Sunlit Cove - Pastel on UART Paper

This is a recent ATC that I did in pastel on UArt 800 sanded paper.  I like the sanded papers as a general rule because they hold so much pastel (or colored pencil) but I'm not overly fond of this particular grit.  I bought a package of this when I attended Jerry's Artarama trade show because the UArt rep said that it was very good with the pan pastels.  However, I wish I had chosen a paper with a bit more grit to it.  Live and learn!

Lots of things went on this past weekend including the fact that a couple of girlfriends and I went to Greensboro yesterday to an Arts and Craft show at the Coliseum.  We went early enough that it wasn't horribly crowded so were able to see the art very well.  There seemed to be quite a few craftspeople there along with photography booths but there were also a few painters.  I always enjoy looking at any art work but one booth in particular caught my eye - that of North Carolina artist Susan Crouch.  Her watercolors seemed so light-filled and, probably because her subject matter reflects my own preferences, I was totally enamored of her work.  While her art looks good on her website, it was gorgeous in person.  I could see that "glow" that watercolors are supposed to have and I long to paint like that!  She does offer workshops from time to time but I don't know if I could ever work up the courage to take one. 

I tend to fall all over myself when painting in public - sort of like someone trying to speak in front of an audience.  I knock over my water, I get flustered trying to mix paint and everything I already know flies right out of my head.  To top it off, it's as if my painting hand gets almost paralyzed and if there is any movement at all, it's choppy and jerky instead of the smooth, fluid strokes that are needed! 

OK, so now you all know my "dirty little secret".  Does anyone else feel this way?  If so, how do you get around it?  I've seen several workshops that I'd like to take but feel that I'd be too nervous to get much out of one.  I guess like every other fear, you just have to confront yours and do it afraid until you get past it!  Anyone want to go to a workshop with me?

ACEO/ATC Pastel Experiment

The painting here is one painting of multiple experiments!  We have a shamrock plant that has tiny white flowers on it and I've always wanted to try to paint them and I finally did it.  I also used this painting as a basis to experiment with 1) using pastel pencils on a very small  support  2) using PastelMat as that support and 3) steaming as an alternative to spray fixative.

Even keeping the pastel pencils as sharp as possible, I still had problems with this small painting.

ACEOs (art card editions and originals if sold) or ATCs (art trading cards if traded) have only one rule and that is a size rule - they must be 2.5 x3.5 inches (or 3.5 x 2.5 as in my painting).  That's a mighty small space to work in especially if you're as "ham-fisted" as I am.  My hands are pretty large which makes it very difficult to work in small spaces but I managed fairly well with this and am pretty pleased with the way it came out.  I could not get a super smooth finish but think that's as much the support as anything else.

Which brings me to the PastelMat that I used for this.  I've worked on this paper before (remember Belle?) and really struggled with it.  I had some difficulty this time also as it's nearly impossible to blend on it which is really my only complaint with it.  The nappy surface holds pastel extremely well and there's very little dust which is wonderful in my opinion!  I think the color of the support should be carefully considered though.  It seems to make a difference since you can't really "tone" the surface easily.  I used the Anthracite color for this painting although I used pastel on the whole surface.  

Although the PastelMat really holds the pastel, I decided to try to fix it more by using steam.  I wasn't sure how to do it exactly but I basically just heated a small pan of water until it produced consistent steam then held the painting face down over the pan.  The PastelMat is a card instead of a flimsy/floppy paper so I was able to hold it by the edges (plus this is a small painting).  I steamed it just long enough to get the surface damp but not wet.  The pastel did not permanently change color although it darkened until the painting dried (which only took a minute or less).

I don't know what, if any, benefit there is to steaming as the pastel will still rub off but I may not have done it correctly either.  There's no loose pastel dust but there was just a minute amount before steaming anyway.  I think I may have to try this with another support to fully gauge the effectiveness.  It would stand to reason that steaming would work as using water or alcohol in the painting process tends to compact and "set" the pastel.  If it does work well, I may invest in one of those hand-held steamers so I can steam without having to hold the painting while I steam it.

I hope you've benefited from these experiments and if you have anything to add, I hope you'll let me know.