JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
EDITORIAL SCRIBBLE We are proud to present the third issue of The Pastel Scribbler! We are still a small community but the articles are very interesting and useful for all of us. We continue with the column “Artist Looking At” where Charlie explains compositional elements and design behind Degas paintings. If you are using pastel pencils you will be faced with sharpening problem sooner or later and Dorte is coming to your rescue with a few tricks on how to use cutting edge tools ☺ and make your life happier. When you are done with sharpening you can start using your pastel pencils and draw an eye, Dorte will help you on your journey with the great tutorial. You can read about Anita, a pastel artist from Arctic region, who won last month’s Get Dusty contest. The next Pastel Scribbler you can expect in your e-mailbox beginning of September.
Mario Vukelić
Happy summer painting!
ARTIST LOOKING AT: Degas – Getting in Shape By Charlotte Herczfeld
One of the most fascinating artists of all times is Edgar Degas. He is usually regarded as one of the Impressionists, together with Monet, Renoir, and others. Some commonly used criteria for what is called Impressionism is that a painting is made on location (en plein air), preferably painted in one sitting (alla prima), and consisting of broken pure colour painted in short brushstrokes or dabbed onto the canvas with the tip of the brush, capturing an impression of the scene. To this we can add that Impressionists strived to capture the quality and quantity of light, also the light shimmering in shadows, and that they often avoided black (but did not ban it) and used the so called prismatic colours unmixed to achieve effects, letting the pigments blend optically on the canvas. They strived to capture a moment of time with spontaneity.
Edgar Degas, Autoportret
Degas, on the other hand, always worked in his studio, often painted indoor scenes at night and lit by artificial light, preferred dry pastel sticks to oils, and is said to have relied heavily on sketches drawn on location. He drew outlines around objects, and planned paintings carefully, putting great emphasis on composition and design. Not the usual methods of an Impressionist.
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
Working in the studio Degas had definite views on where he wanted to work. Painting directly from nature requires the artist to carry his supplies and utensils to wherever he wants to paint, enduring the shifts of weather and insects and other uncomfortable things. Degas stated his views succinctly: “Art is not a sport”. It was not important to him to actually be on location when he painted: “Art isn’t about what you can see, but what you can get others to see”, he said. His experimental methods of applying pastels definitely required him to paint in his studio, where he had comfortable access to all he needed. He had made the transition from painting in the traditional oil paint to paint mostly with pastel sticks during the time period of 1875 to 1880. Contrary to the fabled “spontaneity” of the Impressionists, Degas carefully worked out the designs of his paintings. “Fabled”, because the impressionists did achieve a spontaneous look using one of the most difficult methods of painting, and also used compositional principles. To Degas, a painting was “something which requires as much knavery, trickery, and deceit as the perpetration of a crime.” Having been schooled in the design and composition principles of the French and Italian academies, and being an ardent admirer of Ingres, Degas left nothing to chance or fleeting impression. Degas had a plethora of new inventions and phenomena to aid his compositions: photographs, cropping effects, Japanese woodcuts, flattened compositions, asymmetry, and the bright pigments and dyes which chemistry had been able to produce since mid 1800s onwards. In the previous article, “Captured in Silver” (in The Pastel Scribbler number 2), we looked at Degas’ extensive use of his own photographs as reference material for his paintings. This time, we will look more closely at the compositional elements of some of his paintings.
Deconstructing a Degas It is well known that Degas relied heavily on drawn lines. In the mid 1850s, the young aspiring artist met his revered master Ingres, who said: “Draw lines, young man, many lines, from memory or from nature; it is in this way that you will become a good artist.” And lines he drew, though his whole artistic output.
Lines are an excellent tool to convey a sense of movement, and Degas made very good use of them. In the sketch (left picture), the lines are giving a great dynamic to the movements of the girls. He’s tied them together in what looks like a very complicated knot. On the right is a painting with the same scene as the linear sketch. the Pastel Scribbler
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1 The outstretched arm in the background (remember it from the photo in the previous article?) has vanished in the painting, and some angles of arms are changed, and the emphasis has shifted from the foreground dancer to the leftmost, by the simple use of a dark ‘blob’ behind her face and lighter darks on the first girl. This is truly a complex painting, with many lines and rhythmic repetitions. If we analyze it the traditional way, we will find many interesting things. In the illustration below, the unchanged painting is a, and in b we search for repeated forms – the v-shape – and we sure find plenty of them! This, however, doesn’t really give us a clue as to how Degas was thinking when he designed the painting, it is too much information, too scattered and fragmented.
When analyzing paintings in the traditional method, one usually finds what one is looking for. In c I looked for three dimensional repetitions of form that would give depth to the painting: the line of dark heads in diminishing size, and the hands and arms. In d, I was looking for parallel lines in pairs. The pink lines show how one can find pairings with a bit of effort – too much effort. the Pastel Scribbler
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
A Matter of Design But why does the painting ‘stay together’ as a whole, in spite of all the swirling movement and near fragmentation, and luxurious and liberal use of a riot of colours? Let’s try to untie the knot. It is possible Degas had learned yet another thing from the Japanese woodprints – the way of designing a painting with the aid of darks and lights, and mid-tones. In Japan, that principle is called “notan”, which has no good translation into English, but means “light-dark”. Usually two to four values are used for composing a painting with the aid of notan, and the experts seem to agree that no more than seven values should be used. It is clear that the knowledge of notan principles in the Western world was widely spread amongst artists of that time, in both America and in Europe. Let’s look at Degas painting in yet another way, to see if we can discover some simple underlying notanprinciples. First we remove the colour from the complex painting. Then we let the computer program group and flatten the values into basically three, light, mid-tone, and darks, an interesting pattern emerges. This can be done with the naked eye, too. Just squint, and look at the painting through your eyelashes, and the values will group together. It is still recognizable as the painting. We find that the dominating value is a mid-tone which is linked and joined all over the painting. The darkest darks providing the accents are also joined, while the lights convey action, direction, and movement, and are (just as the darks) joined, or pointing to each other, or what is called “bridged”. It is a matter of choice when trying to analyze a painting in this manner, as values have to be grouped either with darker ones, or with lighter ones. If we choose all shadow masses of the girls to be the dark tone, we get a pattern that joins the darks even better, but for this article I chose to show the deep darks as accents, as they formed two very similar v-shapes. Could this be the key to the underlying structure that holds the painting together as a unified whole? If that theory has substance, then there would be similar structures to find in many, even most, of his paintings. Let’s look at a few more examples.
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1 In Singer With a Glove, the structure already presents itself clearly, but we can simplify it a bit further, choosing to make the leftmost light vertical into a mid-tone (if it had been light, the stripes of the background would have been clearer):
Again, the darkest darks are joined, the mid-tones provide stability, and the lights highlight, but here the darkest darks convey the action, and are clearly meant to, as diagonals. The painting is constructed around the gloved hand as the stark silhouetted contrasts draw our eyes irresistibly, with her face taking second place with its intricate pattern of lights, mid-tones, and darks. A curiosity is that the woman’s sleeve echoes the shape of her mouth, with white lace as teeth, and so does her décolletage. Was this intentional? Did the serious Degas have humour? Degas painted the most enchanting ‘scribble’ of light in his two dancers in blue:
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1 Here you see clearly that the narrow lights are connected, and the eye just flows over the bridges of mid-tone that crosses them. The mid-tones form a pattern of four linked ovals. But Degas could also go the other way, and link spindly darks:
This is an interesting way of attempting to analyze a painting. It also works well for constructing a painting of your own. Simplify the values, block in the large shapes either in grey or in colour, and then paint until you’re satisfied with the result. It will give a strong basic structure to your paintings, just like Degas had, regardless of if this was the method he used, or didn’t use, for achieving unification to support and hold up the movements and the lines. Degas does live up to his words: “No art was less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and study of the great masters – of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing.” And yet, his paintings show all the charm and spontaneity of a snapshot, a moment of movement frozen in time. But as we all know, a photographed snapshot is often not showing what attracted us to the scene, precisely because it is too fragmented and disjointed. Obviously, as Degas shows, the momentary movement needs careful planning and thought. Was he an impressionist? In the next article focusing on Degas’ use of colour (scheduled for the September issue of The Pastel Scribbler), we will attempt to draw some conclusions. © Copyright 2009: Charlotte Herczfeld
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
MEET THE ARTIST: Anitta Uusikartano, Finland The winner of Get Ready…Get dusty content for June is Anitta Uusikartano, Finland. Her winning painting is on the last side of this newsletter. Anitta is a talented artist who only recently has taken up painting in soft pastels. She lives in the arctic region of Lapland, in the “hand” of Finland, well north of the Arctic Circle, where the summer is short, but made longer by the midnight sun. The theme of “Summertime” is indeed a challenge for Anitta:
I had a hard time finding a suitable subject to a summertime painting. I like to work from my own photos but I live so far up in the north that everything looks more like springtime in June. Bergenia are evergreen perennial plants that can grow in climates with extreme temperature ranges. The ones I painted have actually survived 10 years without any care, here in our cold climate. They don't grow high here but they bloom every summer. I admire their will to live, it's a good reminder that one can thrive in hard conditions! Anitta is largely a self-taught artists who used to draw in charcoal, with some grey, black and white hard pastels mixed in. Recently, after some time away from art, she ventured into the realm of colour: I bought a small set of soft pastels to try them out. Apparently it paid off to do nothing for 9 years because I managed to amaze myself and my family with my first pastel painting. I have been painting almost every day ever since. I like still life subjects most, they are easy to find and I like arranging the objects. I'm allergic to most fruits and vegetables so I rarely have those around, this lead me searching for some less common subjects like teddy bears or high heeled shoes. I also enjoy painting animals and portraits. The step from charcoal to soft pastels is a natural one to take, but given that painting in soft pastel is rare in all the Nordic countries, the Scribbler asked Anitta what made her choose this medium: Back in my drawing days I got into a habit of using my fingers to shade areas or soften the edges of lines. Pastels allow me to do the same. I use my hands a lot when I paint. I have never been comfortable with a brush so I guess that's why I didn't go for oils or watercolors. When I was a little girl, about 6 years old, my dad bought me a big set of crayon sticks. I was thrilled to have so many colors to draw with! I sat on the floor of his office and drew for hours and he would praise my efforts. I was always daddy's girl and his sudden death in 2000 was devastating to me. When I look at my sets of pastel sticks they always remind me of him and of those crayons he bought me, and every time it brings a smile on my face. I'm 30 years old now and he's no longer here, but I still get that same thrilled feeling about having all those different colored sticks around me. the Pastel Scribbler
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1 I haven't come across many pastel painters here in Finland. I have seen pastels used in addition with other materials, and also in drawing. I think the general attitude here is that pastels are for drawing, that's what I thought until I started doing some research. We asked Anitta how she envisions her future as a pastellist: Painting is a hobby for me at the moment, but my family and friends are urging me to try to sell my paintings. I work as a cook in a small restaurant, and I'm very devoted to my job so it hasn't been my first priority to become a professional artist. Being self-taught, I also have many doubts of my abilities. I would love to take some courses in pastel painting but there doesn't seem to be any available in my country. I also dream of participating some day in an yearly exhibition some local artists put together here in our village, they have watercolors and etchings mostly so I think it would bring nice variety to show pastel paintings too. Anitta’s situation is very common for many pastellists in Europe: a neglected painting medium, few opportunities to learn. This was the very reason the Pastel Guild was founded, to bring such pastellists together so we can learn from each other, and make the versatile and serious artist’s medium known. The Scribbler is confident of Anitta’s abilities, and we are sure she will do very well in her local exhibitions!
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
DUST BIN: How to sharpen a pastel pencil By Dorte Krogh Nielsen
Cutting edge advice on how to sharpen a pastel pencil
When you are sharpening your pastel pencil, never user a standard pencil sharpener! It will break the pastel ‘lead’ as it will turn it around inside the wooden casing. What you should use is a snap-offknife. But don’t pick the first one you happen to come by! It is better to get a thicker and heavier model. I’ve marked four knifes with a red cross: those are the ones you should avoid. They are not fit for the sharpening, and most important, the blades of the thinnest ones usually break off when you whittle. You can buy replacement blades along with the knife. The pencils are hard on blades, dulling them quickly. As you can see in the image there are marks on the blade where I’ve used it. When it looks like the three outermost sections do, you should snap off those sections, as they are too dull to cut well. the Pastel Scribbler
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1 The knife usually is made up out of four parts. The knife, the blade, the glider which holds and guides the blade, and the end part, which often can be used to break the blade.
This is how you do when you want to break a blade. First you slide the blade so far out that the part you want to break off is free. Then you take the end part and slide it over the blade. Be careful that the broken off blade doesn’t fly away! You could use a towel as a shield while breaking.
I usually do the sharpening directly into a bag, since it is dusty and messy work, so I don’t have to leave my drawing table when I’m drawing. This is how I hold the pencil and the knife. Take a steady grip on the pencil and then you gently and carefully push the knife through the wood with your thumb.
I like to have my pencils very sharp, especially when I do work on details. This is how my pencils look when newly sharpened. When I’ve sharpened my pencils to the sharpness I want, and start a drawing, I usually make test samples on how much pressure to use with the pencil in order to get the desired effect. I always have a piece of white velour paper at hand, so I can try color mixtures, and the pressure I should use for that specific pencil. the Pastel Scribbler
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
Velour paper comes in ten different colors, and it can be hard to pick which color to use for a certain painting. I have a few tips regarding that. If you are, for instance, about to draw a dog, look at the fur of the animal and see if it has a colour bias. If there is a green shimmer in it, it can be a good idea to use a green paper, and correspondingly, if there is a brown color to it, use a brown paper. To choose the paper with care can save lots of pastel, since the color of the paper is in itself a layer of the painting .
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As a general rule you are not on the wrong path if you use a brown or light grey paper for an animal’s portrait.
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If you are painting a black cat it is a good idea to use a light colored paper, and reversely, use a dark paper if you’re painting a white cat. The dark paper will set the animal off in a different way than when you use a piece of white paper to paint a white cat.
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Please don’t let what I’ve written determine what you chose to do. Test different things and you’ll find out what works for you. Your imagination sets the limits.
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
TUTORIAL: Looking at You by Dorte Krogh Nielsen
Dorte Krogh Nielsen teaches us how to use pastel pencils on velour to render a complex eye of a dog, and how to achieve it with surety and exquisite detail. The eye is 6 cm wide.
1. I start with a very precise sketch of the eye that I'm going to paint. I use a very sharp black Derwent pastel pencil. (See the separate article in this issue on how to get a really sharp point.) 2. Then I gently start to fill in the colors, in this case a combination of blue and purple. The eye I am painting is reflecting the sky and the ground around the dog. 3. After carefully having made a judgment of the colors I need, I choose to put in some more blue and purple. I mix a dark blue, light blue, and a purple to get the different effects in the inner part of the eye. 4. Using a Terracotta color, one of my personal favorites, I start to paint the iris part of the eye. I begin to put in the black area that is a reflection of the person taking the picture. I paint all of this with very sharp pastel pencils. There are no sticks of soft pastels here, only pastel pencils. 5. After having used some more terracotta, and black, I start to define the eye by drawing in the lines surrounding it. I also block in some yellow/light brown for the reflection of the beach the dog is standing on.
6. Here the eye is almost finished. To unify the eye, I have mixed in more layers of the colors I’ve already used into all areas, and added more black to make the colors stand out. 7. Last but not least, I take my white pencil and make the light middle of the eye stand out, and using a black I start on the fur surrounding the eye. I'm finished with this eye now. the Pastel Scribbler
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1 8. Here you can see how the whole painting looks when it is finished. The size of the whole painting is 50x35 cm.
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JULY/AUGUST 2009 ● ISSUE 3 ● VOLUME 1
GET READY...GET DUSTY The winner for month of June on theme Summertime by popular vote is Anitta Uusikartano from Finland. Congratulations Anitta!!! You can find a short interview with Anitta in this edition of Pastel Scribbler. Join our monthly painting challenge where all members participate and have lots of fun. In addition to the fun of painting, there is the excitement in the fact that all members get to Vote!! There shall be one winner, who shall have the honor of having their painting displayed on the starter page of our PGE site, and an interview with the winning artist published in the Get Dusty Gallery. Up to 5 Honorary Mentions will get their paintings displayed in the Get Dusty Gallery. The theme for July/August is Freedom. For more details visit Get Dusty web site at pastelguild.eu/dusty.asp
NEWS, SHOWS, EXHIBITIONS, WORKSHOPS Societé des Pastellistes de France: International Pastel Festival, July 4 to Sept 6, 2009, in Feytiat International Pastel Festival, July 18 to Sept 13, 2009, in Saint-Florentle-Vieil http://www.pastellistesdefrance.com/fr/festival_expo/festival_expo.htm
Tell us what’s going on Tell us what is going on in your corner of the Europe, write something about old or contemporary pastel artists from your country, inform us about interesting events, exhibitions, shows and we might join the party. Write anything you feel the other artists reading our newsletter can find interesting. Write to Hscribbler@pastelguild.eu
© 2009 The Pastel Guild of Europe, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. The Pastel Guild of Europe website: Hpastelguild.eu Send your feedback to Hscribbler@pastelguild.eu
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