Two weeks ago I was invited to join our local art group. My first session was a joy. I had to pass the orange test, illustrating three oranges. I passed and then I could begin on my project called “The Company we keep”.

I’ve never done pastels and we used the soft chalky ones.  The tutor is brilliant, very patient and luckily he speaks English, although my picking up of French is improving.

Pastels are wonderful. They are very tactile, with you using your fingers directly onto the paper. I chose the more textured, tooth side, that can take more layers, plus I like the texture showing through.  My tutor prefers smooth, but I like to be a little rebellious!

I work very fast, it’s a habit from my tutor in art when I was a child. We had to finish in 6 hours.  I laid down the pastel here in 3 hours, but likely won’t finish in the next session as I am going to experiment with charcoal too. You lay a thin layer over pastels to knock back the strength of the colours, ie in the deep folds of fabric. Then once fixed, you can pick put the details where light falls, in strong colour. These layers give a three dimensional look.

I also need to complete the pheasant in acrylic and my large Dodo painting, also in acrylics.  If the pastels go well, I will take them to the Parralex art fair in Chelsea, London in October.

I feel really lucky we have a creative group of artists here in Creuse. And my art class is just 5 minutes away too. So I have no excuses not to progress. A dream come true. 🙂