Soft Pastel Stories
Learn new techniques, hear artist's stories, and stay up to date on Soft Pastel News.
With so many art materials available to us out there, it can be difficult to know where to start. My “safe” zone for many years was graphite and coloured pencil but even with those, now that I know more, I realise I was only using them to a tiny fraction of their potential.
We all need inspiration to work, something that captivates us and sets off fireworks in our soul. For me it will be nature, clouds, skies, reflections, which are all my daily recharge.
For many of us, art is a refuge, a place of comfort. It is something we turn to at all points in our life, a place to escape to. For some, it’s vital as it pays the mortgage whilst for others it equals in importance as a therapy for anxiety and depression.
I spent my childhood drawing cartoons, but never really imagined I could do much more artistically. I chose music classes over art and chose environmental education over music when it came time to choose a career.
Neva does a bit of recycling with old artwork that didn't make the cut. She goes through the process, step by step, of washing off the old pigment, and utilising the remaining marks, which are almost artwork in themselves!
Although I am primarily a figurative artist, I have had an admiration and fondness for Abstract art. The main problem, and I would think not uncommon amongst figurative artists, is that I have had great trouble producing a piece of Abstract Art with which I am entirely happy.
While appreciating art as a viewer, I remember sitting, for what it looks to me hours and hours, modelling for my mother’s paintings while my brothers were playing.
3 Artists write about their experiences of taking part in the 5 Day Pastel Challenge, painting their own version of 'Bailey' by Sue Kerrigan-Harris.
The dictionary defines a journey as an act of traveling from one place to another. This would seem to imply a start and an endpoint. For me, as an artist, there really is no ending to my travels.
Having recently joined the Unison Colour community as an Associate Artist, I was excited to interact with other pastellists in Unison’s Facebook Group. Early on, I was intrigued by the comments on a fairly sad posting.
For well over a year Amy Shuckburgh has been working on a collection of pictures of Cornwall. Amy lives in London, but has Cornish relations and has been going there nearly every summer since she was a child.
Join us for a 5 Day Pastel Challenge, where Associate Artist Sue Kerrigan-Harris will guide you through the creation of a portrait of Black Spaniel, Bailey.
