Pastel Society of America Exhibition

My painting "Saturday Evening Puzzle" was awarded the President's Award at the Pastel Society of America's 41st Annual Pastels Only Exhibition!  

This painting is a bit of an homage to my childhood art hero, Norman Rockwell.  I just loved his work when I was a kid.  Although my composition was confusing at times, it was great fun to be able to paint his paintings.

"Saturday Evening Puzzle"

18" x 24"

Soft Pastel

The PSA exhibition runs through September 28, 2013 at the National Arts Club in New York City.  Unfortunately, I won't be attending this year.  I thought I might be able to, but it's not going to happen.  I say that every year, so next year I'm going to try to plan ahead and see if I can make it to the banquet.

See all the award winners here and the generous award donors here.

Northwest Pastel Society Small Works Show

The Northwest Pastel Society has a small works show going on right now at the Kirsten Gallery in Seattle.  It's a great show, with lots of little gems at very affordable prices.  If you're in the area, stop by before the show ends on September 12.  For those of you who are not local, you can see the show on the web site.  Here are my paintings in the show:

"Player 1"

6x6"

Soft Pastel

$525.00

"Player 2"

6x6"

Soft Pastel

$525.00

"Player 3"

6x6"

Soft Pastel

$525.00

(SOLD)

For information about these paintings, please contact Kirsten Gallery, (206) 522-2011.  For gallery hours and address, visit the Kirsten Gallery web site.

Pastel Still Life - Banana Bread

This isn't the easiest thing I've ever painted, but it might be the most fun.

"Banana Bread"

9" x 12"

Sof Pastel

For purchase information, please contact Elliott Fouts Gallery (916) 736-1429.

(SOLD)

Pencil Sharpeners for Pastel Pencils

When I first started working in pastel, I ruined a couple of electric sharpeners.  The pastel would break off and get stuck, and I either couldn’t access the blades to dig it out, or I couldn’t get it out completely.  I searched for a pencil sharpener that would work well and settled on the Creative Mark MultiPoint.  After a year and a half, though, the blades are dull and don’t work well.  Obviously, I needed a new sharpener.  I was planning on ordering another MultiPoint, but then I saw Roby Baer’s videos on YouTube (if you haven’t seen them, check them out!).  She had such a nice point on her pastel pencils, I had to ask her about her sharpener.  She uses the X-Acto Powerhouse.  I bought one yesterday, and thought I’d share the pros and cons of each sharpener for those who are interested.

First, the MultiPoint:  I bought this sharpener at Jerry’s Artarama for around $25.

Pros:  

1. It accepts pencils of different sizes and shapes
2. It gives a decently sharp result
3. If a pastel breaks off, you can open the shavings receptacle and poke it out with something sharp (I use an unbent paper clip)
4. It is fairly rare that a pencil would break off 

Cons:

1. The clamp is annoying.  I couldn’t get it to stay on anything.  I usually put the sharpener on my knee to use it.  
2. Their claim of “one hand operation” is, IMO, a joke.  The automatic feeding clutch does work (most of the time), but since the clamp doesn’t, one hand has to hold the sharpener in place.
3. The pencil clutch chews up the outside of the pencil, which may or may not bother you
4. It stops sharpening automatically, they say to avoid waste, but you can't get a sharper result than it is programmed to give
5. No warranty - plan on replacing it every year, sooner if you're a heavy user

Next, the X-Acto Powerhouse:  Purchased from Office Max for $33.

Pros:

1.   It gives amazingly sharp results  
2.   It has suction feet that make it stay put very nicely on my desk
3.   It comes with a 2 year warranty

Cons:

1.   It doesn’t accept different sizes of pencils
2.   Nothing else, but I’ve only had it a day

I have full sets of CarbOthellos and Derwents, plus a few pencils of different brands I bought just to try (you never know when you might want to get another set, right?).

1. CarbOthellos fit very nicely
2. Derwents are very snug, but they’ll go in with some pressure (and it takes pressure to get them out as well)
3. Pitts go in slightly easier than Derwents, but not as easy as CarbOthellos
4. Creatacolors go in very easily
5. General’s go in very easily
6. Contes will not go in at all

I’m excited about the sharp tip the X-Acto Powerhouse delivers, and the warranty is attractive.  I may buy another MultiPoint for backup, and for the Conte pencils if I buy a set (I really like those pencils!).


Update:  After using the X-Acto Powerhouse for a while, I'm back to the MultiPoint.  The Powerhouse worked well for a bit, but soon pencils were breaking off, and it is difficult to get the pastel tips out when they break in the sharpener.  I tried pulling out the shavings receptacle, but there is no way to poke out the pastel.  I had to use something very thin and sharp (I use a stainless steel BBQ skewer - I asked Roby and she uses an awl) and poke it directly into where the pencil feeds, stabbing the stuck pastel to break it up.  It got to where every pencil was breaking every time, and I just got tired of it.  It's not worth the hassle.  I bought myself another MultiPoint (actually, I bought two because Jerry's had them on sale) and almost cried with relief when I started using the new one.  I was able to get a sharper point on the new MultiPoint sharpener than I did with the last one, easily equal to the Powerhouse.  With nice, sharp points and very little hassle, the MultiPoint remains the best sharpener for me.  


See my review of The Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener.

Black Cat Portrait in Pastel

Here's a quick one I painted as a gift for my daughter.  This is her baby, Snickers.

"Snickers"

4.5" x 4.5"

Soft Pastel on La Carte

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Pastel Portrait on Velour Paper

“New Hat”
12”x9”
Soft Pastels on Velour Paper

This is a portrait I did just for myself. I love the look of pet portraits on velour paper, but hadn’t yet done a people portrait using velour. I chose a picture of my daughter when she was a baby for my reference. Once I got the hang of layering colors to get the skin to look the way I wanted it to look, it was easy. I’m very happy with the results, and I love this velour paper! But I still have more papers to try, so stay tuned…