Soft Pastel News

Petits Roché Pastel Sets

2012-02-01T22:44:52Z

La Maison du Pastel has launched new line of “Petits Roché”, a reduced-selection of half-stick pastels. They are available to date in 3-piece and 12-piece sets, and a further 36-piece set should be available in the spring of 2012. The 3-piece sets come as “Discovery”, “Portrait” or “Landscape” sets, and if you are like me and would like to try these famous pastels this might be a good deal. If you would like to order go to their website and check under Contact how and where you can order. La Maison du Pastel team, refreshed by Margaret, are also in the process of developing an online shop. To find out more about these pastels you can read one of the older posts about Henry Roche pastels.

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Main Course by Don Judah

2012-01-11T22:16:26Z

Don Judah "Main Course"

Don Judah‘s painting First Course (in this post) was selected as an outstanding pastel painting at the November 2011 BoldBrush competition. Here is how Don describes his art.
“Art has always been my first love. My formal education in art was limited to high school and college elective classes and a few excursions into available classes in the evenings when time would permit. After my retirement from forty four years in health care, I have had the opportunity to return to drawings and painting and continue my education in art. Over the last four years I have returned to the study of art beginning with the most elementary drawing classes available. In this beginning period of my education I was fortunate to find a life drawing class that has offered me an opportunity to continue to develop my artistic talents and move into pastel figure drawing. I have a love of pastel and enjoy the process of developing a painting from a simple gesture composition, into a charcoal value drawing and finally into a finished pastel drawing. Drawing the human figure is most challenging and the most rewarding experience. The most extraordinary aspect of painting the human figure is that it is ever changing. There is always something new to be found, some subtle form or transition from one shape to another. Every person and every pose is different. The continuing challenge is to attempt to capture that special essence of every subject you draw or paint. As you may assume most of my work over the last few years is focused on figurative art. I just finished transforming a small barn into studio at my home in Napa and I plan to continue to learn and paint and appreciate the opportunity to begin a new adventure in the world of art.”

Click on the image for the higher resolution.

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Pastel Painting Demo by Dawn Emerson

2012-01-04T09:59:45Z

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWgquzUQyuk

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Featured Pastel Artist: Jill Stefani Wagner

2011-12-28T17:26:13Z

Jill Stefani Wagner

Jill Stefani Wagner works in two quite different mediums: watercolor and pastel. She finds watercolors to be very fresh and intuitive medium and she is ready to throw away many pieces. Pastel on the other side is more forgiving and she will changes color, form, and position until the wanted effect. She strives for realism with a painterly twist, but sometimes allows the rich hues and textures of a scene to dominate. Jill often works from resource photos from her travels but, when weather permits, she loves to paint from life or plein air.
Her pastel paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the MidWest, and her work hangs in various public and private collections throughout the United States. Jill’s pastel work has been given the Art Times Award from the prestigious Pastel Society of America Exhibition and she was recently honored with a National Award of Exceptional Merit from the Pastel Society of North Florida. Her work was given two honorable mentions in the Pastel Journal’s Pastel 100 Competition. She is a member of the National Watercolor Society, Pastel Society of America, Michigan Water Color Society, Great Lakes Pastel Society, Ann Arbor Women Artists and Ann Arbor Area Pastelists. Jill was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.F.A. from The University of Michigan School of Art and is senior partner of a successful graphic design firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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William A. Schneider, IAPS 19th Web Show Winner

2012-01-14T18:34:48Z

The International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) has organized the second web show and you can see it on the society website.
The show chair was Paula Ann Ford, and jurors of selection were Alain Picard, Christine Ivers, Phil Bates. The Judge of Awards was Denise LaRue Mahlke. To see the winning paintings click on the artist name.

1. William A. Schneider
2. Dan Michael
3. Kim Lordier
4. Marj Lightle
5. Jennifer Rowe
HM: Mary Aslin
HM: Daggi Wallace
HM: Margaret Dyer
HM: Jeannette Cuevas

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Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-25T10:58:59Z

Artist: Mary Cassatt
pastel on paper

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Old Pastel Master: Edgar Chahine

2011-12-13T06:20:30Z

Edgar Chahine Collage

Edgar Chahine (1874-1947) was born in Vienna, Austria to Armenian parents and he grew up in Constantinople, Turkey. Chahine and his mother had moved to Venice to escape the persecution of Armenians in Turkey, and there Chahine started studying art in 1892.
At age 21 he decided to travel to Paris and pursue a career in fine arts. He studied painting under formal instruction at the Académie Julian. Chahine began to experiment with the possibilities of print making at the age of 25. Although he had already achieved some success with his paintings, he became fascinated with prints and soon worked exclusively in this medium. His prints were very much in demand by collectors and he won several medals and awards and received many commissions. The death of his fiancé plunged him into a deep depression, and he left Paris to travel through Italy. This voyage gave him the serenity and the inspiration to begin working with new enthusiasm actually etching the day’s drawings onto copper plates in his hotel room each night. He returned with new vigor and expanded his efforts to once again include pastels and oils in his work. Many of Chahine’s prints were lost in a fire in his atelier in 1926, and many more were destroyed in a flood in 1942. Some of the remaining pastel works can be found at the Musee Armenian de France in Paris.

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Simon Bussy, Sir Richard Strachey

2011-12-01T15:20:53Z

Simon Bussy "Sir Richard Strachey"

Artist: Simon Bussy, 1901
Title: “Sir Richard Strachey”
pastel on paper
18 in. x 20 in. (457 mm x 508 mm)

National Portrait Gallery, London UK

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Dominique Bisson Winner of Les Pastellistes International 2011

2011-11-29T16:48:29Z

Dominique Bisson "Le temps des lilas"

Pastel Society of Eastern Canada 16th edition of Les Pastellistes International Exhibition selected by jury was held from November 4th to 13th, 2011. The top prizes were awarded to the following artists
1. Dominique Bisson, Le temps des lilas (see the painting above)
2. Carmen Caron-Lafrance, Artifices
3. Danielle Richard, Petite fleur
4. Siddick Nuckcheddy (île Maurice), Solitude sinistre
5. Mary Dorland, Here Come the Brides

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Lucian Freud Pastel

2011-11-20T18:49:49Z

Lucian Freud "Portrait of Christian Berard"

Artist: Lucian Freud, 1948
Title: Portrait of Christian Berard
conte on paper 46 x 42 cm
Private Collection

Click on the image to see it in a higher resolution.

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