Pastel Buildings

Violet Oil Drum
7.5" x 10.5"
Soft Pastel
Casey Klahn
Sold

For some reason, buildings are back on the agenda for me. Today, I am cross-posting this artwork from The Colorist, since my posts of artwork here are few and far between.

Another Poll

Which is your favorite make of soft pastel ?

Katherine asks this question at her Squidoo lens. Go about a third of the way down the page and reference the above header. If you didn't get enough of polling at my own recent poll, go there and vote your conscience. You already know my vote...

Jim Gola

Jim Gola is a neighbor (albeit distant) in the fine state of Washington. I had to look up Woodland, because I was fuzzy on its location. Now I see it's near the hopping town of Ridgefield. I once got run out of Ridgefield for being underage...but that's a long and off-topic story.

Back to Gola. Although he prefers his oils, I want to highlight his pastel paintings. He is adroit at using the sticks, and I hope you'll take a look at his website.

Poll Results

With the polling closed, I have to admit to a three-way tie. Vivien commented that she favors Unison but her vote didn't tally, so I see it as Unison, Windsor & Newton and Ludwig in a tie. If that's wrong, Vivien, let me know. This happened once before when I tried to conduct a poll about blog content, and so I'm getting a dim opinion of the value of these things.

As the president of this bar, I will throw in the tie-breaker and decide for Unison to be the next brand reviewed, then probably Terry Ludwig and we'll see where we go from there. If I had been left to my own devices, I actually would've went with Schmincke!

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Across Europe

http://www.pastelart.net/

Marek Swiatecki of Poland.

Which Brand to Review Next?

We have already looked at Roche, Diane Townsend and Sennelier brands of pastels. Where to from here? My first idea was to proceed down the line of brands, my favorites being first. But, I have arrived at the land of neutrality, where I am about equal on the next few.

Which brand do you wish me to critique next? Please see my sidebar for a poll on the brands that are in my palette, and that I am able to review, and vote your choice. The brands up for review are: Schmincke, Unison, Ludwig, W&N and Rembrandt.

Pastel Pencils

When I did this image of the iconic mountain (where I used to mountain guide) I was struck by how much I relied upon pencils and hard pastels.


The pastel pencil is indispensable for doing little realist works. I have 2 sets of Derwents, and two sets of Faber-Castells, and a drawer full of open stock of the same. And don't forget the General charcoal white pencil.

A Roker Artist

North-East England, Tyne & Wear

Go see the blog of A Roker Artist. She's a redhead who calls herself "Yellow", and I think her drawings are gutsy, free and "out there" (that's good).

I am having a very, very hard time finding pastelists in Northern Europe for my traveling feature. Any help on who blogs and uses pastels at all in Europe would be appreciated. Anyway, I am very glad to double-back from Sweden to find Yellow in jolly old England.

Postcard

Postcard Ferry & Mount Rainier
6.5" x 8.3"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

This one goes to either my father-in-law or my brother-in-law for help to get the studio in shape. No lack of picture post card subjects around here.

First Fruits

First Painting

The new studio engine is starting to hum. This post displays the first pastel to come off of the easel. Of course, my sweetie got this one for her birthday.

We still don't have the photo station set up, so I took this picture ad hoc. Since I have been reminded of the wisdom of copying, I'll go ahead and admit that this image was copied from one I saw in print. Nothing copied ever makes it out for sale, but when you're trying to prime the pump, so to speak, it helps to glean some ideas from those you admire. I find that when I do copy other pastelists for realist images, they wind up changing quit a bit. Anyway, if copying was good enough for the masters...

The next two paintings will go out to the fellows who worked hard to get my trailer up to speed for the winter. I'll be posting some insights into the new trailer-studio at The Colorist soon.

Back to the Figure Back

Figure Back
18" x 24"
Casey Klahn
Vine Charcoal

Everything for me, right now, is process. It might seem obtuse, but even my return to practicing the realist figure feeds my New School Color style.

This is an old sketch I found while moving into my new studio. It provides inspiration for my new directions.

Installation at the Langley Gallery

These pastels are on display now at the Karlson/Gray Gallery in Langley, WA. Langley's Art Walk is tomorrow, Saturday January 5th, 2008, from 5-8PM. Otherwise, my art will be featured through the 30th of January.