
The Pretender
I have worked for Unison Colour since 2015 & I absolutely love my job. It mainly involves being an Account Manager for our many Associate Artists. However, I do not draw or paint!
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I have worked for Unison Colour since 2015 & I absolutely love my job. It mainly involves being an Account Manager for our many Associate Artists. However, I do not draw or paint!

I have been fascinated by colour for as long as I can remember. Beautiful colours, vibrant ones or soothing are surprising and fun.

Home schooling is tough, so having an opportunity to take my 16 year-old daughter away from her screen to do something creative wasn’t a hard sell!

It’s fair to say that my artistic endeavours have been in a state of deep hibernation for more than a year so when my friend suggested doing this challenge with her, I thought maybe this is what I need.

I am so glad I did this challenge, and I would urge anyone, however nervous to sign up to any future ones, I certainly will.

I have always had an interest in drawing, particularly realism. Bringing my subjects to life is always a challenge and very rewarding.

Maybe it was a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment of walking past a Spanish art shop that had a box of pretty pastel sticks in their window display in the centre of Palma.

A six step guide to using Clear Gesso with Soft Pastel, by Cory Goulet. Achieve interesting shapes, texture and depth with this simple guide.

'I have many times felt that I have lost the excitement and energy of the initial underpainting stage by overuse of pastel, and I felt that had perhaps happened here when I considered the finished work.'

'The point is to stay on your path, find what excites you, see where it goes and hopefully enjoy the journey that never ends.'

Unison Colour and Associate Artist, Nina Squire, are excited to announce the next 5 Day Pastel Challenge starting 9am (UK time) Monday 1st February, running for 5 consecutive days.Over the course of the 5 days Nina will challenge you to create ‘Old Harry’- a mixed landscape of skies, sea and beach with the iconic Dorset landmark…

I am always amazed at how many pastel artists have always wanted to paint “en plein air” (out in the open air) but were hesitant to try.