Pastels

As a pastelist, I incorporate drawing and color to achieve a painterly image.  I like the immediacy of pastel because I can express the substance of my subject quickly, and respond directly to the qualities of light, color, and form. Painting en plein air is the best way to understand the nature of color, learn how to work quickly, and to design good compositions.  Painting outdoors, I embrace the challenge of coordinating mind, heart, eye, and hand to grasp the subject. Here in the elements, I learn to see what's right in front of me.

I began doing pastels in the late 1970s. I use a combination of soft and hard pastels, including Conte’, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Ludwig, Schminke, Unison, and Roche. I mostly use Wallis sanded pastel paper, usually tinted with a Burnt Sienna watercolor wash or hard pastel.  I occasionally use Canson pastel paper, or printmaking papers like Arches or Rives BFK as well. 

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