Barbara Jaenicke Teaches Three Snow Scenes

Heading Somewhere Warm

8" x 10" 

Pastel

Barbara Jaenicke

Barbara Jaenicke, of Roswell, Georgia, blogs here.  I have become a fan of her teaching style, and want to share the following three posts from her blog with you. They unpack the mysteries of pastelling snow scenes, and she is careful to advise you to do some plein airing in order to keep it real if you also wish to use reference photos.  Good advice, and wonderful pastels, Barbara!

The Many Colors of Snow, Part 1.
The Many Colors of Snow, Part 2.
The Many Colors of Snow, Part 3.

Knot Tie Down - Field Easel Follies

Get Wind Load Protection with This Bomb Proof Tie Down System for Your Field Easel

Get in an Anchor and Snug it Tight

The Secret Formula - A Triple Equalized Bowline Knot Keeps All Three Legs On the Ground

In getting ready for your outdoor trips, one of the fiddly things is sun protection and wind defense. The umbrella, which I have bungee corded to my Mabef Field Easel, may defend me from the sun, but it also makes the wind load worse. Also, when I add the pastel box and drawing board, I'll have other surfaces that catch the wind. I don't want to have to pick my expensive set of sticks out of the nicely plowed dirt, do I?

Who says those days of rock climbing were wasted? The fancy rope tricks I learned apply to various of life's problems, such as tying down your field easel.

Here is the break down of my system. Buy a section of perlon (nylon) cord) - this one is a 7mm cord bought at REI. I reckon it's about 18 feet long. The carabiners (REI) are attached to the three legs with mini bungee cords (Home Depot). Tie a Triple Bowline to equalize the load (Video Instruction Shown Below - Sorry About the Ads) and attach to the carabiners.

Hammer in a tent stake and attach your rope. I used a Trucker's Hitch, but I fancied it up by using a directional bight. Hey, I'm not giving up all of my secrets, here!

How to Tie a Triple Bowline Knot -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Thanks, Dan!

Reality check: I did have to do a gentle one hand grab of my kit when a 4 MPH gust of wind threatened a topple. I made a note to myself to directionalize this set-up with a cord going out to the windward side as an additional measure. Vented umbrellas are available for artists, too. I would still use some kind of wind proofing even with that type of umbrella, as your drawing board and pastel box are wind catchers, too.

Articles of Merit

The Cup of Chocolate, 1897
Pastel
28.7" x 21.3"
Mary Cassatt

Two pastel related articles stand out for your consideration this weekend. One was in The Pastel Journal, June, 2008, regarding your plein air kit: "Let's Take it Outside," by Richard McKinley. He covers the big parts of your set-up, from easels to shade umbrellas. For this article, you'll need to get the hardcopy at your magazine stand. We've been ticking off the list of kit in depth with our Plein Air Project posts here at Pastel, too.

Who are the great historic lights of pasteldom? The answer is briefed in Pastel Masters, by Naomi Ekperigin at American Artist Magazine's website. See what the influences of Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, William Merritt Chase and Jean-François Millet were on our contemporary burgeoning medium.

Grab yourself a cup of chocolate, and dig in to these articles!

Getting Started

Many readers find this blog in search of basic training in pastel work, but I'm afraid that's not a part of my portfolio. Although I wish to present pastel as not a difficult medium, I have a great deal of respect for the teaching of the great art form.

Add to the few resources on the internet for gaining your introduction to the ancient pastime this one by Katherine Tyrrell.

Bits & Pieces Repair

Since I have readers who have enjoyed learning how to make their own pastels, and reconstitute easel tailings, I want to direct you over to Richard McKinley's well written post on how to re-work your bits & pieces of pastel sticks.

Pastel Workshop Insight

Here is a blog entry about a neophyte (I gather) who took a workshop on pastels - except that the program was anything but the standard picture making approach! It provides great insight, and is fresh in more ways than one. I thank Lin Wang for sharing his experience.

Kevin McLatchy, pastel artist & workshop instructor.
Urban Art & Antiques Blog.

Basic Pastel Techniques

If you have found this blog and hoped for a primer on pastel painting technique, I offer the following links:

Aileen McLeod at Suite 101.
About.com on Painting and Selection of Pastels.
Painting with Pastels.
Wet Canvas, except this is the "dry canvas" part. May require registration.
Squidoo Lens by Lisa Bachman.

These excellent links were chosen for the beginner's interest.

Making Your Own Pastels

Making My Own Pastels from Old Bits & Easel Tailings

Since I am getting hits for the time-honored DIY pastel subject, let's revisit my attempt at the topic from last March. Post #1 had us setting up and gathering supplies, and Post#2 had us making the little critters. The latter post also has a good list of DIY resources for you.

Especially helpful to me was the Paul de Marrais link, whose method unlocks the super-secret, never-before-revealed and classified gnosis on how to make the pastel sticks. Can you say: "de-mystify"?

Now, my post only went far enough to get you started re-constituting your broken sticks or your easel tailings. The next move for you is to buy some pigment and make your own pastels from scratch. See the bottom of my second post for pigment information.

Questions?

Pointers

Richard McKinley is a long time instructor, and a favorite writer at The Pastel Journal. If you haven't found his Pastel Pointers Blog, you will be glad to follow the link and see what this accomplished pastellist has to say.