Produce Vendor, 8x10" pastel, Diane Mannion
Renewed Obsession
Haven't used pastels in a few years so I'm approaching it with a beginner's mind. I've been watching all the Youtube pastel videos, rereading my pastel books, ordering more, and peeking over the shoulders of a few artist friends that are brilliant with this medium.
I began using pastels in high school a hundred or so years ago. Made enough by doing portraits to buy my mom a puppy. But as an illustrator, no one would touch them! And a few years ago worked with them for a while, but galleries didn't (and still don't) want anything under glass. So my main focus is oil, and of course I love it.
Lately, I've decided to do more field studies for studio paintings, drawing with pastel on location. But this morning, one of my plein air groups met at the local farmer's market… not my favorite place to sketch or paint! I hurried through clicking random photos with my iPhone, instead. Depressed because my favorite doughnut vendor wasn't there, but delighted later to find a goldmine of reference photos on my phone, many taken quite by accident!
A wonderful shot of the produce vendor was in behind something else I had focused on. Zoomed in and was dazzled by the brilliant sun contrasted with the figure's dark shape. Oh, joy!
Thumbnail sketch
Charcoal pencil on smooth side of gray Canson Mi-Teintes which I lightly sanded with fine sandpaper.
Roughed in local color with NuPastels
Blended to my hearts content with a piece of plastic pipe insulation.
Here's the final after using mostly NuPastels then topping with Sennelier soft pastels.
Treated myself to this new set!
Ahhhh…. color like candy! Sweet!
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