|
Pastels
Personally I think (ahem) that pastels are underrated as a serious medium. They have a freshness, immediacy and sparkling color that oils sometimes cannot touch. In the 18th century pastellists were banned from showing their work at the French Salons' annual show because they outshone the oils. That helped speed their decline in popular usage. Most of us remember Degas from his beautiful ballet pastels, which he devoted himself to later in his career.
That said, I want to congratulate Jimmie for the beautiful piece, bringing pastel into the 21th century. It was not too long ago he was wallowing in his first effort trying to make sense of this particular medium. That usually happens in the first several attempts. That he was able to do this lovely piece on his second try is remarkable.
Beautiful blues Jimmie.
Secondly, I would not worry about getting closeups of eye details, there is usually distortion and the excess of detail can make our efforts look rather photographic and less painterly.
|