How to tell when your painting is finished? - "Shore" WIP1-3
Ever find you're not sure when to 'stop' with a painting? Do you find you tend to overwork your paintings, and that they're taking forever to finish? Do your paintings lack a focal point because everything is too detailed? I have a terrible habit of working on paintings for too long, overworking them, not knowing when to stop, and not knowing when they're finished. I usually assume that when the whole page or canvas is covered in minute detail and I can't fit any more detail
Coping with the 'art critic', or criticism from your non-creative significant other - though
Do you have a significant other who doesn't fully appreciate your artwork or writing? Someone who regularly criticises what you do? Do you find it lowers your motivation to do art? I might have a solution for you here. Most of us artists have significant others (partners/spouses, relatives etc) who don't fully appreciate our creative work. These people criticise it whenever we do something, or frown upon our spending on art materials. For most of us it is true that art is a h
A different style - featuring pastel paintings by Jenny Grogan
Ever find yourself in a style rut? Can't work out how to improve your paintings? Maybe you should try a new medium or subject, or spend some time with another artist! Artists typically aim to improve the aesthetic quality of their paintings, their level of technical expertise, and the uniqueness of their style. Sometimes when you work on something for a long time, however, you can get into a 'style rut', where you can't see how to improve, or any longer make sensible judgemen
Choosing colours for blending skin tones with pastels - "Caitlin" WIP1-4
How do you create the appearance of human skin in portraits? Is it possible to use an opaque medium such as pastel to create the subtle hues and tones of skin? What colours do you use, and how do you select them? I must confess, this is only the second 'human portrait' I've ever attempted, and the first in pastel. My subject is my beautiful little niece Caitlin - her birthday is coming up, so I'm painting this portrait as a gift. The paper is ivory Mi-Teintes Tex A3, and the
Creating a sense of depth and distance with pastel landscapes - "Sunset" WIP4-6
How do you make objects or elements of a landscape appear 'far away'? Why do mountains appear blue from a distance? Why are they called the 'blue' mountains? One of the great challenges for the landscape artist (and I am very much beginning along this road) is to create a sense of depth in their paintings. The viewer should feel as though they are looking through a window at a scene, or better yet, that they are surrounded by the scene, rather than peering at a flat canvas or
Blending landscapes with pastel - "Sunset" WIP1-3
Looking for an easy way to paint landscapes? Wondering how to quickly create that expansive sense of depth over a large canvas/sheet? Perhaps you should try blending techniques with pastels! I'm pretty new to painting landscapes - most of my previous work has hinged on wildlife portraits, with minimal backgrounds. A couple of days ago I decided to test my theory that pastels are great for blending colours (better perhaps than any other medium), and hence should be good for bl
The virtues of making your own colour charts
Why should you bother making your own colour charts and mixing charts? Why not just use the ones supplied by the manufacturer? Anyone who's visited my studio will see the walls covered in colour swatch charts of different media (see an example of some of them in Fig. 1). In fact, whenever I start a new medium, or a new brand within a medium, or a new style of application within a medium, I draw up a colour chart for it. Despite whether I have a perfectly good colour chart sup
The complexity of proportion - "Lazy Days" WIP3-7
Ever realized part-way through a painting that the proportions are all wrong? The eyes are too small, the face is too long, the angle is off? How do you go about fixing it? I was happily mulling along, part-way through my pastel painting of a semi-napping spotted quoll for the painting "Lazy Days" when I stepped back and took a good look at the quoll's head (after all, it is the focal point). When I did, I realized it was completely out of proportion! Instead of looking like
Making a 'mahl stick bridge' for pastels - "Lazy Days" WIP1-2
Do you get hand smudges on your pastel paintings? Can't work in fine details because you can't steady your hand against the surface? Can't find a mahl stick or bridge to suit your style? Maybe you need to make one yourself! If you've ever used soft pastels, you'd be familiar with their ability to rub off on your fingers and smudge on the paper with the slightest touch. This lends itself to one of the greatest joys of pastel painting (beautifully smooth colour blending), but a
