Friday, April 9, 2010


I will be teaching a class in Pastels at the East Area Family YMCA Arts Studio in Fayetteville, NY, beginning the week of April 26. The class runs for 6 weeks and will be offered at two times, Tuesday nights from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm and Wednesday mornings from 9:30 am - 11:30 am.
Registration is currently underway for this class and space is limited to 10 people.
All Arts programming is open to YMCA Member and Non-members.
Art supplies are included in class fee. $65. YMCA Members and $75. for Non-Members.

Pastel painting is a beautiful technique that can be easily learned. Using a variety of soft and hard pastels we will learn to create texture and depth in lush vibrant colors. Students will have the opportunity to experiment with the pastels on several kinds of textured paper. Each class will begin with some basic drawing instruction and discussion of composition and principles of design.

For more information call the Y Arts Studio at 315 637-2025 x 216.

The "before" picture


Here is the pastel in the unfinished stage from Wednesday April 7.

Finishing the pastel


This is for my pastel class at the Y. We had our last class for this session on Wednesday April 7 and I promised I would finish the picture, so here it is.

When we left class on Wednesday a few areas needed to be completed and others altered so that color temperatures were all in coordination. The lower right hand corner was still in the under-painted stages, the boat needed some work and vegetation needed to be added around the boat.

In the finished piece I have added vegetation, de-emphasized the oars, by making them the same color as the boat and warmed up the color of the boat a bit by adding a touch of orange. The water has been brightened up by adding a few strokes of a brighter and blue-er blue to balance the blue of the boat.
I am not sure yet if this is totally finished; it needs to sit for a few days and then I will look at it again with a fresh eye so to speak and perhaps make more changes.

Finishing the pastel