Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2020 i The Pastel Journal

While photography is a useful tool in our modern creative lives, there’s nothing that can compare to the actual act of working from life. The interaction of subject, light and artist hones a critical eye that will inform the rest of your work. If you normally paint in the studio from photo reference material, realize that the time you spend in the landscape makes you more sensitive. Go into the field now and then for a day of inspiration. Take a cue from Impressionists like Claude Monet whose joy in painting outdoors is captured in Monet Painting in His Garden (1873; oil on canvas, 18x23½) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.…

Pastel Journal had a few more questions to put to O’Hagan about his personal recommendations when visiting the City of Lights. You’ve checked into your hotel, the taxi is waiting. What’s your first stop? My first stop would be the Pont Neuf bridge and the surrounding area. It’s very central with much to see. Circumstances have left you with only one hour to spend in the Louvre. What room do you visit? I’d probably view the rooms with the gigantic Napoleon paintings. I have a love of history, and these paintings are some of the best political marketing I’ve ever seen. Cézanne, Pissarro and many other art heroes walked these streets. What’s the best spot in Paris for tuning in to artists past? Even though it’s a bit touristy, Montmartre…

“Spanish is my mother tongue, and pastel is my mother medium,” says landscape artist Alejandra Gos. She loves pastels because they “feel like an extension of me. My hand, arm, fingers and the pigment are all one.” This is a feeling singular to pastel, and Gos appreciates the vibrancy and immediacy the medium offers, which allows for “fast painting and bold mark-making—two main characteristics of my work.” LEARNING FROM THE PROS Gos’ first introduction to pastel was a set of Nupastels that was gifted to her mother when she visited the United States in 1968 from their home in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Gos still has those pastels, calling them a “true relic.” She didn’t begin painting with pastels until 2011, however, when she started following the work of instructor and…

In much the same way that celebrities “of the people” enjoy a specific kind of loyal following today, the artist Jean-Francois Millet was both revered and scorned for his artistic focus on the peasants of northern France. His family was one of farmers, and he once declared, “Je suis paysan paysan,” meaning “I am a peasant’s peasant.” During a time when portraits were primarily reserved for Europe’s royalty and wealthiest patrons, Millet was using the medium to paint pictures of life among agricultural laborers—and even displayed the works in Paris’ Salon—to the shock of its critics. Instead of biblical scenes and Greek mythology, Millet used his grand-scale paintings to bring the average Frenchman to the glamorous world of 19th-century Parisian fine art. Eventually, the artist would turn to pastel with…

I’ve visited Paris seven times, and it’s my favorite city in the world. In the late 1980s, when I made my break from graphic designer at an advertising agency to full-time fine artist, my wife and I had more flexibility for travel. At the time, my wife worked in the hotel industry and was able to get a complimentary room at any of the company’s international hotels. As a young married couple, it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. Because I was excited to explore the world of fine art and eager to visit the world’s great museums, Paris was an ideal destination. Although we visited other European cities as well, Paris was always a starting point or final stop before heading back to the U.S. These travels to…

In her large-scale painterly pastels, Brooklyn-based artist Susan Grossman practices the magical art of transforming the appearance of matter. Like a medieval alchemist working to transform base metals into gold, she manipulates dry pastel in many of her cityscapes to replicate rain-soaked pavement that appears so wet it fairly drips off the paper. Through her work featuring everyday people navigating their way through New York City scenes, Grossman demonstrates a nuanced, clearly observed knowledge of city life. DOING THE WORK Born in New Jersey, not far from Asbury Park, the budding artist grew up in the television age and loved the drama she found in the darkened movie theater, being particularly drawn to the stark edginess of film noir. Grossman took drawing lessons early on, leaving little doubt that a…

Step 1: Working on white Stonehenge paper, I sketch the complete composition using vine charcoal, focusing on shape and proportion. Step 2: Once the composition is set, I render figures and surrounding objects with their full tones, using vine and compressed charcoal to capture a chiaroscuro effect. Step 3: I block in large, basic color fields using watered-down gouache. I cover the background, still life objects and clothing with a general dark to mid-tone layer of gouache so that the white of the paper is covered. I leave the figural subjects as charcoal so that the cool temperature of the underdrawing will neutralize the warmer skin tones rendered in pastel. Step 4: I complete the gouache underpainting and begin to block in pastel for the portraits. I layer pastel dark…

Sophie Amauger’s studio, located in the south of France, near Toulouse, is a converted barn with windows on all sides. Located near a hiking trail, the studio also doubles as a gallery where visitors can stop by to see the artist’s work. Step outside the studio into the garden, and you’ll find a small pond and an old French farmhouse. Beyond the picket fence stretch rolling hills covered in ripe, ochre-colored wheat. “Next week, they’ll turn the ground, and it will be all grays and violets,” Amauger says. Since the local crops rotate, the surrounding fields offer an ever-changing palette; the previous year, for instance, the field was planted with sunflowers—“big yellow flowers all around,” she says. Observing changes in the natural world is at the heart of Amauger’s artistic…

In Lucent (top) and City Crossings (bottom)—two recent pastel and charcoal pieces from her 2019 exhibition at the Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery, in San Francisco—the umbrella-touting pedestrians give the obvious clues about the weather. But beyond the umbrellas, it’s the artist’s skill in handling pastel that allows us to see the wet light reflecting off the pavement. We unconsciously pull back to avoid the splash. “I’m drawn to wet pavement,” Grossman says. “The wonderous reflections never fail to stop me.” When asked to reveal her trade secrets in achieving those luminous effects of rain on hard surfaces, she confesses to using her fingers. Perhaps it’s her sense of touch that creates such glistening light, as well as the Diane Townsend pastels that the artist so admires. The addition of pumice to…

Over the past decade, the pastel community has cast a wide net to reach and recognize international artists, but few Russians had surfaced for recognition—until last summer. That’s when Olga Abramova, who has already made her fame at home and built a large internet fan base, broke onto the international scene. She earned the Gold Award in the juried exhibition at the International Association of Pastel Societies’ Thirteenth Biennial Convention in Albuquerque, N.M., last June. The pastel crowd welcomed Abramova happily at the convention and marveled at her winning still life, Winter Breakfast (opposite). A few weeks later, Abramova’s still life, Crystal Pink (below), received the prestigious Le Coup de Coeur de la Ville de Feytiat Award in France at the 19th International Pastel Festival Feytiat. The artist’s still life…

Step 1: I always plan well ahead before starting a piece so that there’s enough time to ponder every step carefully. After creating the charcoal drawing based on a sketch, I brushed pastel ground over the lines. This is the most enjoyable part in painting for me. I love creating backlighting because it changes the nuance of color. Step 2: There are two subjects in this painting—the bouquet and the door leading to the garden—which is why the bouquet isn’t placed in the center of the composition. The scene revealed by the open door depicts how bright the day is. The perspective creates depth without being segmented. The composition and the light give the painting a deeper sensation that reflects my inner thoughts without having to express too much. Step…