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.