Pastel Journal Awards to Ardith Starostka, Cathy Muhly, and Sharon Knettel!

[Ardith Starostka]

Hi Garth,

I am going to post a new picture that is larger. I'm not sure what I did to the last picture because it turned out so small.

Thanks for your interest. It was a fun piece to do.

Ardith

[Ardith Starostka]

This painting was award an Honorable mention in the Pastel Journal Competition. And I am happy to say that this painting was just purchased by Fred Ross the chairman of Art Renewal Center. It is of my daughter, Haley. The paintings have been done from reference photos taken throughout the years. So, she keeps changing. In this painting she is about 11 (she's now 14). She's my favorite and most available model.

[Sharon Knettell]

Originally Posted by Ardith Starostka

This painting was award an Honorable mention in the Pastel Journal Competition. And I am happy to say that this painting was just purchased by Fred Ross the chairman of Art Renewal Center. It is of my daughter, Haley. The paintings have been done from reference photos taken throughout the years. So, she keeps changing. In this painting she is about 11 (she's now 14). She's my favorite and most available model.

Beautiful, luminous, gorgeous color.
Now don't do what I do eveytime I sell something, buy a new set of pastels!

Congratulations!

[Ardith Starostka]

Thanks for the comments. I love your work Sharon. Your ballerinas are gorgeous. I can't imagine doing such large size pastels. And I've never gotten up enough energy to prep my own boards. That's a feat in itself. It's just too easy to grap a piece of pastel paper and start.

Ardith

P.S. I won't need to buy any new pastels for a while--I won the full set of UnisonsI I love them.

[Sharon Knettell]

Originally Posted by Ardith Starostka

Thanks for the comments. I love your work Sharon. Your ballerinas are gorgeous. I can't imagine doing such large size pastels. And I've never gotten up enough energy to prep my own boards. That's a feat in itself. It's just too easy to grap a piece of pastel paper and start.

Ardith

P.S. I won't need to buy any new pastels for a while--I won the full set of UnisonsI I love them.

I am just nuts. Thanks for the kind comments.

I have a set of Unisons myself. Fabulous. I also bought a set of Great Americans. They are wonderful and consistantly creamy , have a fabulous range of colors, especially skintones and don't crumble like the Senneliers.

[Ardith Starostka]

I like Senneliers also. But they are so soft that I only use them on the last layer for final touches. I also like Grumbacher but again they are very soft. I haven't tried the Great American. May have to do so. I love trying the different pastels.

Do you spray your pastels? I've just recently started spraying since I have had some unfortunate incidents where the pastel really fell off in shipping. I tap my paintings also to get as much loose dust off as possible. Anything you would suggest?

Thanks
Ardith

[Sharon Knettell]

My pictures are so big I feel I have to spray. This paranoia about spraying is incomprehesible to me as there are some really good sprays on the market.

Daniel Greene in his book "Pastel", unfortunately out of print, tells of the benefits of spray. He uses it to darken areas, the builds tones on top of them.

I like Perfix, by Rowney. I can't see where it darkens it at all.
The old Grumbacher or Blair spray did and were splotchy to boot. The Lascaux is also good.

I am now experimenting with the new matte archival spray from Golden. It apparently has a UV protectant. It seems to be a little heavier than the Rowney. Also, I think the surface may have to do something with darkening. Absorbtive surfaces may darken more than the acrylic surface I am using.

The Golden Acrylic ground also holds a lot of pastel.

DON'T DO THIS, but I do! Since my pieces are so large I carefully vacuum the surface. The nozzle is raised about 1" off the surface.

I said I was nuts. Hope this helps