the Porch,
Merry Monday Make it Pretty Monday Celebrate and Decorate,
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday
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I like the colors of the Pot of Posies! The blues are rich. You are so “free” with your art and this makes me want to try harder to be less “uptight” about my attempts at painting. Comparing my art to others is a major deterrent. I’m taking my watercolors on our trip to the mountains and perhaps I will be able to “free up” a bit!.
Thanks Ann, painting free and loose is much harder than people think, the more you paint your confidence will grow, which in turn will allow you to paint more freely…pretend you are in kindergarten and just have fun!
Lovely work! Before I became an Acrylic painter, Pastels was my medium! You just gave me a huge nostalgia trip about Pastels – I am self taught and I spent a good deal of time working in and dabbling around with Conte Pencil, NuPastels, CarbOthello (which I see you have up there in your picture!) Pan Pastels and also a little of the softer ones, Sennelier for instance. What I will say is that Pastels can be super expensive, so, if you are serious about them it is worth trying out just a few of a lot of different kinds, to find out what works for you and it is also worth trying out a lot of different papers and surfaces (there are many and some of them are HUGELY expensive) To me the more ‘toothy’ papers are really fun and get a good result – but, they do EAT pigment!! If you are interested, I could give you a link to the area of my blog when I was exploring all this good stuff, sounds like you might find it useful! Happy Friday!
thank you for all the info Hilda, much appreciated! I do follow your blog, I need to start commenting! I would love the link to your pastel posts, I had a lot of fun with the pot of posies, but when I started another painting of roses I got frustrated, the textured white paper is coming through everywhere, and it’s making me crazy! I am going to try a smoother surface next before I invest any more time or money…thanks again so much!
If you dig back into my posts around here https://wordpress.com/post/hilda5462.wordpress.com/133 and here https://wordpress.com/post/hilda5462.wordpress.com/1417 (not sure if this is the right way to link in the comments section??!! It should bring you to “January Experimentations” and “NuPastel Exploits”, both very full of my pastel trials and errors, as are a lot of my posts from the beginning of my blog to around that era! Hope you find them useful!
Thank you Hilda, I will look at them this weekend!!
Jenna, I love your pastel pot of posies. The colors are beautiful! Wishing you a wonderful weekend at the beach.
thanks Pam, but it’s back to the city today for baseball and ballet 🙂
Jenna….I loved the step by step you provided and I think the finished product is very good. It really does look like your model. I didn’t know pastels were so “picky” for lack of a better word.
Being at the beach has to bring you more inspiration and quiet time to work and study your craft. Now, you have an additional medium to further your wonderful talents. Have a great week end.
thanks Kari, pastels are a whole new world!
I love seeing the results of your study. How fulfilling to figure out the why’s about how things work.
Thanks for sharing things you are interested in and enjoy.
thank you Bonnie, I am determined to become a better pastelist!
Beautifully rendered Jenna, I’ve not used pastels much (the dust), but you are certainly making magic with them.
thanks Sharon, I have A LOT to learn, anxious to try a landscape next…
Nicely done Jenna! You truly are fearless and while I’m not an artist, I like your enthusiasm to stretch and reach beyond our norms, keeps life interesting. Thank you for the “push” to get out of the ruts we find ourselves in just because it’s easy. I am eager to see the difference the other paper will make. 😉
Beautiful work, Jenna!
thank you!
Jenna, your pastel work is beautiful! I do remember in art class in high school and used to love using pastels in the drawings. Have a great weekend! Hugs!
thanks Benita, have a super weekend!
I’ve tried pastels and never really bonded with them. Not the way I do with paint. Maybe it’s the colors or the paper. I say three cheers for self-taught. You have more motivation than I!
yes, I have a love hate relationship with pastels, but I do think with a smoother surface I will like them better, so I’m going to keep trying!
Jenna… you are fearless… Trying something out of your comfort zone and you conquered it! I enjoy seeing your artwork… it makes me think its time I get back to my wire wrapping!
thank you Nancy, what is wire wrapping?
Since we live in Arizona… we collect gorgeous rocks, minerals and gems. Sweet Man tumbles some and makes polished beauties. I take those and wrap them and turn them mostly into pendants. I wear many of them! I also have made some for hangings on wine bottles etc. I make about one a month… but need to make more.
I may do a post on it soon. And will think of you when I write it.
Happy Sunday!
Oh wow, that sounds wonderful, I know you’ve made some beautiful things, I would love to see some!
I love seeing your creativity bloom Jenna! ♥
Your pot of posies are beautiful, I love the blue!! 💙 I have dabbled a little in pastels. They are quite messy and require a fixative which can change the colors which I found frustrating… I am curious about the sanded paper. I will have to check out Hilda’s link as it sounds like she has some good tips! 🎨👍
I had a lot of fun doing this blue pot, but the next one I started got me frustrated again, I couldn’t ever cover the white texture of the paper completely so I’m anxious to try a smooth surface to get better blends…
This came out beautifully and I’m always interested in the process of creating art. Thank you for sharing with us at #omhgww
Thank you Alice!