practice..

[Toni]

Hi guys


I taught a beginning pastel class on Sat, and this was what I worked on. It's nice to loosen up when using pastels lol ;) Sort of just sets ya free huh?

I used prismacolors 24 set of nupastels, the pastels are fine, but I need more dark pastels. Not sure these are rich enough in color. I did like that they are thinner than my hand made pastels, easier to hold.

8x10 on Canson Mi Tientes.. ( :eek: ) hate to admit it, but it stood up to more abuse than I was expecting, but I'm still stickin with my wallis from now on!

Thanks Bill C, for the ref photo (from the image library). This is one he took in Chicago.

TJ

[Brenda]

Great colors, Toni! I love the way the cool color leaves contrast with the warm sunflower. There is a lot of movement here, too. How long did this take you?

[Toni]

thanks brenda!

You have a great new avatar! Very nice.

hmm.. I dont have anymore than 8 hrs in this...

TJ

[Denise]

wow Toni! This is great! I love how you can combine different strokes to come up w/ different images. Really good job!

That is a bird on top of the flower bending over the front, sticking his beak in it, right? Just want to make sure I'm seeing this correctly.

[Rose]

This is really beautiful!!! I love the light greens and the play of lights and darks... and of course, SUNFLOWERS!! Wow, 8 hours ... I thought pastel was supposed to take LESS time! Geesh!

[lucky]

I taught a beginning pastel class on Sat, and this was what I worked on. It's nice to loosen up when using pastels lol Sort of just sets ya free huh?

Yes! Exactly, that’s why I’m loving pastels right now too! This is a really cool piece! It took me a moment to discover that was a bird. The whole scene has kind of a neat abstract quality with all the shapes. Lovely colors!

I’m having the same problem right now with not enough darks. I’ve heard you can get very good dark sets from Terry Ludwig, unisons also look like they have some nice darks. Let me know if you find some good ones. I’m on the look out here as well.

How did you like teaching the beginning class?

[Toni]

Thanks Denise, you are correct ;) I liked that I didn't have to worry about facial details in this.

Hi Rose. Thanks, well... pastels are not like coloring either ;) . Part of that time was a bit of class demo. You still layer and layer and layer (at least I do) and the pastels just sort of yummily blend themselves. Takes time still. It's been awhile since I did a pastel, and I sure needed a refresher.

Thanks Lucky, it is sort of abstract. It's weird, my pastles are never as tight as my CP or graphite. They are just more like painting to me. It does give you the freedom to just go with the flow so to speak.

Yes, the thing about pastels is, you need a ton of different hues and values! Not like CP you can layer to get what you need. Sort of frustrating, yet liveable. Terry Ludwig, I use his portrait pastels... YUMMY!!!!! I will buy his again for sure. The prismacolor ones were available locally for the ladies that took the class, thats the only reason I picked up those. Terrys are definately... top of the line.

When Terry sent me his pastels, he made me promise.. "Do NOT use a fixative on my pastels!", but it sure makes it hard when you complete a piece, because then you have no choice but to frame it or pin it to a wall. Hmmm do they make a storage flat that would work? I wonder?


How did you like teaching the beginning class? It was fun. I did start out with the ol' "pastels are not chalk!" speach :annoyed: , my pet peeve :blushing: . Chalk is what children color on sidewalks with! Grrrrr. :bangin:

I did laugh when they called me for the class though. You want me to teach al beginning pastel class? Ya sure you don't want CP instead? LOL...

TJ

[lucky]

Yeah, I feel like I’m painting too. I love that it feels like painting but you apply the color so directly.

Yes, the thing about pastels is, you need a ton of different hues and values! Not like CP you can layer to get what you need. Sort of frustrating, yet liveable. Terry Ludwig, I use his portrait pastels... YUMMY!!!!! I will buy his again for sure. The prismacolor ones were available locally for the ladies that took the class, thats the only reason I picked up those. Terrys are definately... top of the line.

I think that’s one of the big draw backs for pastels that you need so many different colors and values, but at least it’s possible to mix a bit too. But even so they are just too much fun!

When Terry sent me his pastels, he made me promise.. "Do NOT use a fixative on my pastels!", but it sure makes it hard when you complete a piece, because then you have no choice but to frame it or pin it to a wall.

Mine are all tacked to the wall, in a little studio. It would be great to become best friends with a framer… hmmm, maybe the bartering system could work. ;)

Did you teach the class in Tucson?

[Meisie]

Nice job Toni! I love the leaves especialy! :)
The bird threw me a little...maybe my monitor is darker? I knew what I was looking at, but couldn't see it, lol, funny feeling!!

Meisie