So cool ... and warm.

Oh, how I love Margaret Dyer's work and how I loved her talk and demo at IAPS in Albuquerque earlier this month. Her methods clicked with me, especially the layering of warm and cool colors of the same value. As she said, this gives your painting energy and vibration. I've done a little practicing with that, from photos we were all lucky to shoot of a model she had there.

Here is the demo Margaret did of the model ... in a little over an hour! (Sorry they aren't more in focus.)

She builds the painting by starting with the darkest darks and layering the warms and cools.  Look at that purple and blue in the shadows on the arms!

I love all the colors she uses in the skin especially. She says the color is arbitrary, it's the value she reaches for. You can see the energy coming through the layers of temperatures. Well, maybe not so much in MY photos of her painting, but trust me.

Now I try. Same model but this is from photos I took of her.

The deep red shadows are my darkest darks.

At this point the skin shows cool colors.

I layered some warm colors onto the cool colors in the skin here, trying to choose the same values. But I do have trouble with value! 

Then I layered cool colors on again ....

Margaret suggested about four layers I think, but did I do four? No. In my usual style I got carried away and did about eight! I think the painting started to get away from me and I felt like I was losing control of it. I began to get confused about my values!

So here (below) is what I ended up with at quittin' time. It's okay but I think I liked it better about two layers ago. Bearing that in mind, I may try this one again sometime. I like the model's pose and the lighting.

And here is another one I did using the Margaret Method. I didn't take photos of it in stages but I kind of like this one a little better because of the stronger colors in the skin. (And yes, the model was pretty muscular.)

Still so much to learn and refine but this layering of temperatures really resonates with me. Thank you Margaret Dyer! (Aw hell, she won't see this.) A real break-through! I'll keep at it.

A Colorful Experience

Okay, could I even BE more inspired???

Having just returned from the IAPS Convention (Int'l Assoc. of Pastel Societies) in Albuquerque, I am bursting with new ideas and inspiration! Pastel buddies Katherine and Jane joined me for 4 days of bliss.

We attended demos and learned amazing techniques from fabulous artists like ....

Margaret Dyer & her demo ......

.... and Marla Baggetta.

Marla's demo ... painted in about an hour!

We made new friends .....

We met Vicki (on the right) on the airport shuttle the 1st day and she quickly became our new buddy. AND, she's from New Braunfels, a town near us back home in Texas!

We spent lots of time amongst beautiful paintings in the gallery .....

.... and we spent lots of time (and money) at the trade show. Also known as The Candy Store.

This is the Terry Ludwig booth. A visual experience!

We enjoyed the restaurants and local color in Old Town.

It was an inspiring time and now we're all home painting. Thanks IAPS ... we'll be back!

Convention time!

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Albuquerque to attend the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Convention with two of my pastel buddies, Katherine and Jane. Very exciting! It will be three days of mingling with and learning from fabulous pastel artists whose work I've come to admire since my passion for pastels began a couple of years ago. Just to name a few, I'm thrilled to be registered to attend demos given by Desmond O'Hagan, Lorenzo Chavez, Margaret Dyer and Marla Bagetta.

I will take pictures and report back upon return!

In the meantime, I've discovered a new favorite pastel surface to work on ... Ampersand Pastelbord. So smooth and creamy with lots of tooth and I'm loving the board instead of paper. So of course I had to order a good supply which arrived today! Here is one I just did on the Ampersand. Adding to my apparent series of stuff on a blue and white napkin.