Pastel Bytes – aka my Blog!

  • Happy Fourth!

    Hope that you all had a great Fourth of July. I know I certainly did spending some time with family, good friends, and painting. Missing the beach up in Mass and can’t wait to head there this Wednesday. Gotta start packing and make sure I fit my pastels in so I can paint at the… Read more

  • Mowry on Unified Color

    Unified Color – Reflections on an an exercise proposed by Elizabeth Mowry, PSA. For more details on the original exercise I would recommend purchasing a second hand copy of this publication.  The title is:  The Pastelists’ Year, see pages 36 through 39.  Sadly, this book is currently out of print but you might find it… Read more

  • People

    Have been attending a portrait session each week for a couple of months now.  Very challenging, love the concentration time and not every week produces a good painting.  Here is a sample of some that I worked on a little once I returned to the studio.  I tend to refine for a couple of days… Read more

  • Getting involved in my local pastel society! January 2017.

    So, we moved to Houston, Texas a little over two years ago and to try to find ‘my people’ I searched local art societies for Pastel and for life drawing sessions. Success was swift. I found a little gem, the PSST or Pastel Society of Southeast Texas. I went to their meetings, I volunteered to… Read more

  • Mark Making: practical, technical, fun:)

    Thanks for glancing at this blog.   It will be very informative and brief, to the point of ridiculousness.  It’s called Pastel Bytes.  These little gems will be about the practical technical aspects of pastel painting,  drawing or the bones of painting, art history from Leonardo to Banksy, a spotlight of a current Pastelist’s work, and a… Read more

  • Don’t forget the cornmeal

    Best way to clean my pastels?  Goya Enriched Fine Yellow Cornmeal or Harina de Maiz, Amarillo Fina Enriquecida en Espanyol.   Always give my pastels a cornmeal bath after a painting.  Then I am set up to work on my next painting.  I really wanted to substitute masterpiece for painting but not everything I do… Read more