Indian girl

Virginia Branch · 03-26-2003, 03:04 PM

I am experimenting in pastels and having a lot of fun with them. This is a portrait from a photo I took of an Indian girl at one of the Pow Wows they have here in Phoenix (Mesa, AZ). I just grabbed some drawing paper and started. I didn't really like the paper so this became my first draft until I got some different paper. The pastel didn't seem to stick to the paper but some obviously did as there is still color. Since then, Chris Saper has recommended some paper that I have yet to find time to use! This portait ended up in the garage with stuff thrown on top of it. I have since salvaged it by putting it in a frame to hang in the guest bathroom.

Anyway, my question is what would you change about this pastel before I embark on another one? She looks really yellow on my screen but isn't quite like that in real life. I really like her expression and want to capture all those colors I saw.

Thanks ahead of time for any advice!

Tom Edgerton · 03-26-2003, 05:46 PM

Virginia--

Very nice. The drawing is obviously well observed, as are the values. The only thing I'd look at would be incorporating some tonal and color effects in the background. The effect would be less "pasted on," and would give you a chance for some lost and found edges. Also, the strokes seem a little uniform and same-y, tentative. Try different surfaces and edges of the pastels for more stroke variety.

Two excellent artists to study to see some of what I'm referring to are the inimitable Harley Brown, and also the late Bettina Steinke. Ms. Steinke painted a lot of the same subjects as this, with a tremendously sculptural vigor and force to the strokes. They both do a lot of vignetting into the background, as here--especially in their pastel work.

Good luck, and happy painting.

Virginia Branch · 03-28-2003, 09:33 AM

Thank you, Tom. I liked all your suggestions and will keep them in mind when I embark on the portrait.

I seem to have the tendency to blend with pastels but I am still experimenting with them and will look-up the artists you mentioned when I get the chance.

Thanks again!