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The Pastel Scribbler

Cover images:
Top Jam Session
by Dorothea Schulz.
BottomPeep-Bo
by Julie Hodgson

Inside this
issue:
Editorial,
Creative Bubbles

Summer Get Dusty

Our Guest Judge Jackie Simmonds

June Get Dusty

S e p t e m b e r

2 0 1 4

P a s t e l

G u i l d

o f

E u r o p e

Editorial Scribble
There are a multitude of things to think
about when you paint in a representational style, arent there? Take edges for
example; there are many otherwise excellent paintings that get a hard and incohesive look, because all edges are too
hard and sharp.
Julie Hodgson writes about how she focused on making varied edges when
painting "The Young Farmer" and inspires us to greater edge awareness.

Many still life painters say they can


spend more time setting up the still life
than painting it. Dorothea Schulz describes how she makes the process easier by using sound principles and a very
clever box.
Eyes can be tricky to paint. Dolores Saul
takes us step by step through her process of painting an eye, where edge treatment is a key element.
Happy painting,

The Scribbler Team


This issue is made by:
Charlotte Herczfeld, Editor, proof reading
Ruth Mann, editing, writing and proof-reading
Dorothea, Schulz, writing.
Julie Hodgson, writing
Dolores Saul, writing
Jim Humphreys, layout

Discovering Lost and


Found Edges
Julie Hodgson

My approach to still
life painting
Dorothea Schultz

How to paint an eye


Dolores Saul

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Meet our New Members

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The theme for the Bubbles was Out of your comfort zone...
The winner is Lynn Howarth with her landscape, Crossroads

Workshop report

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Members News

18

Get Dusty Schedule

19

Marie-France, the judge said


"Lynn Howarth is a talented portraitist, and
decided to explore a totally new road: the
colourful way to a gorgeous landscape. Everything was new for her, she says, and she
offers to us a colourful, strong, sensitive, self
confident, vibrant and suggestive painting
emerging from her pastel sticks! What a success! For sure Lynn is now standing at the
new cross-roads of her Art. Thank you Lynn
for this fantastic painting, and the "risks" you
dared to take to challenge yourself. "
Members please log in to the forum and see
all other "uncomfortable" entries of the contest!

Charlotte Herczfeld

Creative Bubbles news, May/June2014

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Summer Get Dusty:


The winner of the Summer Get Dusty challenge Dorothea Schulz

The Summer competition which ran over two months, attracted a lot of entries and provided
fierce competition for the top places, and an unenviable task for our judge. Have a look at all the
entries here http://www.pastelguild.org/index.php?
view=category&catid=154&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=15
We thank Jackie Simmonds, who, once again, very kindly agreed to act as judge. You can
read a little about Jackie and see some of her recent artwork here.

First Place: Jam Session,


Dorothea Schulz
Our judge says: A painting which
scores well on a number of levels.
The echoing curves of fruit and bowl
ensure a cohesive design, and when
coupled with a simple and effective
colour palette, the overall effect is
extremely strong. This is a painting
which would command your attention the moment you walked into a
gallery. We completely understand
the smooth, polished texture of the
fruits, and the cut-off shape of the
bowl was a bold and dramatic
choice. Well done!

Second Place: A Bow to the East,


Charlotte Herczfeld
Our judge says: This image has been
carefully considered in terms of
choice of objects in relation to its
title; in terms of placement of
shapes within the rectangle to create a slightly unusual counterbalanced composition, and finally in
terms of complementary-colour palette. The dark surrounding for the
still life provides a particular kind of
quiet and tranquil atmosphere, together with very wellhandled lost
and found edges which help to "knit"
the subject with the background.

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Third Place: Flooded, Annika Ostman


Our judge says: Flooded shows a lively painterly technique, the pastel application is confident and maintains a feeling of life throughout
with the use of rich, juicy, direct pastel strokes,
perfect for this type of landscape subject. The
tonal balance works well to explain the space in
the scene; the distant tones have variety and
interest, contrasting well with the sharp bright
accents in the foreground.

Judge's Award for unique idea and honourable


mention : My Feet Your Feet, Ruth Mann
Our judge says: A painting executed with wit, and
with panache! It makes the viewer smile, but still
has strength by virtue of good technique and perfect colour harmony. Particularly good transparent shadows!

Honourable mention: Morning Gallop, Julie Hodgson


Our judge says: This image deserves a mention because of
the well-handled sense of movement, which is difficult to
achieve. The viewer can feel the wind, see and almost hear
the sounds of splashing hooves, and understands the moment fully.

Honourable mention: Provencal Bunch, Marie-France


Oosterhof
Our judge says: There is a lovely sense of vitality about
this image. Confident, direct technique coupled with joyful,
striking colour choices - no fiddling, just spontaneity and
freshness. A real celebration of the medium of pastel.

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JACKIE SIMMONDS
Our guest judge for the summer Get Dusty

Jackie Simmonds has painted, and taught


painting, for more years than she cares to
remember. Recently she has turned her hand
to other creative pursuits. She is now a

craft pieces. Her enamel work is going to be


shown by Northern Lights gallery in the Lake
District, and John Noott in Broadway. She
regularly teaches through her blog, and on
Wet Canvas - the internet having opened up
a world she has taken full advantage of,
which, she says, given that she prefers to
work in the studio these days rather than
travel far afield, is very useful indeed!
Blog: http://
www.jackiesimmondsartyfacts.blogspot.co.
uk/
web: http://jackiesimmonds.com/

The Craft Market - A Pastel by Jackie Simmonds.

member of the British Society of Enamellers


and produces works in
enamel on copperframed
panels, which owe a great
deal to her paintings, and
beautiful enamel on copper
bowls. She also works with
glass, and her painting skills
are being put to use in the
making of pendants using
small mixed-media paintings.
She still enjoys pastels,
mostly painting for commissions, and has regular Open
Studio events in her home
gallery where she shows a
variety of work, paintings and

One of Jackies Enamel craft pieces.

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June Get Dusty:


The winner of the June Get Dusty challenge Julie Hodgson
First place: Julie Hodgson, The Young Farmer
Judges comment: What a delightful painting! A
powerful image of a young boy lost to the world
in a pumpkin patch. I first notice the delicious,
rich saturated autumn colours, and the little
farmer's focus on the treasures he finds among
the foliage. The orange of the pumpkin is beautifully enhanced by the strong blue of the child's
clothing. The introduction of orange into the
blue and red into the green harmonises the
whole composition beautifully. See the colour of
the soil and the pumpkins reflected in the shadows of his little face, the contrasts between dark
soil and light in his hair, the warm colours and
then the beautiful leaves of the pumpkins in cool
colours. This artist certainly knows how to work
with complementary colours. Excellent tonal
variation too. A worthy winner indeed! I love it!
Much of the power of this image resides in the
composition of the painting and the rhythmically
repeated shapes. For example, the boys body as
well as his head are rounded, echoing the shapes
of the pumpkins. The most intense chroma is in
the area of interest, as well as the strongest contrast.

Second Place: Dorothea Schulz, Betty and Lisa


Judges comment: A nice mood of a summer afternoon,
and the girls focused on stomping in the water. Good
proportions, and well executed. A charming interaction
between two young friends. Vibrant colour adds to the
feel of summer and takes us back to our young days
when the sun always shone. The colours are echoed all
over the painting. This is a painting where thought has
also been given to the colour of the support, which can
be seen underneath the lively pastel strokes used, giving energy to the painting. The children are very well
drawn and painted.

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Third Place: Julie Hodgson, Peep bo!


Judges comment: I see the movement first, and
the joy, when the boy looks around the corner.
The excitement in his face is so well caught! We
expect him to squeal delightedly any second
upon 'discovery'. All the other elements in this
portrait are just indicated, everything happens in
that cute little face. Well done! I Love the light
on his face, the lively strokes in the background
and the artist's use of warm and cool colours.
The child is very well done, excellent proportions
and especially the hand and arm! Good tonal
variation here used with a very limited palette of
colours. Good use of light against dark with lost
edges.

Honourable mention, Dolores Saul, Way to Australia


Judges comment: The mischievous grin of the girl
and the title say it all. One can hear her laugh, almost. Someone is having a lot of fun 'digging herself
in'. The texture of the sand and the shadow values
are very well handled and there is a real sense of light
giving a nice impression of summer on the beach.
The difficulty of painting skin tones against a similarly
coloured beach background has been successful in
this painting, with the tone of the sea allowing the
blonde hair to shine in the sun.

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Discovering Lost and Found edges


by Julie Hodgson.
I was greatly encouraged
to have won the monthly
get Dusty in June with
The Young Farmerand
even more pleased to
have third place as well
with my painting entitled
Peep Bo.
Both of these paintings
are the result of my struggle to move myself away
from hard edges and
graduate towards finding
softer more secretive and
often hidden places
within the composition.
Because I wanted to emphasise the focal point
The Young Farmer
which is the childs head I
experimented really with light and shade, hard and soft edges and warm and cool complimentary colours, purposely softening the leaves and other pumpkins to encourage the eye to
travel from the hair down the arm and back again! Originally I had more vegetation in the picture but decided to bring the warm tones in and encircle the child with a soft blend of autumn
colours and lost and found edges.

This second example is a portrayal of my grandson. Here I tried to soften and lose edges mainly
through my use of colour; ie green into blue and
blue into green. Letting colours overlap and blend
into each other seemed a great way to create the
lost and found effect I was looking for. I purposely let the outline of his face remain defined
because I wanted to determine his head as the
focal point to portray his happy character!

Actually, the writing of this article has made me


realise what an interesting challenge discovering
Lost and found can be. And I shall certainly endeavour to think about it more in my work from
now onwards!

Peep Bo

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My Approach to Still Life Painting


By

Dorothea Schulz
My approach to still life painting
Setting up and painting a still-life is a great exercise in composition and design. The stilllife artist is master of his composition from start to finish. He alone decides how to
arrange the elements, what to include and what to leave out or from which direction the
light should fall. There are a few tools which make life easier for the still-life painter and a
few rules one should keep in mind.

1. Preparation
If you're lucky you'll find a well-lit spot near a window where you can set-up
your still-life in natural daylight. But the sun moves and with it the shadows,
clouds cover the sun and the shadows disappear. Another problem occurs
when there is more than one window in the room. With multiple light sources
and light coming from different directions things tend to get difficult.
For this reason many still-life painters use a shadow box. A simple version is
very easy to build. It not only gives you a 'frame' for your set-up but it allows
you to control the access of light. You need:
A big, sturdy cardboard box
A can of black acrylic, matte spraypaint
A cutter
Spray the inside of the box black; you will probably need at least two layers of
paint.
Cut two slits of about 15 cm length into
both upper back corners; you can use
them to fix a drapery behind your set-up.
Cut a window flap (appr. 20x30 cm) into
one side of the box. It enables you to light
your setup from the side.
Photo 1: Shadow Box

I have mounted my shadow box on an old colourslide


projector stand because it has just the right height.
Alternatively put a small table on top of your
worktable and put the shadow box on it.
Photo2: Schematic drawing
I have a simple wooden board which fits into my shadow box; it is varnished, which gives
me nice reflections. You can of course use other types of boards (e.g. older wood

with a painted or scratched surface) for different effects.

2. Lighting
For lighting I recommend a good daylight spot. I use the artist studio lamp and stand from
daylight TM (https://uk.daylightcompany.com/category/easel-studio-lamps/). I put mine
to one side and close to the shadow box. You have to try it out for yourself. Just look for
interesting shadows and highlights!
And now for the still-life itself; here are a few personal suggestions:

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3. Carefully choose your objects


A short time ago someone started a thread in the FB group 'Still-life painters' and asked for
thoughts on how to set up a still-life. A lively discussion followed, with quite a few people
suggesting to just randomly pick a few objects, then play around with the arrangement and
see if one liked how it looked. Personally I am not sure this is the right approach. In my
opinion a still-life shouldn't just be a random collection of objects jumbled together. It
should have an inner logic to it and the objects I paint should have a relationship with each
other. In the best case, your painting should tell a story. Sometimes I compose a still-life
around an item that has personal meaning for me; sometimes it is something I've found
which attracted me because of its shape, texture or colour. Or think of your set-up as a
cooking recipe; your ingredients' textures and flavours should complement each other. I
know there are some celebrity chefs out there who come up with daring
food combinations and get away with it but the've had years of
experience behind their backs and know exactly what works and what
doesn't. The same goes for still-lifes!

4. Keep it simple
When it comes to still-lifes, I prefer the
works of the 19th century impressionists.
Take Manet; his paintings show a few
humble, everyday objects in a simple setup:
On the other hand you have the opulent
17th century Dutch still-lifes which were
often commissioned by rich merchants. It
gave them the opportunity to show off their considerable
wealth a glorious display of conspicuous consumption! Take
this one by Willem Heda:

Photo 3: douard Manet, Pches

Photo 4: douard Manet , Bunch of Asparagus

Photo 5: Willem Claesz Heda, Still life with oysters, a


rummer, a lemon and a silver bowl

I greatly admire pastel artists like Leonie


Duff (http://www.art-in-pastel.com/home/
index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=59) or Claudia
Seymour (http://
www.claudiaseymour.com/gallery-recent
-pastels.html) - who have mastered the
art of the elaborate still-life; but again,
they have years and years of experience.
When you're not one of the masters it is
better to keep things simple; it enhances
your chances to come up with a
composition that works. When you
start,don't choose too many objects, or
too many different objects. You can
always add more, if necessary.

5. Look for shapes, colours and values in your


composition
A still-life is not only about the objects it depicts, it's also
about abstract shapes, colours and values and how they
interact on the picture plane. I recommend studying Ian
Roberts' informative book 'Mastering composition'. He is an
Photo 6: Leonie Duff, Autumn Music
oil painter and his book covers different subjects but the rules
he explains apply for still-lifes as well. Without a good composition a painting falls apart,
regardless of how good your painting technique is. Imagine the London Symphony
orchestra playing music written by an inept composer; I am sure it would be technically
brilliant but it wouldn't make the composition any better.

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One of the shapes that works well with a still-life is the triangle. A few examples:

Photo 7: Triangle composition1

Photo 8: Triangle composition2

Photo 9: Triangle composition 3

For 'Jam session' I used another structure, the circle, or, to be more precise, a
double circle.'

Photo 10: Circular composition

' The important point is to create a structure that will establish the placement of
the major masses of your composition and the eye's movement through them. You
want (..it..) to have a supporting role...like the wire structure hidden beneath a
sculptor's clay.' (Roberts, Composition, p. 19)

6. Take lots of photos


I take a photo of every set-up I try out. It is quite helpful to check your
composition on screen. I find it creates a certain distance which makes it
easier to evaluate your composition. I also often convert the ones I like into
B/W and/or use the 'posterise' function. This simplifies your setup and
helps to recognize the major shapes. Don't expect your first setup to be
successful. It can take hours to come up with a good composition.

Photo 11: Jam session collage

Photo 12:Jam session B W

Happy still-life painting!

Photo 13:Jam session posterized

We thank the following for their kind permission to use their pictures.
Wikicommonsphotos 4,5. Leonie Duffphoto 6

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How to paint an eye in pastel


By Dolores Saul
The eyes are the mirror of the soul! If you want to paint a
realistic eye, it is important to pay attention to a few facts:
1. the eye is a sphere (bowl) of glass.
2. the iris and the pupil has no hard border.
3. the eye has two lids and the corner where the tears come from.
Here is my step-by-step tutorial of how to paint an eye in
pastel:
Materials: Sennelier Card, Sennelier soft pastels, Faber-Castell Pitt pastel pencils.

1. I start with a light sketch using a


dark brown pastel pencil
or charcoal.
2. I add a touch of blue and yellow and
a lot of turquoise to
the iris and blend it carefully with my
fingertip.
(Fig1)
3. Then I
paint
some dark
blue and
some
black

FIG 1

FIG 1

FIG 2

FIG 3

around the rim


of the iris. This is the
limbus, the transition
area from the
sclera (the white of
the eye) to the cornea. This is not a hard
line, so you can blend! (Fig 2)

area in the iris. The


light traverses the vitreous
body of the eye and exits on
the
opposite side. (Fig 3)
5. I blend the dark border and
draw thin lines in light yellow,
light blue and white into the iris on top
of the first pastel
layer. Some spots of white show the
highlight, which indicates
FIG 3

4. Important: At the side opposite to


where the light falls into
the eye is a darker border and a lighter
FIG 4

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where the light is


coming from.(Fig
4)
6. I use white for
the eyeball and
again blend it in
with my
fingertip.(Fig 5)

FIG 5
7. I use red
and English
red for the
corner of the
eye and the
tear duct.
Then I add
FIG 6
light grey for
the shadows in the upper
part of the eye under the lashes and
in the corners. This
creates the illusion that the painted
eye is a sphere. (FIG 6)
8.Dont paint the white of the eye too
light! A touch of grey
and blue brings it closer to the real
color. I add white spots
beside the iris so you can see the liq-

uid on the surface of the


eye. (Fig 7)
9. Add skintones and dont forget the
blue shadows. The lid
crease is no hard line! Give it a little
shadow in dark red and
blue, blend it softly.
10. From the edge of the eyelid grow
the lashes. The lower lid
doesn't have as many lashes
as the upper lid and the
lashes
are shorter. They should
look like fine curved lines, so
no fat
strokes! Alternate short and
long lashes.
You will get a really bright
look! (FIG 8)

FIG 7

FI

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A Warm Welcome to our New Members


Dirk Van Der Veen
I live with my wife in the east of the Netherlands, near the German border. I am
56 years old. Since more than half a year I can fully devote my life to art. In
particular, the creation of realistic pastels.As a child I loved to draw and I even
thought to choose Architecture as a study. It became Mechanical Engineering.
But from the early 80's on I continuously worked as an ICT Developer and IT
Manager. It is interesting to see the parallels between the creation of a work of
art and the development of an ICT solution!
I am a self-taught in drawing and painting pastels. I experience this process as a
journey. Every day, with every piece I'm still learning and realize that I can
continue to push my limits! For example in the use of colour, light and dark,
and working with contrasts. I love to connect art and technology. Social Media
for example, offers many opportunities for that nowadays!
Oh, and what I wanted to say. Last year I had a brain haemorrhage and luckily I
recovered well. Consideration of the important choices in life and work became
necessary. And so I found after 40 years my passion back: drawing and creating
art!

John Wood
I live in Essex with my partner and our two cats. We have five children
and 10 young grandchildren so spend a lot of time on family commitments. Painting is my escape! I am a retired business analyst which involved a lot of creativity. I started painting a couple of
years ago to continue to exercise some creativity in my life. I started
with watercolour and then ventured into other mediums. Pastel is my
latest discovery and I must confess I am hooked. I paint mostly landscapes but I admire portrait paintings which I currently feel are beyond
my scope, but feel that I must soon bite the bullet in that respect. I
am not quite a beginner but I have a long way to go and a lot to learn. I
am hoping that PGE will help me on my journey."

Mary Ellen Brown


Now living in Southern New Hampshire, Mary Ellen grew up in Winthrop Massachusetts where her passion for painting and drawing began. That passion for
painting continued while she was bringing up her children. When her youngest
went to college she decided to follow her lifelong dream, and plunged into art
school. She studied Fine Art and Digital Photography at Salem State College
supplementing with classes at Montserrat College of Art.
Now as a practicing award winning artist she maintains a home studio. Having
worked in oils, pastels, graphite, watercolor and digital photography her focus
is now centered on pastel painting, preferring a highly detailed realism as seen
in still life. Using sanded pastel papers allows her to build layers helping to
develop depth, shape, color, light and shadows. Her work gives a sense of
peace and beauty creating paintings with simple elegance and mood. She is
inspired by the work of the Old Dutch Masters as well as the stunning beauty
of grapes or a silver pitcher.
Mary Ellen is currently a member of the Pastel Society of America, Pastel
Society of New Hampshire, the Manchester Artist Association, NH, The Nashua
Area Artist Association, NH, The Greater Salem Artist Association, NH, the
Hollis Art Society, NH, and the Chelmsford Art Society, MA.
Mary Ellen is currently represented by the Sharon Art Gallery in Peterborough,
NH and Maison De L'Art in Nashua, NH. She also displays her paintings at the
Grace Chapel Gallery, Lexington, MA.

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John Rowland
"I am an enthusiastic amateur who has been painting largely for pleasure for just over
ten years. Art and painting have provided me with an outlet for creative expression and
means of encapsulating an enduring reflection of the world through which I have had the
fortune to pass, be that in Scotland where I now live or other countries through which
I've travelled and occasionally worked. In contrast, my current day job in the IT industry
affords little in the way of permanence, although it abounds with new and interesting
ideas, it is ultimately a profession that is transient in nature.
My passion for pastel is in part purely for practical reasons in so much that there are no
palettes that will dry during periods of absence from my easel! It is also however down
to my love of the media's immediacy as well as the never failing encouragement of my
tutor, pastellist Margaret Evans.
Whenever I can I like to bring plein air drawings back to the studio, sometimes as an
initial outline of the final work, inevitably time constraints demand a reliance upon photography in which case I will normally build up my composition from a series of photographic references.
I work with a wide variety of different types of pastel both hard and soft, tending to use
the rich pigment of the latter to embolden highlights and draw attention to subjects and
topics within the painting. My style and approach vary according to desired outcome,
sometimes using smooth water colour paper coated in a pumice mix, sometimes an
acrylic underpainting and other times ready prepared grit paper as well as traditional
Canson. I look forward to devoting more time to painting and becoming more adventurous as retirement from the paid work force beckons."

Barbara Svetlik
Currently I live in Carmel, California. I was born and lived in Wisconsin
for many years. Ive been painting for the past 20 years, working primarily in oils. Recently, several friends invited me to paint with them
weekly in pastels, which Im enjoying, although my skills are quite rusty.
My current subjects are small still lifes. Im looking forward to being a
member of the Pastel Guild and learning from other pastel artists.

A warm welcome to our new members! We hope that you will feel right at home among this dedicated
group of pastel artists. We invite you to participate in our forum discussions and in our monthly
competition, the 'Get Dusty'. Please take some time to read the rules before you upload a painting into a
competition (see Main Menu/Member competitions/Get Dusty rules). Entries which don't comply with the
rules will be deleted after the dead-line. We hope you'll understand that we can't write to every member
individually when we discover that his entry doesn't meet the requirements.
A short reminder of the main rules:
1. You must state the actual size of your painting.
2. You must state the source of your reference (own setup or photo). If you use another person's photo you
must have the permission to use it.
3. Your photo should be 800 pixels on the long side; entries which are significantly smaller will be
disqualified.

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Workshop Report
By
Ruth Mann and Charlotte Herczfeld
For one extended weekend in the middle of August this year you could find three members of the
Pastel Guild of Europe in the same
location up by the 63rd latitude,
near the Finnish city of Vaasa.
Annika stman and her art group
had invited Charlotte Herczfeld to
hold a workshop, with Ruth Mann
giving a demo.

Ruth Mann: How thrilling it was to


be going to Finland for the first
time, to meet Annika, to see Charlie again and to attend her workshop. Annika made us all very welcome at her large summer house.
View from the summer house (RM)
What a lovely place with stunning
views over a part of the Kvarken archipelago, a
World Heritage site.

Charlotte Herczfeld: I live in an archipelago on the


other side of the Baltic Sea, but I was struck by the
beauty of Kvarken. No wonder
it is on the World Heritages
list! The sky and the sea were
an incredible blue colour on the
sunny day when we painted
outdoors on the island Bjrk,
in the fishing harbour. This part
of the world was pushed down
by the ice during the latest ice
age, and is still rising with 8
millimetres per year.

then let them paint so they could immediately test

View of the Kvarken archipelago (RM)

the information and internalise it. For some of


them this was the first time they used a sanded
paper, and they found that it really made a difference to what can be achieved with pastels as a
painting medium.

RM: During the 4 day workshop we painted en


plein air, did a still life from a setup, or painted
from photos of our choice (on a rainy day) with
much help and advice from Charlie, who also gave
us lectures on Pictorial Composition and Design, as
well as how to paint in the great outdoors.
CH: To paint what you see is a wonderful tool
when you are learning. It is invaluable for master-

Cobalt blue water and traditional red boathouses makes the little fishing village into a very
colourful scene. (CH)

RM: The workshop started with


Charlie describing her painting procedure and then
we had a chance to do a painting using her
method from a live set up of coloured blocks.
What a colourful start!
CH: I lectured on the basics of colour and light, and
how to find the right colours to mix or layer, and

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Participants working on a simple still life set up. (RM)

ing colour. But when it comes to artistic expression, the crucial factor is to know enough about
composition and design to be able to put down

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your own subjective and personal interpretation


on paper or canvas. Very little of this is taught
today, and it was wonderful to see students
bravely rearranging landscape elements taken
from a photo and make it their own painting!
CH: Ruthie gave a much appreciated portrait demonstration to the group on the third day. She had
made the drawing and the value underpainting in
advance, to save time. The participants eyes followed each of Ruthies strokes with avid attention!

RM: Although my procedure differs from Charlie's


it is still based on lots of colour.

CH: Indeed! I think that what fascinated the participants most were two things: 1) how the rather
wild colours of the first layer looked so good, and
2) how the second layer unified the initial colours
and started to look like a glowing complexion.

This is how far Ruthie got during the workshop.

from my personal point of view I learned quite a


number of new things giving me food for thought.
I met new friends and had a wonderful time in
Finland!
CH: I totally agree, and I loved every minute of it!

RM: I have yet to finish the


portrait but I worked some
more on it after the demo.

This is how far Ruthie got


during the workshop.

--Members, please log into the Forum of the Pastel


Guild of Europe to see paintings from the workshop made by Ruth and Charlie, and some short
video clippings of them teaching.

RM: At the close of the


workshop we had an
exhibition of the work we
had done and Charlie did a
critique session where the
participants picked up more
tips and ideas to take with
them for the future.
CH: It was a great group
with very good artists, and it
was a joy to see them grasp the concepts so
quickly. Seasoned artists also benefit from workshops there is always a new way of doing things,
tips and tricks that gets the job done easier, and
also being inspired to try something new and different.

The first layer of colour.

Final critique session

RM: I felt that the workshop was a success and,

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Members news
Workshop wih Marie-France Oosterhof
Would you like to take a workshop with Marie-France! There is only one
place left on her workshop in Burgundy, France from the 6th to 10th October 2014. For all the information you need click the link! WORKSHOP

Burton Agnes Hall


Artist in residence
Jim Humphreys will be Artist in Residence at Burton Agnes Hall from Tuesday 16th
September until Tuesday 30th September. He can be found in the Summer house located
in the grounds at the front of the house. Burton Agnes Hall is approximately 6 miles from
Bridlington on the A614. Postcode is YO25 4NB. Pop in and have a chat any time between 11am and 5pm daily.

Red Bus Gallery

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Ruth Mann achieved the award Highly commended best amateur in the portrait category in the Society for All Artists (SAA) Artist of the Year competition 2014.
Her painting Treasure Hunt was on display at the SAA's All about Art event in Islington, London in July.

Get Dusty Schedule


Take the chance to win a set of 36 Faber-Castell Polychromos Pastels.
Get Dusty theme for September - Category: Still Life. Theme: Autumn Deadline 25th August
Comment - Fruit, vegetables flowers and similar objects being picked or harvested from Autumn until Winter

Get Dusty theme for October- Category, Animals.. ThemeA dog or dogs figure, full body. Deadline 25th
October.
Comment - Full body dog or dogs running, walking, standing, sitting etc. No Portraits.

Get Dusty theme for November- Category, Landscape.. ThemeNocturne Deadline 25th November
Comment - Any type of landscape, cityscape, seascape etc, but must be at night.

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