Known for his use of luminous color, Albert Handell, whose lush landscapes light up these pages, provides lucid instructions to help first-time pastelists achieve impressive results as soon as they begin working with the medium. After reviewing pastel supplies, the author discusses landscape composition and how to establish large shapes first, abstract certain areas, develop a focal point, work from dark to light, and capture the illusion of reality through color. Stepped demonstrations isolate specific landscape aspects, showing how the pastelist depicts skies, trees, buildings, water, rocks, woods, snow, and light.

Paul Hardy shares the delights and beauty of working with a medium that is versatile, exciting and inspiring. This colourful, practical guide illustrates the techniques of applying pastel to a variety of paper surfaces, from field sketching and composing a painting to painting skies, trees, water and reflections. Step-by-step demonstrations show the reader how to paint a series of landscapes from a moody moorland pastoral scene to a gently flowing river, aglow with the warm colours of autumnal trees. The artist is rewarded as fields, trees and flowers spring to life when pastel is applied to paper.

Secrets to Painting Beautiful Landscapes Painting the landscape can be fun and rewarding--if you make the right decisions as you paint. After all, it is the artist's greatest challenge to somehow capture a sense of it all--the grandness, the majesty, the splendor of nature--with just a few strokes of paint on a canvas. Popular art instructor Johannes Vloothuis makes the process a whole lot easier with the essential techniques, key concepts and expert advice he shares in this book. • Learn straightforward strategies to make your paintings more interesting and dramatic, such as simplifying the foreground, composing with abstract shapes and harmonizing colors. • Discover speci?c techniques for painting landscape elements including mountains, water, foliage, snow and more. • 9 step-by-step demonstrations walk you through all the techniques necessary to create successful landscape paintings. Landscape Painting Essentials is packed with practical information. You'll make the critical shift from painting what you see to painting as an artist sees. You'll learn to strategically edit shapes, rearrange elements and enhance color. You'll gain a better understanding of what to include in your painting, what to change and what to leave out. Most importantly, you'll gain the skills necessary to turn nature's bounty of inspiration into original, stunning landscape paintings.

Top Secrets for Beautiful Pastel Paintings Richard McKinley has been a professional artist for over 35 years. Factor in nearly as many years of teaching experience, and that adds up to a whole lot of know-how to share. In Pastel Pointers, he lays it all out: information on tools, materials, color, composition, landscape elements, finishes and more. Compiles the best of McKinley's popular Pastel Pointers blog and Pastel Journal columns Covers frequently asked questions ("How do I achieve natural-looking greens?") and simple solutions to common problems, such as excess pigment buildup Includes a chapter on "The Business of Pastels"—tips for framing, shipping, preparing for gallery shows, and otherwise representing your work in a professional manner This book covers everything from the fundamentals to get you going (how to lay out your palette, create an underpainting, evoke luminous effects) to inspirations that will keep you growing (plein air painting, working in a series, keeping a painting journal). Whether you're a beginner or an experienced painter anxious to explore the expressive possibilities of pastel, this is your guide to making the most of the medium.

Introduces the tools, materials, and techniques of pastel drawing, and presents a series of demonstrations with photographs of the original scene for comparison

As artists, we have choices. There are very few rules that apply across the board. We can create highly realistic paintings, or perhaps more expressive paintings, or paintings that have very little basis in reality, including those that are totally non-representational. We can record color as we see it or as we’d like it to be. As pastel artists, we have even more choices. We can use a wide variety of pastels, strokes, surfaces, and techniques to create many different looks. The choices we make form the framework of our individual style, our signature as artists. Any subscriber to The Pastel Journal realizes how varied the medium of pastel can be. For the experienced artist, these articles are stimulating, offering possible ways to experiment with alternative approaches. For the beginner, the panoply of choices can be overwhelming. Painting is primarily an intuitive process. But intuition is gained through study and experience. Part of my impetus in writing this book has been to create a more structured approach to help those fairly new to the medium understand its many possibilities. The book is aimed at all levels of pastel artists. Beginners will find a wealth of helpful information and intermediate artists will gain insight into how to take their work to another level and develop a style. Many advanced artists teach pastel; the organization of ideas and the exercises included should be of assistance. I offer a variety of suggested approaches and sometimes make up terminology to describe my experiences with the medium. The instructions in the book are based on my preferences and the guidance that I offer my students. The diversity of styles and techniques evident in the paintings of contributing artists should make it clear, however, that there are many ways to successfully work in pastel. Having acknowledged the many possibilities, I want to note a few musts. Representational paintings must be well-drawn. Poor drawing skills cannot be overcome with lovely color or great technique. Likewise, paintings must have strong compositions, regardless of whether they are realistic, abstracted, or non-representational. Values must be properly interpreted to produce strong compositions and to use pastel to its full effect. And finally, pastel paintings must sing! Whether the applications are light and airy, or rich and painterly, it should be clear that the artist is in control of the medium and is using it to produce his or her desired look. For years I have resisted suggestions that I write a book. As a landscape painter, I knew that there were more authoritative books already available. And the growing popularity of pastel has led to so many resources, including online blogs, a biennial convention, and the wonderful Pastel Journal, mentioned above. What could I add to this? My personal training in pastel has been from weeklong landscape workshops with some of the leading pastel painters in the country. As a teacher in a community college, I am not teaching a particular style nor focusing on specific subject matter. Some of my students work with the landscape, but others do portraits or figurative work, while others prefer still life, or work abstractly. In dealing with this mixture, I’ve realized that there are different ways to approach one’s use of color, and this formed my first idea for creating a book. Furthermore, as a teacher, I’ve spent time experimenting with different surfaces, pastel brands, and techniques in order to make suggestions to students to help them find the look they want to achieve. I do not teach students to paint the way I do, but instead, try to share my experience and help them develop their own individual style.

Discover the limitless possibilities of pastels with this beginner’s guide to creating modern, lively, and colorful pastel artwork. Artist and teacher Rebecca de Mendoça offers beginners a complete course in using pastels. Step-by-step exercises and longer projects help you to build the essential skills you need to paint a range of subjects, including landscapes, still life, portraits, and animals. Vital drawing techniques are explained and demonstrated, along with easy-to-follow explanations of color theory, composition, and the pastels themselves. This volume includes techniques for using both hard and soft pastels, eight skill-building projects, and a wealth of finished artwork to provide ideas and inspiration.