Art and the Tech World

I've been fighting with my computer for the last 24 hrs.  It seems to think it's on vacation.  I may need to have my tech expert clean its clock. So, I have been working on my pastel homework assignment.  It is supposed to be a landscape with leanings toward the abstract.  I am not sure if it is as abstract as Pat had in mind.  It is much more abstract than I would usually work.  When I get a handle on the uploading thing I will start putting pictures of my work up so you can get an idea of some of my struggles. One of the things I am trying to get used to with pastel is working from dark to light.  In watercolor you work in the reverse of that.  You have to save your whites; protect them at all costs because you can never get them back once the paint is touched to paper.  With pastel, I fight with the idea that you work your darks first.  What is the policy when your darks are in the foreground and your lights are in the back?  It then becomes counter intuitive for me.  This is the reason for the blog.  I am looking forward to having feedback when questions arise. I also need critique on my work since most of us become myopic when we get creative.  Not sure if I will have time for new posts next week since I have family coming for a visit.  But I will have my homework ready, even if my house isn't spotless.

The Purpose

I want to start off with the original purpose of this blog, which is creating art.  I don't know that I will always stick to topic but it is important to get started right.  Today I will talk about color, because that is what seems to bring most people to the world of soft pastel.  I had originally been working in graphite and colored pencil.  Graphite boils it all down to seeing the form.  The pencil point is quite specific and a bit time consuming.  But the effect is gentle because the black is not inky but really warm.  Colored pencil gives you more scope for the senses but once again is slow and steady.  Now pastel!  That color is so immediate and Wow!  I read about the structure of the medium, and there is science behind the intensity of the color.  The particles of pigment are linked together into a stick with a binder.  The substance and quantity used determines the hardness of the product.  Less binder, more velvety pastel.  This immediacy of pigment to paper is one reason why pastels appear so intense.  The other reason is the science of light.  Because the particles of pigment are crystalline form, light bounces off the tiny facets and reflects back to the viewer.  Paint pigments can't do this because the particles are floating in a medium and can't pick up the light in the same fashion as pastel.  So there you are.  If this didn't bore you maybe you will come visit again.  But I had to share what makes pastel so addicting.  It's color, color, color!

Old Dogs and New Tricks

Well, this is a fine mess I've gotten into.  I have to credit Pat Dolan for pushing me off this particular cliff.  Pat is my pastel instructor and she said Yes! I should start a blog so that I can talk about my experiences in art, especially as someone new to pastel painting.  So this is my blog.  Its humble beginnings can be likened to a simple log cabin, because I certainly have few skills in this area.  I am in my pajamas, it is two o'clock in the morning, and I decided I would just google "how to start a blog".  And here I am!  Okay, I guess this shows some skill.  I can turn on a computer.  I can surf the web.  I can shop online.  I know you think that last bit has nothing to do with blogging, but if I hadn't bought those pastels online I would never have met Pat and she wouldn't have encouraged this insanity.  Now for the things I don't know about blogging.  I don't know how often I am expected to post.  I don't know how to put pictures on it.  I don't know how people will find me.  (Should I google me and see if I'm here? Or maybe that would be google maps)  I can certainly think of several good reasons why this blog is a bad idea.  My typing is so rusty.  I am not widely known for sticking with things.  I am no expert on anything so I'm not sure what I should be contributing to the universe.  But I will go ahead and put this out there and maybe go back to bed.  And when I wake up it will all have been a dream and Toto and I will  be in black and white once more.  After all, there's no place like home!