Pastel agram - Pastel Society of America

Pastel Society of America
America
A Review of Pastel Painting and Technique
Winter/Spring 2010
Spring/Summer1997
Volume 37,
1
Volume
22, No.
No.3
The Lyric Pastels of Arthur Bowen Davies
Arthur Bowen Davies (1862-1928) "Mysterious Barges II", pastel on paper, 5 1/2" X 8. 3/4".
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Gift of A.W.Bahr, 1958.(58.21.52) @ The Metropolitan Museum Of Art,1984
“Sweater Girl,” Pastel by Flora B Giffuni (1919 - 2009) HER LIFE AND LEGACY, Page 4
Pastelagram
C O N T E N T S
WINTER/SPRING 2010
Cover: “Sweater Girl,” pastel by
Flora B. Giffuni (1919-2009)
4
IN MEMORIAM
Flora B. Giffuni
By Duane Wakeham, PSA
6
A Dazzling Show
Amid a Great Loss
Review of the 2009 Annual
By Suzanne Karnatz, PSA
9
Achieving
Brightness
By Dennis Rhoades, PSA
12
Posing the Figure:
Inspiration and
Dynamics
By Ken Landon Buck, PSA
16
Journey Toward
Abstraction
By Elaine Augustine, PSA
The Pastelagram is a publication distributed to
all members of the Pastel Society of America,
Master Pastelists, Honorary Members, PSA
donors and advertisers. The contents of this
publication may not be reproduced in whole or
in part without the consent of copyright holder,
PSA. We welcome all editorial submissions,
although we reserve the right to edit any unsolicited material. © Copyright 2010
W
elcome to our 2010 issue of the Pastelagram.In the
year 2009, our dear Flora B. Giffuni was taken from
us so suddenly. She was a little lady but a giant in
the world of art. This issue of the Pastelagram is
dedicated to Flora. She will forever be present in our lives. Her
daughter, JoAnn Wellner, is on our Board of Governors now and
is actively participating.
We are launching a brand new Web site of the Pastel Society
of America (www.pastelsocietyofamerica.org).
We think you will find it truly beautiful. In
addition, from the office’s perspective, the system for maintaining the Web site is much more
efficient because we can make timely changes
ourselves, instead of paying an outside specialist
to do so. (A great big “thank you” to our
Board member, Sangita Phadke, PSA, who
worked long and hard to make it so terrific!)
Guess what? PSA is going digital for the
2010 Annual. You may still send slides this
year, but your entries may also be digital. Look
for your prospectus, first on the Web and then
in the mail. Please make note that
the deadline for entries will be earlier,
so mark your calendar for May 28.
Looking ahead to the year 2011,
we will be having a PSA exhibition
at the Noyes Museum in Oceanville, NJ. We are happily anticipating this event! More news about it in the future.
I’d love to hear from you at any time with your comments or
questions at psaoffice@pastelsocietyofamerica.org.
Until then, happy pasteling to all!
“PSA is going digital for
the 2010 Annual.”
Rae Smith, PSA
President
Welcome
We are happy to announce that
JoAnn Wellner, daughter of Flora B.
Giffuni, has joined the Board of
Governors, occupying the same position
as her mother in recent years, Honorary
Chair of the Board. Ms. Wellner, an
attorney and businesswoman, is no newcomer, having been involved in the creation of the Pastel Society of America, for
which she served as legal advisor for many
years. (Photo by Denise Rollard)
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IN MEMORIAM
Flora B. Giffuni
1919-2009
Founder, Pastel Society of America
“Three Faces,” pastel (18 x 24 in.) by Flora B, Giffuni, PSA
BY DUANE WAKEHAM, PSA,
with excerpts from an article by
Diane Rosen, PSA*
A
The young Flora Giffuni
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A S T E L A G R A M
t the 2004 opening of the
Giffuni Gallery of American
Pastels at The Butler Institute of
American Art, Dr. Louis A.
Zona, director, said, “If the world of art had
such designations Flora Giffuni would be
deemed the ‘Patron Saint of Pastels.’ I say
that, not just because of her founding of the
Pastel Society of America and other good
works on behalf of the medium and practitioners of the medium, but also because of
her other mission, which is to give the art
of pastel the kind of recognition and honor
that it deserves. She has been tireless in
her efforts to promote and to educate,
demonstrating a missionary-like zeal as she
works to raise the art of the American pastel to greater levels of recognition.”
In her interview with Mrs. Giffuni for
the Spring 2004 issue of Pastelagram, Diane
Rosen, observed that Flora had been “successfully making art, teaching art and promoting art . . . since she first fell under its
spell as a girl of twelve. Although she knew
her chosen path at an early age, a very different future had been planned for her by
her father, Dr. Baldini, [who] expected her
to follow him into the medical profession.
Wanting to please him, the talented and
extremely bright young lady studied premed for one year. It didn’t work. ‘I adored
that man and I tried, but I hated it – hated
it.’ ”
Flora was born in Naples and brought to
this country as a child. As revealed in her
interview with Rosen, she was the only surviving child of four children — her parents
had lost three sons.
Rosen described Flora as being “singlemindedly determined not to let any obstacles get in the way of her goals. There was
sadness but also passion in her voice as she
related the conflict behind [the] early,
watershed decision to pursue art. It is the
same indomitable spirit that drives her to
meet challenges head-on . . .”
After leaving pre-med, Flora earned a
degree in art from New York University and
an MFA from Columbia University. She
traveled extensively in Europe, including
her birthplace in Italy, got married, and by
getting up and painting in the middle of the
night, managed to work at being a fine
artist while raising three children.
In the late 1960s, Flora met and began
studying with renowned artist and teacher
Robert Brackman at the Art Students
League in New York City. As Rosen noted,
“Brackman was a champion of beauty in its
classic forms, as well as an advocate of the
brilliant use of color and, significantly, of the
“Flora’s dream
became a reality with
the opening of the Flora
B. Giffuni Gallery of
American Pastels at
The Butler Institute of
American Art . . .”
“The Red Ribbon,” pastel (18 x 24 in.) by Flora B. Giffuni, PSA
pastel medium. He influenced yet another
turning point in Flora’s career. She gave up
using oils and dedicated herself to pastel.”
As Flora explained, “I realized how few
people knew about or respected pastel, so it
became my life’s mission to do something
about correcting that.” Her concern
became even greater when, in the early 70s,
the American Watercolor Society, which
had been including pastels in its annual
exhibitions, banned them from future shows
“because they were winning too many
awards.” It was then that Flora was encouraged to start her own organization and stage
pastel exhibitions at The National Arts
Club. Winners from the first two shows
formed a Board of Directors and the Pastel
Society of America was officially established
in 1972. It is the oldest existing organization for pastel artists in the United States
and has been an inspiration in the founding
of more than 30 regional pastel societies, as
well as the International Association of
Pastel Societies.
Ever the educator, Flora guided PSA in
establishing a “Pastels Only” school, made
possible by the donation of space by The
National Arts Club. Originally founded in
1989, the school was recently named the
Flora B. Giffuni Atelier for Pastels. She
continued to teach at the
legacy of Flora B. Giffuni
school until just a few
was held at The National
years ago. She also creatArts Club on October 26,
ed a highly informative
2009, the day that would
lecture series on the histohave been her 90th birthry of pastels that she preday. Friends and artists
sented to art groups
joined the Giffuni family
around the country. In
to honor her memory and
2005, concerned about the
achievements, which have
decrease in art education
enriched the lives of pastel
in the public schools,
artists everywhere.
Flora initiated a program
Speakers included Club
to offer instruction in pasPresident Aldon James;
tel to inner city students
PSA President Rae Smith
Flora Giffuni in 2006
in two New York City
and other Board members;
(photo by Brenda Mattson, PSA)
public high schools –
Flora’s daughter JoAnn
Washington Irving High School and Marta
Wellner, who succeeds her mother as
Valle Secondary School – with the hope of
Honorary Chair of PSA’s Board of
inspiring a new generation of pastel artists
Governors; and Dr. Louis Zona, who made a
and encouraging other concerned individushort video presentation about the Butler’s
als and groups to follow her lead.
Giffuni Gallery.
In 2004, Flora Giffuni realized one of
Paying tribute to Flora’s generosity of
her greatest goals. She said, “My dream and
spirit, Diane Rosen noted in her 2004 artimy search for a permanent home for pastels
cle: “Spanning the amazing trajectory of her
went on for years.” That dream became a
involvement in the arts, [Flora Giffuni’s]
reality with the opening of the Flora B.
most tireless efforts have not been spent in
Giffuni Gallery of American Pastels at The
service of her own personal career, but in
Butler Institute of American Art in
the advancement of schools, organizations,
Youngstown, Ohio.
galleries and other opportunities for her felA Memorial Celebration of the life and
low artists.” q
* Quotations are from the article “Flora B. Giffuni, A Lifetime of New Beginnings,” by Diane Rosen,PSA, appearing in the Pastelagram, Spring 2004, which was a
special issue to commemorate the inaugural exhibition of the Flora B. Giffuni Gallery of American Pastels at The Butler Institute of American Art.
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— REVIEW OF THE 2009 ANNUAL —
A Dazzling Show Amid
BY SUZANNE KARNATZ, PSA
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY AFTERNOON AS PEOPLE GATHERED AT THE
National Arts Club in New York City for PSA’s annual awards ceremony on September 13.
It was just a few days after the passing of Flora B. Giffuni, founder of the Pastel Society of
America and the inspiration behind the great pastel renaissance that we all enjoy. Despite
the huge sense of loss among her family, PSA members, and all who knew her, the preplanned activities of the 37th Annual Open Juried Exhibition took place on schedule,
because that’s what Flora would have wanted. Later the same evening, following the annual dinner served in the gallery, an impromptu tribute took place as attendees, one by one,
spontaneously walked up to the podium and spoke of memories and experiences that
showed how much Flora Giffuni had impacted their lives.
T
hree exquisite paintings placed at
the entrance to the gallery were
the work of our 2009 Hall of
Fame Honoree, Elizabeth
Mowry. The art of this gifted Master
Pastelist and teacher conveys a calming
spirit. When I looked at her landscapes, I
felt a sense of gentle, almost spiritual, stillness – I wanted to take a walk down those
paths through fields of flowers.
Joe Hing Lowe’s “Rebekah and Red Robe,”
a dramatic arrangement of an exquisitely
rendered red silk robe with little Rebekah
peaking out from under it.
Across the aisle was Akiko Hoshino’s
“Wait for the Right Moment,” portraying
an expression of fearful anticipation on a
woman’s face emerging from a black background with barely visible signs of other figures huddled in darkness, executed with
Top Prize
This year’s exhibit was judged by
nationally known pastel artists, who
chose Jimmy Wright’s intriguing
self-portrait for first prize. Another
self-portrait of his was purchased by
the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and has been recently on view there.
A brochure from the fall 2009 exhibit of Wright’s paintings at the
Springfield Art Museum in Missouri,
states that Jimmy instinctively captures his self-portraits by “floating his
head.” The winning pastel, titled
“Eclipse,” showed exactly that, with
a suggestion of a sunflower in the
background behind his head, combined with interesting textures and a
rich interplay of muted colors.
Portraits and Figures
The figurative work in the
exhibit was outstanding. My attention was drawn to the contrasts of
subject matter within the work by
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“Rebekkah and Red Robe” (43x33 in.) by Joe
Hing Lowe, PSA, recipient of the Chicago Pastel
Painters Award
First prize, “Eclipse” (35x21 in.) by Jimmy Wright, PSA,
recipient of the Art Spirit Foundation, Diane B.
Bernhard, Gold Medal Award
stunning draftsmanship.
Most noteworthy was the pastel of
Diane DeSantis, “The Little Drum,” a very
dramatic pose of a woman holding a drum.
I was impressed by the artist’s subtle use of a
grayish neutral background against a carefully rendered play of light on the side of
the model’s face and against the dark shapes
of her hair. Her skillful treatment of the
shadowed hand lent great expressiveness to
the figure.
A large painting of a musician holding
his string instrument, “Intermission,” by
Teresa DeSeve, seemed to jump out from
a Great Loss
Second prize, “Rocky Ledge” (11x14 in.) by Charles Timken, PSA,
winner of the Great American Artworks Award
“Intermission” (42x28 in.) by Teresa DeSeve
“Footsteps” (19.5x25.5in.) by Linda Gross Brown, PSA, recipient of the 2009 Popular
Vote Award (determined by viewers’ ballots at the end of the show)
across the room. I spent time studying this
pastel up close and admired the bold,
painterly style of the artist, who used the
side of the pastel stick with no overworking,
reminding me somewhat of the simplicity
seen in Sargent’s figures.
Junko Ono Rothwell, whose work is
always exciting, featured an interesting pose
of a seated female nude from the back, using
a loose technique with dramatic color. Two
vibrantly expressive portraits by Rosalyn
O’Grady and Nancie King Mertz should be
singled out, as well as a softly rendered face
by William Schneider. I was also impressed
by the wonderful coloration of “The
Aboriginal Girl” by Mau-Kun Yim and
Rita Kirkman’s “Renaissance Youth,”,
which was smartly cropped.
Among groups of figures, Kathleen
Newman’s “National Past Time” caught
my eye, featuring men playing cards in
tones of gray.
Landscapes
A variety of exciting subject matter in
the landscape category was exhibited. The
second prize award went to Charles Timken
for “Rocky Ledge,” a striking scene of colorful rocks with bold contrasts, in particular
the strong shape of the large shadow against
the ledge.
Duane Wakeham’s “August Evening”
was a standout, with its skillful application
of soft, cool colors suggesting the quiet emotion of a marsh scene before nightfall. I was
very impressed with the design and reflections of Rae Smith’s “On Goldfish Pond
#74.” Linda Gross Brown’s “Footsteps”
communicated the chill in the air and the
crunch of footsteps in deep snow, leading
toward the woods in the upper part of the
composition.
Other pastels that I admired were: the
painterly simplicity and gestural portrayal of
“Shannonhaw Ridge” by Teri Gortmaker;
the European-like impressionist scene of “A
la Maison” by Maria Marino; the engaging
nighttime street scene by Alan Flattmann,
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Review of 2009 Annual Exhibit (continued)
reflected on a wet, rain-covered sidewalk.
“Summer’s End,” a sensitively composed
painting of a sunflower by Fong Ling, and
an enchanting pastel, “Backyard Lilacs” by
Alexandrine Bartlett, were outstanding
works in the floral category.
Reviewing the 2009 exhibit was for me
an education in itself – studying the work of
accomplished artists is always a learning
experience. As I walked through the gallery
my thoughts kept returning to Flora. How
can we ever express our indebtedness to
her? The answer must surely be: keep her
legacy alive, which was indeed done at this
outstanding show, the 37th since PSA’s
founding. q
“Balance” (18x24 in.) by Deborah Bays, PSA, winner of the Pastel
Society of New Hampshire Award
titled “Night Owls at Clover Grill”; and a
most unusual composition of a city scene by
Margaret Bruno, “Under the Umbrella.”
Still Life
Debarah Bays’s “Balance” is a unique
composition with contrasting colors of dark,
muted tones, highlighted by an opened
eggshell balanced on a spoon, which lies
across the top of an antique tea cup and
saucer with a white paper napkin under-
neath – you could almost touch the napkin.
This brilliant artwork was tastefully brought
to life by using a black core mat and a
rubbed, flat black frame.
Among still life pastels with wonderful
color were “Primary Colors” by Mally
DeSomma and “Apples & Figs” by Sally
Strand. Judy Evans handled a challenging
subject with admirable success in her piece
“After the Deluge: Symmetry on Royal,” an
unusual arrangement of tubas and drums
After 25 years of painting commissioned pastel portraits, Suzanne Karnatz, PSA, a Master Pastelist
and resident of North Carolina, is rekindling her love
of the landscape, plein air genre. She says her greatest pleasure is to teach her students how to see, then
interpret and simplify what they see. Her work has
been exhibited at the Exposition Internationale du
Pastel, France; Hermitage Foundation Museum,
VA; the Butler Institute of American Art, OH, and
numerous other venues.
Prize Winners
The following artists mentioned in the
above review were among the 52
pastelists awarded by the judges at PSA’s
2009 Annual Exhibition, in addition to
prize winners already indicated in the
photo captions:
Margaret Bruno, PSA, Herman
Margulies Award for Excellence; Mally
DeSomma, The National Arts Club
Award; Judy Evans, PSA, Terry Ludwig
Pastels Award; Alan Flattmann, PSA,
Joseph V. Giffuni Memorial Award (Flora
B. Giffuni); Akiko Hoshino, PSA, Pastel
Society of Tampa Bay Award; Rita
Kirkman, PSA, Salmagundi Club Award;
Fong Ling, Jack Richeson & Co. Award;
Maria Marino, Southeastern Pastel
Society Award; Junko Ono Rothwell, PSA,
Florence S. Prisant Award Honoring Flora
B. Giffuni; Rae Smith, PSA, Art Times
Award; Duane Wakeham, PSA, The
Pastel Journal Award.
Editor’s Note: A list of all award winners chosen by the judges appears in the
Awards Insert of the Exhibition Catalog.
One prize, the Popular Vote Award, is
determined by the viewers and is not
known until the end of the show (2009
popular winner shown on p. 7).
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Achieving
BRIGHTNESS
“September Mountain” (30x40 in.), pastel by Dennis Rhoades
BY DENNIS RHOADES, PSA
C
ustomers tell me they are drawn
to the bright colors of my work.
Achieving brightness with pastels is an interesting pursuit, one
which consumes much of my time. I am
always collecting ideas from many sources,
leading me to new combinations that yield
brightness.
The subject that inspires me most is fall
— the colors of fall, the emotional light of
fall, the wonderful sense of fall. (Is fall the
end of a season, or the beginning?) How
did I decide on fall and on bright? I live in
the mountains of Colorado, which for most
of the year is not colorful except in autumn.
Of course, I work during the other seasons
too, carrying over my enthusiasm for
intense color. I seek out objects and vistas
bathed in strong, warm sunlight and push
the color as far as I can. Sometimes when
working plein air, surrounded by bare trees, I
invent autumn foliage and insert it into the
scene.
I have spent hours studying the work of
other pastel artists and I am fascinated by
colors that are replicated throughout a
painting, whether in reflections, adjacent
rocks, trees or water. What base color is
showing through in flecks? I pay close
attention, not to the technique or subject,
but the use of color.
I have taken over 15,000 photos of
scenes that I might want to paint, but I
spend more time looking at pastel artistry.
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Achieving Brightness (continued)
“Frog Heaven” (14x18 in.), pastel by Dennis Rhoades
“When I began getting
wilder, I discovered
‘bright,’ and the sales
of my work really
took off.”
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Over the years I have developed an
internal sense of what colors work next to
each other and on top of each other to create the range of brightness I find pleasing.
That sense is intuitive now, but it comes
from constant thought and study. My wife
and friends must be tired of hearing me say,
“Wow, look at this,” when I come across
unusual color combinations in art, printed
matter or other sources.
I started out not straying too far, trying
to be true to nature. But soon I realized
“what the hell, it can be any color you want
it to be!” When I began getting wilder, I
discovered “bright,” and the sales of my
work really took off. I’m known for it now
so I keep doing it, partly because it draws in
buyers, but partly because I enjoy hearing
them say, “I just love to see your painting
every morning when I come down the
stairs. It makes me feel cheerful.”
I am aware of the issue of color fastness,
especially with bright colors, but I use
brands, such as Terry Ludwig and others,
which claim avoidance of fugitive colors. In
some brands, the lightfast rating is indicated
on the wrapper of each stick.
Orange Base
I think the orange base I start with
defines brightness on a fall day, particularly
the angular sun in the early morning and
the long rays of light just before twilight.
While my focus is on the explosion of warm
brights in a scene, cool brights are effective
as complementary colors and well-placed
dazzling shapes,
The crystals in the pastels add mystery
to the surface. You have to watch closely
because they scatter like fairy dust. They
don’t always light up in the same area, and
they won’t appear without being hit by a
light source.
After I apply the orange base (over my
“Red Rocks Two” (48x36 in.), pastel by
Dennis Rhoades
“Colors of Sunset” (16x20 in.), pastel by Dennis Rhoades
rough charcoal sketch), each color I choose
is designed to let the orange show through,
or designed to hide it. Most of my work
does not have an orange cast, yet it is
always there and it provides some harmony.
Orange is a visually exciting color, mixing the brightness of yellow with the power
of red. Bright orange is an energizing color.
I have found many interesting things happen when adding other colors to orange.
For example, leaves seem to jump at you
when a thin pastel layer of green is applied
on to the orange. Painting into an orange
background allows me to achieve more
vibrant hues by layering opposing colors of
the proper value. There is a bit of mystery
here as well. I can tell you why I made the
grass red instead of green (it suits the overall color balance), but I can’t tell you why I
allow the orange to show through where it
does.
After covering my charcoal drawing
with the transparent orange layer, I am now
ready to block in the big shapes with the
middle values of warm and cool colors. I
often start by sketching thumbnails with
pastel on paper off the canvas/support, trying different color combinations and juxtapositions. I then block in the darks, leaving
a lot of room in these dark areas so I can
come back later to paint into them the
“inner shadows” (colors within shadows).
A basic rule for me, from my days as a
commercial illustrator, is to keep the darkest
region of the light areas lighter than the
lightest region of the dark areas.
Overall Harmony
I know that I want to end up with all
three primary colors represented to some
degree so that the pastel has color harmony.
Painting from dark to light, I am always
thinking of the color associations. The
point of interest is exaggerated with
brighter, more intense colors, as well as
being the spot in the scene with the
sharpest focus.
While working, I am always looking at
the scene as a whole rather than focusing
on any one area so that I can constantly see
and compare color relationships. I also
improve the overall harmony by using neutrals which contain a degree of minor color
families to complement the major hues of
the composition. A nice harmony is produced when such neutrals are used close to
the brighter colors.
When I am outdoors in the fall I feel
exhilarated and alive. The light and colors
give me a lift after a long summer. Most
people think of autumn as the end of summer. To me, autumn is a new beginning —
not the death of green but the peak of
nature’s power. q
Dennis Rhoades, PSA, of Evergreen, Colorado, is a
Master Pastelist. He teaches at Evergreen Art
Center and he gives workshops and juries shows
throughout the country. He has won top awards at
major exhibitions and has been featured in national
publications, including International Artist and
The Pastel Journal. He is represented by Carol
Robertson Agency in Ruidoso, New Mexico, and
The Link Gallery in Cheyenne, Wyoming. His
work is in many corporate collections and he receives
numerous commissions from private collectors.
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Inspirat
POSING THE FIGURE:
BY KEN LANDON BUCK, PSA
I
“Leaning Nude” (39.5 x 31.5 in.), pastel by Ken Landon Buck
“When I am posing a
dancer on the floor or a
swimmer in the water, I
am basically trying to
grasp the rhythm of that
person. . .”
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do a lot of figurative subjects in my pastels and choose
my models by the way they are able to move, respond to
direction, and have the ability to create emotion in their
gestures. I generally like to draw the back since there is
so much information and form to capture, and keeping the
face turned adds a sense of mystery and grace to the pose.
Sometimes I choose to off-center the model, creating tension
in the allotted space. Other times, selecting a diagonal slant
in my figurative work can add energy and a sense of power.
I use a large variety of models when I paint: male, female,
older, younger, friends and acquaintances, but I always search
for the best one to create what I am trying to say with the
current idea. Many of the models I select tend to be male and
come from various fields of strenuous activity, such as aerobics, yoga, ballet, swimming, and those who work outside in
landscaping. The male form lends a powerful feeling to my
drawings, allowing for bold strokes and marks, especially with
a well developed back. I like to give my models the look of
being in motion, even when sitting. I have always admired
the way John Singer Sargent made his models come alive by
slightly twisting the seated figures so they look like they’re
about to get up or attend to something. Degas also used
movement in the bending form of his dancers. Their warm-up
stretches, or even the simplicity of a stretch with a yawn,
become absolutely fascinating to the viewer. It places the
model in the captured moment of being human. So when I am
composing and want to keep the models from looking too
stagnant, I position them, as the masters do, in twisting poses
that add energy and focus to the human quality they possess.
Use of the Camera
One way I find this energy in models is photographing
them. I try out a pose that I have in mind, then do variables
on the same theme by asking them to shift to the right or left.
I quickly click the camera while they are in the second of
moving into the next pose, creating an air of freshness that is
unplanned. I have had success using this concept. A humorous example of this comes to mind. I had a couple of good
lady friends who begged to have me paint the two of them
together and I reluctantly agreed. We all got together at their
place and they put on lots of make up and started doing very
“stagey” modeling — very Hollywood. I could not find an
image I wanted to draw and was quite worried our friendship
was in serious jeopardy. After two hours of photographing I
told them to ìtake a break.î They began relaxing and chatting intimately about a friend we all knew, and as they dished
him up, but good, I saw them being themselves and grabbed
ion and Dynamics
“Emily Emerging” (30 x 40 in.), pastel by Ken Landon Buck
my camera, clicked when they weren’t looking, and found
what I had been searching for. They were not happy with me
and said, “We were not doing anything! Don’t you want us
to pose?” I smiled, blessed them mentally, and said, “You did,
and it was so brilliant of you to do so. You gave me my muse
and direction for how to handle the rest of our session.” So I
kept our friendship intact, got a great painting out of it, and
learned a valuable lesson: spontaneity is a key factor in painting people.
I use the camera to capture the light and freeze the pose
to draw from. After blocking the composition, finding my
darkest values, and making sure the shapes are good, I do
many hours with the live model so I can find the form that is
flattened by the camera. This procedure frees the model up
for more breaks when I have a difficult pose for them to do. It
also gives me a way to back up what I see against what I think
I see. The photograph I select is like a road map for me. I use
it to plan my visual traveling toward my destination, but it
also allows me to take side trips with line and color that I
enjoy along the way. This keeps me from being a slave to the
photo and stimulates my exploring safely.
When I am posing a dancer on the floor or a swimmer in
the water, I am basically trying to grasp the rhythm of that
person in their chosen activity and imbue them with life and
naturalness. I do a lot of swimmers since that allows me to
capture motion and unusual angles to work from. Swimmers,
like dancers, always seem to be in a state of going from one
movement to the next and they create elegance in each gesture, even when they are seemingly still.
One way to create interest in a painting and give it an
edge is by using various compositional elements to lead the
viewer in. As a teacher of art over the past fifteen years, I
have noticed my students struggling with color, shapes, proportions, and even what they should paint. The greatest challenge of all, though, seems to be placement and composition.
It is not that they worry about making their marks because
they enjoy the process of discovery, but where and how to
make a subject exciting is what paralyzes their creative juices.
The Diagonal in Composition
The first idea to narrow down a composition is to look
through a view finder or an empty slide to simplify what you
are searching for. Then it becomes the challenge of what
design element would be the most interesting in telling your
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Posing the Figure (continued)
“My Own Corner of the World” (47.5 x 39 in.), pastel by Ken Landon Buck
“Whenever I am
around models, I find
they exude so much
information and
inspiration.”
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story. Many popular compositional choices
in figurative work are the circular, triangular,
the ‘S’ shape, and one I use frequently, the
diagonal.
The pastel “Leaning Nude” is an
example of strong diagonals, with the model
angled against the wall. I then placed my
light so it created a shadow with its own
tilt, leading the eye back to the model. In
addition, the shadow lines of the shoulder
blades create interesting diagonals, as well
as the feet lined up at an angle. This gives
the body a rhythmic quality, avoiding stiffness in the pose.
In my painting “Emily Emerging,” the
composition is enhanced by cropping in on
the image so that the face becomes the cen-
ter of attention and the water remains a
backdrop. Also, the head emerges from the
swirling water on a diagonal line, instead of
a vertical, giving the painting a sense of
movement. The abstract quality of the hair,
with its bold darks against the punched up
value of the water’s hue, contributes to the
balance and focus of the composition. I
began this painting with a rough drawing
on acid free watercolor board and did a fast
acrylic underpainting to get my basic form
and patterns in the water. A fine pumice gel
medium was spread over the surface of the
painting to give it a tooth to work over.
The gel was applied with a house painter’s
brush, using diagonal strokes, then allowed
to dry overnight. (It goes on looking very
milky, but eventually dries clear.) I then
worked for weeks building pastel layers from
darkest values to the lightest finishing
strokes.
In “My Own Corner of the World,” I
use the table as a diagonal directing us to
the figure seated in the chair. The radiator
in the left bottom corner is another diagonal leading us back to the figure, as is the
angle of the arm near the window and the
recurrence of the slant in the shoulder
blades. I also used a circular design in the
table, with a repetition in the shape of the
bowl on the table. This circle continues
from the table edge to the buttocks to the
rounded shoulder and back down to the
right arm towards the table again. This kept
the design fluid and interesting even though
the figure was quietly sitting.
The concept for the pastel “Seclusion”
was created when I saw a patch of light on
the carpet while I was posing the model
around my home. I thought how interesting
it would be to make him fit into the diagonal rectangle that was created through my
sky-light. I had him curl up into a fetal-like
position to make him seem vulnerable and
turn away from us so we can’t see his face.
This allows viewers to use their imagination
as to who he might be and peaks their
interest in what the model might be thinking or trying to say to us.
“Quiet Moment” uses the floating raft
as a diagonal compositional tool that leads
the eye to the vertical figure in the water.
“the diagonal
concept helps to
keep a composition
strong, not
static. . .”
By looking down on the figure, we get an
unusual viewing angle, which adds another
spark of interest because the upper plane of
the swimmer’s back creates another diagonal, relating to circular lines in the water
that lead back to the figure. The rich darks
against the moving patterns of light in the
water help to create energy and direction in
the painting as well. I sketched this drawing
on sanded paper with vine charcoal and
blocked in masses of broad color till I was
satisfied with the composition. I then
reworked the shapes within shapes until I
felt the painting had good color saturation
and movement in the water patterns.
In “Gliding Under” the female figure
leads us at an angle to the left bottom corner of the pool. The upper right arm also
gives us a directional quality as does her
right leg. The pink inner tube on the water
provides a surface quality so that we can
judge her depth beneath. I repeated the
warm color of the inner tube in her bathing
suit and reversed some of the color of her suit
into parts of the water and the inner tube.
This work was also created on toned sanded
“Seclusion,” pastel (37.25 x 45.75 in.)
“Quiet Moment” (25.5 x 31.5 in.), pastel by Ken Landon Buck
“Gliding Under,” (25.25 x 31 in.), pastel by Ken Landon Buck
paper with a loose charcoal drawing, building up layers of darks till
the final touches of light.
In summation, the diagonal
concept helps to keep a composition strong, not static, leads
the eye where I want it to go,
and creates energy even in tranquil moments. I don’t always use
this method alone, but it helps
to vary my visual storytelling.
Whenever I am around models,
I find they exude so much information and inspiration. By
focusing on their twisting body
or angular attributes, I am able to generate a
center of interest. Then if I want to add
more drama to the composition, I zoom in
by cropping to narrow down exactly what I
want to say with that particular model. Even
after all the compositional elements are in
play, it is my creative muses that always
have the last visual word. q
Ken Landon Buck, PSA, is a Master Pastelist of the
Pastel Society of America and the Pastel Society of
Oregon. His work is in many private and public collections, such as the Brown Forman Corp. and the
Springfield Museum of Art. He resides in Kentucky
and can be reached through his Web site, kenlandonbuck.com.
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Journey Toward Abstraction
“Sundancer” (10x13 in.), pastel by Elaine Augustine
BY ELAINE AUGUSTINE, PSA
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M
y artistic journey began as an
eight-year-old child who had
been given an oil paint-bynumbers set. Never one to do
the expected, I used those little tubes of
paint to create my own work of art — on
the back of the canvas!
Because I was from an artistic family
that early on recognized my interest in
painting, I was encouraged with art classes
throughout my primary school career and
private lessons with a local abstract artist
while in high school. Being raised in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, a community where the
focus was on science and math, I was led to
believe that you couldn’t make a living as
an artist, so I began working toward a math
degree at the University of Tennessee while
also taking drawing and painting classes.
This was the 1960s when art was all about
abstraction with very little importance
given to the classic fundamentals of creating art. I can say that at this stage of my
journey I was a painter and not yet an artist.
In the 1970s I took several printmaking
classes at the University of North Alabama
where my instructor, Al Hausmann, an
amazing printmaker, finally taught me the
fundamentals of art: the importance of composition, color, value, and perspective—
everything I had missed in my earlier classes.
Hooked on Pastels
Fast forward through more years of
being away from my easel, raising four children and helping run the family business,
“And so I have come full
circle, back to painting
pure abstracts as in the
1960s.”
“Almost Square”
(13x12 in.),
pastel by Elaine
Augustine
then enrolling in a watercolor class at the
same college with the same instructor. This
was the early 1990s. My last child was
entering college eight hours away, and I was
determined to rediscover the joy of working
at my easel. The course required fifty paintings by the end of the semester, and there
was one that just wasn’t working.
Remembering a small box of hand-medown pastel pieces that my mother had
given me years before, I cleaned and used
them to produce one of my all-time favorite
paintings of a mare and her foal. I loved
how painterly I could be, the immediacy of
the medium, how forgiving it was, the brilliance of the color—and I love color. I was
hooked!
I began the next step on my journey
back to Pure Abstraction by painting people
with pastels and oils. Unknowingly, I had
been growing as an artist by painting in my
mind’s eye for those many years while at
work and away from my easel. I recall being
aware of the variation of color in my customers’ hair, their skin tone, the shape of
their mouth, the beauty, strength or gentleness in their hands.
I entered a Southeastern Pastel Society
competition and signed up for a workshop
with Carole Katchen. Because I was an out
of town participant, I was offered the
opportunity to stay with an artist from the
Atlanta area, Cam Stoltz, who introduced
me to all her artist friends, pastelists who
were willing to share everything they knew
about the medium. Seeing the variety of
the work hanging in that show opened my
eyes to the possibilities of pastel. My new
subject matter became landscapes,
cityscapes, and an occasional still life. I was
continuing to grow as an artist.
Hooked on Abstraction
The final nudge toward abstraction
came six years ago from my daughter, who
worked in the fabric and rug industry and
was aware of the trends in color, texture
and design in home furnishings. After
searching unsuccessfully for a large abstract
oil painting to place over her contemporary
couch, she finally said, “Mom, you can do
that,” and she gave me the size she needed
(24 x 36 inches). Several weeks later, I
began her painting late one night, when I
“Saucy,” (11.5x15 in.), pastel by Elaine Augustine
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strokes basically intact. Several times I
entered a painting in a competition as a
landscape or figurative work only to have
the jurors reclassify it as an abstract. And
so, it was a natural progression for me to
move on to Pure Abstraction.
In workshops I attended through the
years, I had been reminded to squint, to
reduce everything to its simplest abstract
shapes, to block in the values, and then
check the composition. In abstract painting, the need for the fundamentals is still
there, including the importance of composition, shapes, values, transitions, edges, color
(whether warm or cool), line, and texture.
Add to that the personality of pastel and
pastel painting surfaces, and the results can
be unlimited for the abstract pastel painter.
STEPS TOWARD ABSTRACTION:
Some representational works by the
artist showing varying degrees of
abstraction range from a realistic
scene built with abstract shapes to
a loose floral rendering to a mostly
abstract work with the suggestion of
a path and blades of grass. Left to
right, “Night Sales” (28x20 in.),
“Floral Mosaic” (13.5x10.5 in.) and
“Summer’s End” (12x14 in.), pastels
by Elaine Augustine.
“I may begin
with an idea, but
more often than not,
the painting process
leads me.”
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was unable to call her to verify the colors. I
had so much fun painting the first abstract I
had done in 30 years, it seemed to paint
itself! Unfortunately for my daughter, the
colors weren’t right. Fortunately for me, it
remained my painting, which I entered in a
show and which won best non-representational painting and a check for $2500. I was
hooked again!
When I returned to art in the early
1990s, my technique was realistic and
detailed. Five years later, after becoming
more familiar with the pastel medium and
gaining more confidence as an artist, my
work progressed to a style that was loose
and impressionistic with an abstract quality.
I have done many pieces alla prima, both for
the sake of spontaneity and to take advantage of that rare Sunday afternoon when
there are no distractions. “Night Sales” and
“Floral Mosaic” (above) were two pastels
completed in a single session with the first
Improvisation Takes Over
The majority of my
time as an artist is spent in
front of my easel rather
than in the planning
stages. I do prepare in
advance 8 to 10 different
sizes of Wallis paper and
Ampersand boards, which
I tint with a single color of
liquid acrylic paint applied
with a sponge brush. I
typically begin an abstract
painting in one of four
ways: 1) using a photograph as a jump start only
for its composition, shapes
and values, usually turning the photograph
upside down or sideways; 2) using failed
paintings done on Wallis paper, which I
have washed in the kitchen sink and which
reveal intriguing shapes and colors; 3)
doing an underpainting of various shapes
using several colors of either liquid acrylic
paint applied with a sponge brush or
NuPastels that I have thinned with alcohol
or water; and 4) randomly preselecting a
palette that I think will make a nice painting (usually 15-20 hard to soft pastels of
light to dark values) and that may include
some unfamiliar colors or brands of pastel
that I want to learn more about. I add to
the palette as I work.
I usually start by doing a line drawing
of the abstract shapes with vine charcoal,
including negative shapes, which I love. I
begin blocking in with NuPastels, then layering with Rembrandts, and finally finishing with my very soft pastels, including
Unisons, Senneliers, Diane Townsends and
Terry Ludwigs, the latter especially useful
for their square edge. The final step can be
just defining the smallest shapes or adding
details. I may even drag a hard NuPastel
across an area so that the layers underneath
become visible. When selecting colors, I
choose first for value and then check for
temperature, edge and softness. I tend to
work from dark to light. Finally, when using
the preselected palette, I may begin with a
minimal charcoal drawing or I may arbitrarily put colors and shapes on the paper until
I establish a compositional foundation from
which to work. I focus on shapes and values first, then colors and transitions. I particularly enjoy working out the transitions. I
may begin with an idea, but more often
than not, the painting process leads me.
While some pastels are finished in a single session, other work may be labored over,
layer after layer. They may sit in my studio
for months and be painted on in five-toten-minute increments, which involves layering, scraping, neutralizing, changing color,
spraying with workable fixative, or washing
off and starting again.
“The need for the
fundamentals is still there.”
Four years ago when I was teaching a
pastel class in Mississippi, students kept asking how to create an abstract painting, so I
decided that my demonstration would be of
two paintings. Beginning with the photograph of a landscape and toned Wallis paper,
squinting, I sketched two identical line drawings of the simplified shapes from the photograph and blocked in the values using vine
charcoal. Then with my pastels, I developed
one drawing as a representational version of
the photograph (“Summers End,” p. 18) and
the other as an abstract (“Saucy,” p. 17). I
had to turn the abstract piece upside down
and sideways while I worked so that it didn’t
suddenly become another version of the representational landscape. I didn’t want anything in that painting to be recognizable.
My objective was to show the class how
closely related representational and non-representational art really is. I wanted them to
learn that they could build from the abstract
shapes to the representational, but I also
wanted them to develop a drawing of
abstract shapes into an abstract painting.
Pastel Society of America
Pastelagram
Vol. 37, No. 1
Editor
Claire Paisner, PSA
Advertising
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Urania Christy Tarbet, PSA
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We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of
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With each abstract painting, I find myself
going down a road and not quite sure where it
is taking me, just that I want the fundamentals and my passion for the act of creating to
get me there. Usually, it is an amazing journey of problem solving: taking risks, then
recovering from mistakes. I will admit that a
lot of my decisions are intuitive, a result of
having been a prolific painter in the late
1990s and early 2000s, finishing more than
100 paintings each year. Since my husband
passed away in early 2005, I am back at work
full time in the family business, reducing my
time at the easel.
While I continue to do representational
pastels, my pastel abstracts (in the smaller
sizes, up to 12x16 inches) are my main focus,
along with larger abstracts in oil. I may bend
a compositional rule or two. Sometimes it
works, sometimes it doesn’t. Luckily for me,
most of those pastel “doesn’ts” can be washed
and recycled.
And so I have come full circle, back to
painting pure abstracts as in the 1960s. Yet,
I believe you never truly arrive as an artist.
It is still about the journey. My fervent hope
is that viewers will enjoy their journey
through my non-objective paintings as much
as I have enjoyed the artistic journey of creating them. q
Board of Governors
JoAnn Wellner, Esq.
Rae Smith, PSA
Dianne B. Bernhard, PSA
Duane Wakeham, PSA
Jimmy Wright, PSA
Richard McEvoy, PSA
Mary Hargrave, PSA
Hon. Chair
President & Chair
First Vice President
Second Vice President
Treasurer
Recording Sec’y
Corresponding Sec’y
Robert K. Carsten, PSA
Christina Debarry, PSA
Leslie Lillien Levy, PSA
Maceo Mitchell, PSA
Claire Paisner, PSA
Sangita Phadke, PSA
Elissa Prystauk, PSA
Brenda Tribush, PSA
PSA Office
Cindy Harisch, Office Manager
Past Presidents
Flora B. Giffuni, PSA
Sidney H. Hermel, PSA
Christina Debarry, PSA
Barbara Fischman, PSA
◆
PASTEL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
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New York, NY 10003
212-533-6931 • fax 212-533-8140
email: psaoffice@pastelsocietyofamerica.org
www.pastelsocietyofamerica.org
A not-for-profit organization – 501 (3) (c)
We encourage our members to have
an e-mail address and access to the
Internet for important
communications from P.S.A.
Elaine Augustine, PSA, a resident of Alabama, is a
Master Pastelist. She is also a signature member of the
Pastel Society of the West Coast, the Degas Pastel
Society, and the Southeastern Pastel Society. She is
represented by Emily Amy Gallery in Atlanta,
Georgia, and Artifacts Gallery in Florence, Alabama.
In 2009 three of her pastel abstracts were chosen as
images for hand tufted 5x8-foot and 8x10-foot wool
area rugs that have started arriving from India, available through Delos Rugs.
Visit our website
www.pastelsocietyofamerica.org
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