Pastels!

Window, Twilight

Early Morning Fog

oil pastel

12" x 18" paper size

Marks can be very important elements in pastel drawings. Pastel paper usually comes with a tooth; the colored sticks drag across the surface in a particular way, clinging mainly to the raised surface. I don't like too bumpy a tooth, in fact, the paper I use is fairly smooth. I tend to have a heavy hand, layering the material thickly, but not completely evenly throughout the picture. Some areas have less, allowing for density changes expressing weight, air, the edges/solidity of things. The scale of these marks, their delivery, and the decision of what to make solid are some of the issues in this medium.

I never use chalk pastels because some of the pigments are carcinogens and the dust makes for easy exposure. Oil pastels bind the pigments tightly; gloves are all that's needed. I prefer Holbein oil pastels. Sennelier are beautiful, but they positively melt (not quite as much as R&F paintsticks, though, yummy as they are). Holbein are buttery, precious (vibrant, rich colors don't come cheap), but hold their form. I like them more than jewelry. Odion Redon probably thought his chalk pastels were jewel-like. He is much admired for his "crushed color".

This post is fairly techie for me, so let me say something about the works in particular. Window, Twilight is the view from my studio, tree tops as the sun is almost down. Early Morning Fog is my reward for excercising before the birds are awake. The blue fog and surrounding sky are quite remarkable here, and I don't think I fully captured them. I hope to try again in a painting. I like the boldness of these two pictures; they're not shy. They are energetic and unapologetically settled into themselves. Window and nature are one, a single view like an instant captured by a snapping shutter. Look closer and the material, the bits of pigment clinging to the paper and to itself, reveals the artist's hand, cement left by the mason.