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!
ADVENTURE J-4 ~ PUMPKINS!
This seasonal Adventure Challenge asked our artists to combine their creativity and pastel painting skills with one of the oldest known domesticated plants - pumpkins.
CANDY THOMAS ~ A Twist of Autumn, 9 x 12”, soft pastel on sanded paper - "I have recently painted a series of pumpkins starting with a plein air piece, then painted this lesson from Alain Picard, then another lesson and my last one en plein air yesterday! It is that season for all things pumpkin… my challenge is to stay loose and use unexpected colors to build up the pumpkins texture." - Gastonia, NC
TERRILYNN DUBREUIL ~ Pumkin' Gourds, 12 x 9", UArt and various pastels - "From my photo at an orchard in Arden... the pumpkins actually had blue-green bumps all over but I decided to just suggest those. Working with the abstract and negative shapes." - Asheville, NC
MERYL MEYER ~ Pumpkin Pals", 6 x 8", Pastelmat paper with soft pastels - "In this study, I loosened up with marks, and used complementary colors. The process felt more playful. Happy Pumpkin season!" - Weaverville, N.C
DON OSTERBURG ~ Jack's Late Night Snack - I did this for my grandson whose birthday is just before Halloween. Then found it fit right into the Adventure Challenge!👍😲🎃" - Hendersonville, NC
PAT QUIGLEY ~ Field Pumpkins, 9.5 x 9.5", blue Pastelmat - "I had a dusty day rummaging through all my pastel boxes and trays to ferret out orange, red orange, and gold colors for this challenge! Funny how we collect zillions of pastels BUT never seem to have that particular shade we think we need! Thanks for the challenge - it was fun!" - Norristown, PA
MARIANNA MCDONALD ~ Too Much Candy - "I carve this design on my pumpkins every year because the kids in the neighborhood love the "yuck". - Malvern, PA
NANCY CLAUSEN ~ 9.4 x 12.6", Canson Velvet and a variety of soft pastels - "My pumpkin painting is not quite finished. I have some ideas, but need to work them out. The pumpkins are my fault decoration and we’ll be turned into pies and muffins and whatever else I can come up with. I enjoy doing this and hope to finish soon." - Swannanoa, NC
MARYANN GRIB ~ Pumpkins a Plenty", 9 x 6", assorted hard and soft pastels on multi media paper primed with clear gesso - "Well, I didn't have a lovely pumpkin arrangement of my own to draw inspiration from so in my shopping travels at Sam's club I came upon boxes of pumpkins for sale and that became my inspiration for this submission." - Gallatin, NC
PAT FENDA ~ Pumpkin Time, 20 x 12", hard and soft pastels on Colorfix - "I experimented with lots of hard pastels and just a few soft. It was challenging but a good lesson. " - Tampa, FL
CLAIRE BENTON ~ Out in the Field, 9 x 6", scrap of Uart 250, pan pastels, NuPastels, and assorted pastels pencils - "This is NOT what I thought I would paint. But it does have pumpkins!" - Riverview, FL
KATHERINE HUTCHINSON ~ Harvest Blessings, 4.5 x 9 ", dark blue homemade surface using various pastels - "This is a theme I have painted in watercolor, done in watercolor batik and now almost finished in pastels. This painting will become this year's Thanksgiving card as we send cards then instead of Christmas. It just seems more special to send our thankfulness. I will complete this and have prints made for cards very soon. 'Thankful ' for this adventure 💓." - Rutherfordton, NC
JANE BEST ~ Church Pumpkins, 9 x 12", Uart and pastels - "Every October, a local church fills its grounds with a thousand or more pumpkins which the Church sells for a fundraiser. This painting is based on a photo I took there a year or so ago." - Morganton, NC
DEBORAH CHASE ~ Pumpkin, 4.5” x 9”, variety of pastels over reused paper - Happy Halloween! - Rutherfordton, NC
MARGARET LYN-SOROKEN ~ 6 x 11" - "Got hung up on stalks… still playing but have to leave alone for now, adding and subtracting and redrawing..." - Black Mountain, NC
WILL EVANS ~ Harvest, 8 x 6", Uart 400 - "Underpainting washed in with alcohol, details mostly hard pastels with Terry Ludwig highlights. The challenge was ringing the highlights in a rather somber landscape." - Fairview, NC
CATHARIN BANTA ~ Big Orange, 12 x 9", Uart green paper, Terry Ludwig and NuPastels - "Recently my mom and I stopped at a road side stand and I took a few pictures. I loved working with these colors, the immediacy of them was stimulating and lot of fun for me. I plan on doing more of them soon. Thank you for a seasonal challenge!" - Laurel Park, NC
LINDA MEDDERS-JACKSON ~ Kissed By A Frog - "This WARTY pumpkin is interesting- Guess handsome, warty ole frog kissed her. Your next pumpkin latte maybe!!! Decided to try clear gesso on matboard. Mostly Rembrandt & mixed pastels." - Cross, NC
JAN COBB ~ Fall Pumpkin, 9 x 12", soft pastels on Colourfix original - Black Mountain, NC
CAROL ROLLICK ~ APS Workshop, 12 x 9", Uart paper, soft pastels and pan pastels over a light watercolor under painting - "Found this image difficult and too small-and had to start over the first time. I know the perspective on the floor is off however I wanted the design to lead dry to the pumpkin on the pedestal. Thank you for these wonderful adventures. They really keep me on my toes." - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
KRYSTINA MADEJ ~ All Shapes, Sizes and Colours, 8.5 x 11.5", UART 400 black, hard and soft pastels - "Not quite finished yet. I used Stephie Clarke's approach to creating a background as other techniques have not worked so well for me. The image is compiled from a drawing I made a number of years ago that had a large pumpkin plus some gourds and I've added from the many different photos of pumpkins I have taken. There's to be a small pumpkin on the bottom left to balance the composition." - Vancouver, Canada
To become an APS Member and participate in our Adventure Challenges CLICK HERE.
To access our archives and see past Adventure Challenges CLICK HERE.
