A recent pastel

[Allan Rahbek]

Steve,
thank you for showing this beautiful pastel.
You paint with the greatest ease and I too would love to see some really close up's to try to understand what you actually do to make this rich expression.

[Steve Craighead]

Allan and David, Here's a closeup. I don't know if you do pastel, but you might be interested in knowing that I use a combination of Nupastels, Rembrandt, Schmincke, and Unison. Really anything that works. I love the give of linen and therefore do pastels on a finely woven polyester fabric coated with acrylic gesso, pumice, toned with raw umber, and stapled over stretcher bars.

[Steve Craighead]

Claudmir, Linda, Mischa, and Cynthia, thanks so much for your nice compliments.
Karine, I'm honored to be on your list.
Chris, sorry I missed you at the last seminar. I'll get Susan to post her
winning portrait soon.
Alex, you have a good eye. I enjoy reading your comments.

Steve

[Karine Monaco]

Steve,

Thank you so much for the close-up and for the explanation concerning the materials you are using.

I have a question to ask you... You must have been asked this a thousand times, but here it is : how do you protect this kind of pastel artwork?

I also paint with pastel on canvas, and people usually do not want them to be framed under glass.

Each artist has its own opinion on this matter and I would appreciate it greatly if you could share with us your point of view.

Have you, by any chance, found a way to avoid using glass framing for your pastels?

Who knows, you could have rediscovered De La Tour fixative recipe!

Sincerely,
Karine

[Steve Craighead]

Hi Karine,
If you use DIN glass or a nonreflecting glass from other manufacturers you really don't see it. I tell my clients that pastels are made of the same pigments as oil paint yet they don't crack or discolor with age. They do have to be protected by a sheet of glass though. I remember seeing a de la Tour pastel and a Chardin self-portrait pastel at the Louvre the last time I was there. They looked as fresh as if they had been painted the day before, at 250 years old that's pretty good. I don't remember noticing the glass.

[Karine Monaco]

Hello Steve,

Well, that's exactly what I was looking for. And that is well-said. I am sure you can convince your customers to buy pastels with these nicely put selling points.
Demanding people might though have some concerns about alteration over time when pastel artworks exceptionally go through - even small - shocks.
I am talking about this because some people reported that pastel, over some period of time, when you put fixative on them, tend to amalgamate and loose their freshness and look.
I personally sometimes use fixatives (several layers of pastel all "covered" with fixative), sometimes not at all (I prefer this option). I do not know yet of the more suitable way to choose between those and I actually myself noticed that using a fixative tends to amalgamate the pastel powder, and when there is some shock on the artwork, more quantity of pastel thus falls (this might just be a problem of quality of the fixative used - I tried a few different brands).
Is the pumice you are using when preparing your canvas sufficient to prevent your pastels from being altered when exposed to shocks?
As you are so experienced in this field, I was wondering if you could tell us wether you use a fixative or not, and what were your observations concerning this issue.
Thank you again for taking some of your precious time to answer these questions. I sincerely appreciate.
Karine

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Steve, this pastel could have been made by De Laszlo.
I think you completely suceeded in what you were trying to achieve. A truely charming portrait and a painting in its own right, I think it would be nice to have it on the wall even if one was not the client
Ilaria

[Tom Edgerton]

Steve, this is wonderful.

I've noticed that when the best artists swing between pastels and oils, there isn't a significant difference in understanding or handling between the two media. This work is no exception; your sensitivity and control always shows whatever the materials.

Great work!-TE

[Steve Craighead]

Karine,
I don't use fixatives at all. They drastically change the colors of the portrait. There will be some dusting of the pastel, but 99.99% of the pigment will remain embedded in the ground. You won't see difference in the portrait from this dusting. However, its a good idea provide a gap between the glass and the pastel for the dusting to fall and collect.
The pumice I use is distributed by H. Brehlen & Bro. Its #4F. I have a tendency to use my fingers a bit and that grit will grab the pastel, but not tear up my fingers.
You mentioned earlier something about the de la Tour fixative. I'm curious, what is that?
Also, you got me interested in seeing some of his pastels again. Here are a couple of Maurice Quentin de la Tour for anyone who is not familar with his work. I think they were done in the 1770s.

[Steve Craighead]

Thanks Tom. I know you must be on that list of the forum's most favorite artists.
Ilaria, ...de Lazlo? Yikes. I wish. Thanks anyway. By the way, I like your Britboy very much. (http://www.ilardt.com/ilardt/openstu.../britboy-1.jpg) I studied with Henry Hensche, an artist/teacher who spent his entire career working with color. He would have liked that one.