New Stuff

Recently I was lucky enough to purchase the stock of pastels belonging to another artist who was leaving the area. In it are a lot of brands which I have never used before including Unison, Terry Ludwig, Diane Townsend, Girault and, the Cadillac of pastels: Henri Roche. They are some of the more expensive brands which I don't usually like to spend the money on. My feeling on the subject is that the most expensive pastels in the world won't necessarily make up for a lack of painting ability, so I'd rather not spend a fortune on materials. I'd rather concentrate on improving my ability to paint in pastel. However, I do like good quality materials. One thing I have learned over time is that student grade stuff will never give the descent results one wants and in fact just adds to the frustration of trying to produce good work using inferior materials. I will try them all though, as I decide which ones to keep and which ones I want to sell.

I also bought some Uart paper, in the 500 grade. It's got a nice smooth finish to it, but it's a buff color and I hate using the whiter papers. I like the neutral gray of Wallis paper, but could see the merits of the off-white if I was to use a wash of some kind, such as watercolor before I begin to paint in pastel. This particular paper doesn't seem to have the toothiness of the Wallis paper, but it is very smooth. On the 2 paintings I recently did on it, I filled the tooth surprisingly fast. I very rarely fill the tooth on the Wallis. So I will have to experiment and try the Uart paper a bit more before I would be able to give a real comparison of the two. I did notice something else about the Uart - it's tough stuff! I often tear large sheets of Wallis paper into smaller sheets simply by creasing the paper and folding it over in the same place repeatedly until the fibers in the paper break down some, making it easy to tear along the fold. I tried to do the same thing with the Uart, but it still didn't want to tear. That surprised me.

I will be trying out all of these variables over the next couple of weeks to see what works best for me.

Painting Supplies

Julian plein air easel - full box size, very stable

drawing board - a sheet of masonite approximately 2' x 3'

I carry a lot of other things with me when I paint. I carry them all in a kid's book bag which one of my daughters never used. I like it because it has several pockets to hold all the stuff I carry. Some of the items I use are listed below.

my pastel case full of pastels

A visor - I don't like hats, but need a way to shade my eyes in the sunlight. This old visor, which is a dark color keeps the light from shining in my eyes, keeping the light constant.

Sunscreen - SPF 50. I stand in full sun pretty regularly and burn very easily. Even in the winter, the sun is still able to give a sunburn, especially if it is reflected off of snow. I also know that the sun reflecting off a body of water will give me a sunburn. I use Chapstick to protect my lips, as they have gotten sunburned too. I wear flip-flops a lot in the summer, so I have to remember to put sunscreen on the tops of my feet.

Insect repellent - for mosquitoes especially around dusk and biting flies.

Swiss Army knife - I need to tighten up the screws on my easel pretty regularly.

cheap house painting brushes - 2" for brushing away bad paintings, smaller old brushes to use with water or alcohol for liquifying pastel sketches into a "wash".

pencils - for sketching out a design before I put down pastel.

small box -I use an old Tupperware container to hold the pastels I am using. I find that as I paint, I go back to the same colors which I have used earlier in the painting. It saves me a lot of time and trouble when I have to find a color again.

masking tape - for taping a piece of paper onto my drawing board.

baby wipes - great for cleaning up after a session.

Umbrella - this green and gray umbrella clamps onto my easel. I use it to shade my drawing board and pastels when I am getting uneven shadow areas on the painting surface as I work.

Miscellaneous things for my comfort - I don't like to be distracted while I am painting and so I come prepared to have what ever I need on hand.
food: Because if I'm hungry, I can't concentrate.
a bottle of water: Being outside makes me thirsty.
small first aide kit: a ziplock bag with Bandaids, ibuprofen, something for an upset stomach...

Paper Size

Now, for the most part, I am a plein air artist and I constantly battle the changing light and how it effects a scene. Time is my enemy. That being said, I have recently discovered that although the thought of painting a large painting is very exciting, it may also be impossible for me at this time.

I recently bought eight 18"x24" sheets of Kitty Wallis paper to try out, thinking I could really get loose on a larger sheet of paper. I tried it out on two different occasions and found I had a difficult time covering the whole sheet and still make it work. First, I failed to make the main subject large enough to fill the whole sheet. As a result, there was a lot of foreground which wasn't fully utilized. I can trim it if I want, but more than likely, I will either reuse the paper or try to work it to a point of completion. Second, I'll need to work quickly and decisively.

After doing a lot of less-than-ideal paintings recently, I did a pretty good one today. I find that if I am not able to fully concentrate on what I am doing, I might as well stay home, and recently I haven't been able to focus on painting at all. It had gotten pretty disappointing at times. Going back to a 12"x18" size of Wallis paper today is a good thing for now, and I definitely felt that I was in control.

Of course, being in a great setting (on the shore of Lake Ontario) at a friend's house didn't hurt. I could paint that lake every day of the year.

I think that in the future I will be able to conquer the larger size. I'll just need to be very focused and will have to remember to use the whole sheet when I sketch it out initially. And then I'll work REALLY, REALLY FAST!

Pastels

Currently, I use a lot of different brands of pastels, but started out 4 years ago with a half-stick set of Senneliers. They gave me a good starting point to begin with. Now I simply added to them as I discover which colors I need. I still have some of the original set, in part because some colors are used very rarely in landscape - bright reds, bright yellows... They all look great in the box, but I have some sticks which I have NEVER used. Seems a shame to me.

Currently, my favorite pastel brand is Mount Vision. I was given a small piece of one to try by one of my local art stores (Rochester Art Supply) and I really like the way they worked. They are not as soft and smooth as the Senneliers which are well know for being soft, but they are very durable and seem to be long-lasting. It is my understanding that they have some pumice in them. This is good for me as I can be rough on pastels. They are relatively inexpensive for high quality pastels (less than $3.00 per stick). They are large and chunky. I feel like I am getting my money's-worth with them.

I usually break them in half when I get home, put one half in my plein air box and put the other half in my studio box. I very rarely use the studio box, however. Usually those sticks just wind up going into the plein air box when those sticks get used up.

I tend to think that if I were doing portraits, I might use the softer pastels such as Unisons. They are more soft and buttery in consistency - good for making skin look smooth, but in landscape, I tend to think that leaving parts of the paper showing through makes for a more interesting painting. Also, because I do plein air, I work very quickly and a super-smooth finish is not what I am looking for. My paintings tend to look rougher, but I like that. Unisons are also very expensive.

I do use a wide variety of brands of softer pastels including Grumbacher, Windsor Newton, Art Spectrum and Terry Ludwig. I also use Nupastels for a lot of applications. I like the fact that they are a bit harder and I can get a nice sharp edge with them.

To be honest at this point, I don't really shop brands anymore. I usually look more for specific colors to match the painting needs I currently have. I don't care what brand a stick is as long as it's the right color.

I organize my pastel box by color and value. I can usually find the pastel I need more easily if they are organized like this. Obviously, since I do a lot of landscape, there is a ton of greens, violets and blues.

Canson Paper

The other day I went out to paint, but wanted to do something larger than the 12"x18" sheets of Wallis paper I've been doing lately. I took a sheet of gray Canson paper, taped it to my board and off I went.

It was a hot night, so I headed up to the beach with a couple of my kids. I set up on the sand and went to work.

I was immediately struck by how smooth the surface of the paper was. Now I have been using Wallis paper exclusively for over 3 years and am very used to the toothiness of it. This was very different. I was unable to put layer on top of layer like I do with the Wallis. In fact, as I tried to apply more and more layers on top of the first ones, I noticed that the pastel stick was actually rubbing the first layers off into a pile on my easel tray! This wasn't making me happy. Pastels are a very expensive medium to use. One of the most expensive, as a matter of fact. The idea of having the pastel just turn into dust which will be wiped away is very unappealing to me. I tend to be very thrifty.

I continued to work the painting, however and after a while, noticed that the smoothness of the paper caused the painting to look very soft and smooth, too. I've noticed that sometimes with the Wallis, drawn lines can appear very defined since the paper tends to hold whatever is put onto it. It's also easy to put down very stong lines with Wallis, but the smoothness of the Canson make that more difficult since the pastel sort of skates across the surface instead of being ground right into it.

I ultimately liked the way the painting came out and will post a photo of it. I am also planning to try using the watercolor paper again to see if I can use that again with landscape. After all, I still have about half a case of the stuff laying around.

Paper

I have used three kinds of paper since I have been working with pastel.

The first was a rough, heavy-weight(300lb.) Arches watercolor paper. I had just taken a class in watercolor painting and had bought a case of the stuff. Thankfully, the lady who taught the pastel portrait class I took after that used watercolor paper for her pastel portraits. The paper really has a good tooth and does take some abuse since it's so heavy. The one thing I didn't care for was that the texture seemed a bit too rough and was a bit obvious after the painting was done.

The second was Canson Mi Tientes. I originally used it when drawing and doing portraits in colored pencil, and later as I moved into using pastel pencil. One side is relatively smooth with a tooth which worked well for layering in the harder colored pencil and pastel pencils. However, the other side has a very regular texture which reminded me of little holes. This side never worked for me, as I always wanted to fill in those little holes with pigment. I tend to think most artist either loved that side and made it work to their advantage or hated it. I hated it and always used the smooth side. Luckily, it's pretty easy to determine which side is which.

The third paper and the one I have used the longest is Wallis paper. Made by pastel artist Kitty Wallis, it is, in my opinion, the perfect pastel paper. It come in two grades: "Museum" and "Professional". Honestly I just use the cheaper of the two. It also come in two colors: Belgium Mist which is a neutral gray and antique white. I prefer the Belgium Mist as the little flecks of white paper which show through when I paint make me crazy. The wonderful thing about Wallis paper is the tooth. It has a sanded surface and holds up to 25 layers of pastel according to the manufacturer, one on top of the other. It's very tough stuff. I have used an alcohol wash to liquify the pastel at times and the paper never buckled. I have also used the paper over again. After I do a less than great painting, I use a cheap bristle house-painting brush to brush off the pastel dust from a bad painting and use the paper over again as if for the first time. I actually like to do that because it leaves the paper toned with a ghost image on it.

How I Became Who I Am

First, I have always been an artist. It is the thing that most describes who I am and it has been for as long as I have existed. I have always expressed myself in some creative way. It's not a way to get attention, as some "artists" do, it is a part of the very core of my being. I love to draw and really, need to draw. It challenges me, helps me to focus, gives my soul a place to rest and gives me insight into the world around me. It is so deep that it's really hard to explain.

I love nature. I am fascinated by the natural world and this is a deep part of who I am also.

Put the two together and you wind up with me: an artist who loves to create outdoors or simply put; a plein air painter.

In October of 1996, when my youngest daughter was 4 months old, my mother-in-law came to live with us for several months. She had broken her wrist and wasn't able to live on her own until it healed. During that time, frankly, she drove me nuts. She was a great lady, but very opinionated and not always tolerant. I was trying to manage with the craziness of a young family. We had 3 young kids: a 4 month old, a 3 year old and a 4 year old. My husband is self-employed. To say it was somewhat chaotic would be an understatement.

My wonderful husband, Dave, must have sensed that I really needed a break and signed me up for a portrait class at the Creative Workshop at the Memorial Art Gallery here in Rochester. I went and loved it, continuing to take classes with the instructor, Sari Gaby at her studio. I started doing by portraits in colored pencil, eventually moving on to pastel pencils and finally on to soft pastel. Sari was sponsoring a plein air workshop by noted painters, Albert Handell and wife Anita Louise West. I decided to take it. During the workshop, I learned so much about pastel, color and values, but mostly, I experienced painting en plein air for the first time.

While at the workshop, I heard about a group of Rochester-based painters who were getting together for an international paint-out for the first time. It was the first of what would become an annual event and it was the beginning of my association with the Genesee Valley Plein Air Painters, an amazing group of talented and supportive artists lead by organizer and human dynamo, Barbara Jablonski. GVPAP holds paint-outs throughout the year and I try to attend as many as I can. The comraderie can't be beat and the chance to paint outdoors with a group of such talented painters is terrific.

After painting a couple of years I felt that my work had not been advancing and that I was beginning to stagnate. I needed something to push me to the next level artistically.

My friend and fellow plein air artist, Chris O'Handley, suggested that we consider going to a workshop given by Marc Hanson, an artist whose work we both admired. This was no small feat for me as the workshop was in Michigan and I live in upstate New York. The idea of leaving my family for over a week was terrifying for me. Never the less, we did go and it proved to be a fantastic experience. I learned so much at the workshop and the experience of going someplace I'd never been before was really enlightening and fun. I hated to come home. After getting back and figuring out how to use the new information I learned, I painted more than I ever had and the results were better than I ever expected. My work took a huge leap forward.

Right now I just try to get out as often as life will let me.

I truly love to paint outside. I never use photographs because they seem so lifeless and it's the experience of being in a place that I re-create, not just the image. I believe my need to paint and love of the world around me comes together perfectly as I attempt to re-create what I see. I think of it as being like meditation. It feeds my soul. In fact even now, when I am crabby, my husband often says, "Why don't you go out and paint?" I think he understands.