ADVENTURES IN PASTEL
Welcome to our Adventure Series!
This online group activity offers our members a series of pastel painting challenges each year.
On the 3rd Wednesday of a designated month you receive a new Adventure, via Email, that challenges you to use your pastels in a unique and creative way.
You have a week to submit your Adventure painting, via Email, and then we put together an online gallery of the Adventure paintings.
Comments on how you experienced the Adventure, or insights you gain, are welcomed and included as captions in the gallery.
Adventures provide a unique chance to see how fellow APS members explore visual ideas, experiment with new techniques, and relish the joys of pastel painting.
This program is a perennial favorite of our members!
Our Newest Adventure: H-5 ~ TREES
Trees! So easily overlooked as they are all around us. The challenge here was to stop and look closely at a tree of the artist’s choice.
TERRILYNN DUBREUIL ~ French Broad Drizzle, 11 x 15 - "Working from an old sketch and photo, I was reminiscing about the expressive trees that first caught my attention when I moved to Asheville... those in the French Broad River Park. They are all now wiped away by Helene, but they still dance in my memory."
ALEC HALL ~ Tree-Lined Pasture, 7 x 5, UART 500 grit, Pastels: Rembrandt, Blue Earth, Carb-Othello Pastel Pencils - "In my opinion, every painting needs to have an animal in it somewhere, even if trees with their rich foliage are the primary subject. Thus, I added a Belgian mare to my landscape. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!"
FRANKIE MILHORN ~ 10 x 12 - "I painted this scene simply because of this beautiful and obviously old, tree, and its willowy parts hanging down within it. I loved how it helped to make the path covered over the roadway. I did paint it from a photo that I took back in the Spring of this year when I visited the Charleston, SC Tea Garden. I love the opportunity to wander across our beautiful earth and see and touch all varieties of trees whenever possible. I believe this is a live Oak. Painted on Pastel Mat, with assorted pastels."
CLAIRE BENTON ~ River View in the Park, 7.5 x 10.7, Maimoufin sanded black paper - "Used any pastel I put my hands on."
KATHY HUTCHINSON ~ A Pathway In, 9 x 3 - "I used a scrap of what I think is Pastelmat, and used various pastels. This was inspired by a card a I saw years ago."
PAT FENDA ~ 12 x 9, Uart - "I painted this in black charcoal and added green pastel. It is the tree I see every day in my front yard. A big grand oak, very stately. Thanks again for these great challenges."
VERONA "MONA" HEARNE ~ Mary's Trees, Matthews NC, 12 x 12 - "Thank you for another wonderful Adventure. My painting is from a photo I took at my friend Mary’s place earlier this month. Mounted 400 Uart. Local color underpainting. NuPastels and Ludwig’s. Happy Thanksgiving all!"
WILL EVANS ~ Copse #1, 12 x 9, Pastelmat - This was blocked in and alcohol washed creating an underpainting which I rather liked as an abstract. Then using Nupastels and Terry Ludwigs, I took it to the next level. It’s another fun and informative challenge. Thank you."
KAREN KNAUB ~ "I find landscapes difficult to do so I appreciate the practice. I wanted to redo this but ran out of time. This is a painting from a photo I took in Colorado. It was prime fall foliage time for the aspens. I fell in love with the colors and could understand Terry Ludwig pastels. I immediately ordered some. This painting was done primarily with those."
RUTH WHITAKER ~ Winter Trees on the Lake, 7 x 5, Uart 400, assorted soft pastels - "I love painting trees. Definitely one of my favorite subjects. This was painted from a photo I took along Lake Michigan. The Lake was frozen with ice pushed up in small mounds. Not quite sure if I'm finished with this."
LYNN JACKSON ~ Around the Bend - "I decided to do a variety of trees in this still life. I tried to keep my strokes loose to lead the eye around the bend to the trees. I experimented with new color combinations to show distance. This painting was from my imagination. I didn’t use any reference pictures, as I had fun being creative. Used UART pastel paper and Rembrandt pastels. Thanks for this challenge!"
MACIEJ BOBOWICZ ~ Catalpa & Wisteria, 60 x 50 cm - "It's a love-and-hatred story showing the coexistence of Catalpa and Wisteria, entangled together at the back of my garden. Painted from life with various soft pastels (mainly NuPastels with Unisons and Senneliers) on burgundy Pastelmat. Catalpa has such wonderful leaves that deserve appropriate attention and detail; thus, each leaf is a separate entity."
LISA DAIGLE ~ Down the Street, 10.5 x 14, Massachusetts - Quote: "The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” - Nelson Henderson
CINDY LIDD ~ Day at the Lake, 13 x 9, Uart 400 - "Thanks for the adventure; hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving!"
PAT QUIGLEY ~ 12 x 12, Norristown PA - "Hi APS adventures. My timing was off for getting new photos of local fall color trees. Too late! So used another’s photo of a golden tree to inspire this small study on pastelmat."
DEBORAH CHASE ~ Autumn Flame, 7 x 5 - "I tried a sample of Crescent Mixed Media board in mouse (gray) color. The surface was heavily textured, not my favorite to work on but I liked the board’s firmness which is similar to the matt board they make."
KRYSTINA MADEJ ~ Winter Coat, 8 5/8 x 11 3/4, UART 400 - "I was interested in learning how to depict fir trees with their winter coat of snow and was given the opportunity to do so in a workshop this past summer when this photo was offered as a painting option. The sunshine behind the background trees was a challenge as it streamed in at an angle and also appeared as bright spots while the snow in the foreground was in shadow and had little color. I've lots to learn about how snow sits on branches!"
ANDREA STUTESMAN ~ "I worked on Canson Velvet with a variety of soft pastels. I took this photo in Wyoming near the Grand Tetons in September and loved the bright oranges and yellows next to the dark evergreens. I think they were Aspens. I’m still working on finding a better way to represent a tree."
RICHARD COHEN ~ "From a photo my cousin sent me (he sends photos from his worldwide travels and I have painted many of them). I loved the placement of the tree on the right side of the photo with the light in the sky on the left."
DIANE DE GRASSE ~ Willow Over the Pond, Black Mountain, 6.5 x 9.5 - "My camera/phone goes along when walking my dog and I recently caught this old willow along the way. I liked the tree’s strong character and the distant buildings in the sun. The surface is repurposed Pastelmat and the pastels are mostly soft. I enjoyed 'making marks' and finding value contrasts. Thanks for the Adventure experience!"
CHRISTINA CARROLL ~ "Trees are definitely my ongoing struggle and study forms. I do love the Fall tree colors and work on those the most. However this one started in Plein Air and I have worked on it in the studio largely experimenting with different ideas. I enjoyed this project!"
KATHY AMSPACHER ~ Pawleys Beauty, 9 x 9 soft pastels - "Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for another great adventure. This tree was a subject of mine, for years. It was in the marshes of Pawleys Island, SC. where I lived 20 years ago. I did this one on a corrugated board treated with sanded gesso. The marks from the board left a ridged effect that I didn’t really love."
MERYL MEYER ~ Old Poplar, 9 x 12, Black UART 400, charcoal, hard pastels and a few soft pastels - "This is the most photographed tree here on the Blue Ridge Parkway along Craggy Pinnacle Trail. I have captured it many times and stood in awe. The mist always travels through here creating a mystical atmosphere. It is an old gnarly tree with big roots surrounded by ferns and moss, and it feels like it is reaching out. I began using gray, white, and black charcoals on black paper and gradually added some greens. I wanted to capture the misty foggy mood and its fairy tale-like essence. I have been wanting to paint this tree for a long time. Thank you for this challenge. Trees always speak to me."
JANE BEST ~ A Walk in the Park, 12 x 9, Pastelmat - "This painting is based on my memories of a delightful autumn walk in Julian Price Park on the BR Parkway near Blowing Rock, NC. Thanks for providing this enjoyable painting opportunity."
CAROL ROLLICK ~ Boat Passing in the Swamp, 13 x 29, Pastelmat.
JAN JACKSON ~ The Guardian of the Fishing Pond, 8 x 10, Pastelmat - "Not finished, but getting there!"
NANCY CLAUSEN ~ The Tree by the River, 12 x 9 1/2, mounted black Canson - "I had started this in a workshop and thought I'd be able to finish it. It may never be something that is entirely finished, but I have enjoyed working on it and will again. It's a tree that used to be in the French Broad River Park. It sat on the edge of the bank. I have drawn it in charcoal and painted it several times in pastel. It's a gnarly old tree and I really liked the way it looked. I liked leaving the background just black. It seemed to bring out the tree's colors better. I used Terry Ludwig's violets and also some J. Luda pastels. I enjoyed the Adventure."
MARGARET LYN-SOROKEN ~ Troll-Trees, 10 x 8, pastels on brown paper - "I took out of town guests to see trolls at Arboretum and I was sketching trolls, it dawned on me they are from trees and seeing them on backgrounds of trees I thought that’s it… Happy Thanksgiving everyone and grateful to APS to keep painting."
To become an APS Member and participate in our Adventure Challenges CLICK HERE.
