My children get dirty. And I like to leave them that way…. no, no, not my actual children, my pastel sticks….. I don’t worry about keeping my pastel sticks clean- who cares? Yes, they look pretty in the box, so shiny and bright, but then there is the stress of...
I am a big believer in picking out a color harmony for a painting. Planned color can unify a piece and beyond that, colors that “sing” together nicely can create a specific mood. Enter my color chip box…. Finding a way to begin to pick out colors for a painting...
Pastel has a way of getting everywhere and it can be very drying to the skin…. Pastels can actually draw out the oils from the skin and in the winter I have been known to have very cracked and bleeding hands. Some pastel artists are so good at using gloves, but I...
A good portrait has something stirring alive beneath the surface. Know what it is? The artist. Every portrait is not only a reflection of the model, but also of the creator. The danger is getting caught up in working on a portrait so much that I can’t see the...
Since I mostly paint at an easel while standing on a hardwood floor, my feet can be very “owie” by the end of the day … In my late 30’s I started to feel like an old lady hobbling around in the morning and I wondered what was going on. I figured it was just an...
