Friday, June 21, 2013

Whatever Works

"Heron Lake Loop Trail, 18 x 24, pastel on Mi-Tenets Touch board.
 
I posted this painting on face book the other day and someone asked "What kind of  pastels did I use? Sticks or pencils?" The answer to that question opened up a topic I would  like to talk about. A few years ago, I was inspired to break away from the traditional confined way of painting with pastels as I knew it. I started adding all kinds of mediums I hadn't used before such as Prismacolor pencils, vegetable oil right from my kitchen, hairspray, alcohol, water color and probably some other ingredients all applied with my fingers or a brush or whatever. My students at the time and I committed to paint this way experimenting as I was doing each in their own way experimenting as they saw fit. No limits and no restrictions. Here are a few of my works resulting from this experimentation.
 
"Sometime in Spring", 12 x 16, pastel on sanded mat board.
 
"It Started With Pink", 9 x 12, pastel on sanded paper.
 
"Into My Gourds", 8 x 11, pastel on pastelbord.
 
In reflection, I have to say that this was a turning point for me. It opened up boundaries and set me free and it changed my way of thinking and my painting process. I haven't looked back since.
By the way, in answer to the question asked me on face book about whether I used sticks or pencils. I answered in part with this photo I took of what I used on this painting.
 
 
 
 


 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 

4 comments:

  1. My favorite is "Sometime in Spring". Awesome work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. this painting is one of my favorites.

      Delete
  2. WONDERFUL WORK, Anita!! It's always nice to see how other pastel artists work ! When I work with sanded paper, I apply alcohol after putting down my pastels...it gives it such a nice effect. Thank you for a very informative post.

    ReplyDelete