Customer Reviews

How to Paint Figures in Pastel

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Without being modest, I gained enough confidence in a very short time to complete and enter my first pastel (a new medium for me) in the Pastel Society of America's annual competition in 1979. From 1,000 entries from around the U.S. and Canada, only 100 were to be selected for the exhibition and final judging. My work was ultimately accepted that year and the following year. So... if you want to explore a wonderful medium made easy to understand through the great examples given throughout the book, this is the one to get. I've collected many other pastel books throughout the years and by far have found this to be an exceptional book. The example illustrations throughout are in black and white and color, and when someone asks me for a recommendation on pastel technique I always recommend this book.

The logical sequence of the chapters begins with the Introduction, including A Brief History and why to paint in pastel, including the advantages and disadvantages. Chapter 1 discusses the medium, Chapter 2 supports, Chapter 3 preparing your own own surface, and on through the use of fixatives, tools and equipments, color palettes, demonstrations, planning, the nude figure, skin and hair tones, both pointillist and painterly technique, and ultimately the final stages, which include matting, preservation, frames, handling and so on. The step-by-step demonstrations included are from Burt Silverman, Harvey Dinnerstein, Everett Raymond Kinstler, Marcos Blahove, Ramon Kelley and finally, John Foote.

Definitely a keeper, add it to your collection as it is a classic, in every sense.