A pure-pigment medium, pastels have been used by painters for centuries for the powerful and evocative colour they can produce. Professional artist and experienced teacher Mark Leach uses pastel to translate beautiful landscapes into striking, minimalist paintings with simple form and strong blocks of colour, while still retaining a sense of location and place. His simple techniques demonstrate how to move away from realism and towards using abstract painting to express mood and feeling. The book includes: Introduction: Beyond realism • Balancing the emotional and physical Composing and Developing Images: Composing a non-realistic image • Feeling and passion • Light, form and texture • Seeing colour • The journey to abstraction The Joy of Colour: Understanding the colour wheel • Colour moods • Colour palettes and mixes Subjects to Paint: Still life • Landscapes • Figurative painting • Colour on water The Art of Pastels: My studio • Pastels • Pure pigment • Composition • Sketching from life and landscape • Painting from sketchbooks and photographs • Light and tone • Mediums and supports for pastels • Pastel painting techniques

Make Your Mark in Pastels by Karin Richter Karin Richter's passion for teaching others is evident in this easy-to-follow instructional book which presents a fresh, unintimidating way to learn the medium of PASTELS. Karin's approach is all about the basics in simple language and examples giving aspiring artists the feeling that they, too, can do it. Her aim is to get artists excited about Pastels while teaching them everything they need to know about the medium. For the more advanced painter, this book will serve to reinforce all the important aspects of painting with instruction that will ensure success. "Painting in Pastels takes you back to the kind of drawing and mark-making you did as a child", Karin says, "it is primal and so much fun!".

A comprehensive guide to painting with pastels including easy instructions on how to master tone, colour blending, composition, perspective, and more.

Would you love to take your art in a new direction? In Abstract Art Painting, you will enter a realm of tactile, intuitive excitement, combining pastel and acrylic to achieve results as unique as you are. You'll learn how to explore the use of color theory in abstraction and to use underpainting to bring structure and depth to your art. In addition you'll begin to understand how to work in a series and how this can help you develop your own personal style. A sampling of what you'll add to your creative toolbox: • Pastel and acrylic techniques to use to complete your own paintings • The benefits of expressing your ideas abstractly • How to loosen up by using your nondominant hand and drawing to music • Ways to express emotions through mark-making • Using color and symbolism for expression • Working with photos for inspiration • Tips for using color studies Step into your own abstract frame of mind today!

The ancient philosophy of wabi-sabi honors the imperfect, the transitory and the humble. Cold wax is a perfect vehicle for artists wishing to explore this aesthetic. In this guide, you'll learn how to use this incredibly malleable medium--in combination with oil paint and other mediums--to add layers of texture, atmosphere, depth and meaning to your paintings while developing a more intuitive artistic voice. No matter what your experience level, learning to paint with cold wax will help you approach your work with confidence and a sense of adventure. You will learn a liberating process of texturing, layering, building up and scraping back to create a fascinating "history of surface." Each piece will be the result of elements converging in a one-time-only way, resulting in fiercely original abstract paintings honoring your own process of self discovery. Learn Everything You Need to Know to Create With Cold Wax! • 29 step-by-step demonstrations cover various techniques for working with oil paint and cold wax medium. • Explore dozens of mark-making techniques with a variety of tools, most of which can be found in your kitchen or junk drawer. • Excavate using various approaches for incising, exposing and scraping away layers. • Get inspired as 12 additional artists share their creative processes. Embrace unexpected turns, discover the beauty in simplicity and lose yourself in the process as you join Serena Barton on this creative and spiritual journey.

Discover the limitless possibilities of pastels with this beginner’s guide to creating modern, lively, and colorful pastel artwork. Artist and teacher Rebecca de Mendoça offers beginners a complete course in using pastels. Step-by-step exercises and longer projects help you to build the essential skills you need to paint a range of subjects, including landscapes, still life, portraits, and animals. Vital drawing techniques are explained and demonstrated, along with easy-to-follow explanations of color theory, composition, and the pastels themselves. This volume includes techniques for using both hard and soft pastels, eight skill-building projects, and a wealth of finished artwork to provide ideas and inspiration.

Revel in the luminous and vibrant qualities of pastel with Ellen Eagle’s essential course in the history, techniques, and practices of the medium. In this comprehensive yet intimate guide, Eagle explores pastel’s rich but relatively unexamined past, reveals her own personal influences and approaches, and guides you toward the discovery and mastery of your own vision. In Pastel Painting Atelier, you will find: • Advice on basic materials: guidance on building, storing, and organizing a collection of pastels; choosing the right paper; and the importance of experimentation • Studio practice suggestions: ideas for creating your ideal working environment and recipes for making your own pastels and supports • Study of the working process: lessons on proportion, gesture, composition, color, application, identifying and correcting problems, and recognizing when a work is finished • Meditation on subject: cues for extrapolating the subtle details, presence, and temporal features of whatever you choose to paint • Step-by-step demonstrations: Eagle’s acute insights into her own works as they progress A magnificent selection of works by masters such as James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Rosalba Carriera, Mary Cassatt, and Eugene Delacroix augment this guide, as do works by contemporary artists including Harvey Dinnerstein, Elizabeth Mowry, and Daniel Massad. Aimed at serious artists, this guide enlightens, instructs, and inspires readers to create brilliant and sensitive works in the historic medium of pastel.

Top Secrets for Beautiful Pastel Paintings Richard McKinley has been a professional artist for over 35 years. Factor in nearly as many years of teaching experience, and that adds up to a whole lot of know-how to share. In Pastel Pointers, he lays it all out: information on tools, materials, color, composition, landscape elements, finishes and more. Compiles the best of McKinley's popular Pastel Pointers blog and Pastel Journal columns Covers frequently asked questions ("How do I achieve natural-looking greens?") and simple solutions to common problems, such as excess pigment buildup Includes a chapter on "The Business of Pastels"—tips for framing, shipping, preparing for gallery shows, and otherwise representing your work in a professional manner This book covers everything from the fundamentals to get you going (how to lay out your palette, create an underpainting, evoke luminous effects) to inspirations that will keep you growing (plein air painting, working in a series, keeping a painting journal). Whether you're a beginner or an experienced painter anxious to explore the expressive possibilities of pastel, this is your guide to making the most of the medium.

Includes color circles, spheres, and scales as well as suggested exercises.

Pastel Painting Techniques That Are Revolutionary, Fun and Easy! Designed for beginners considering using pastel for the first time, for experienced artists who may feel uninspired, and for anyone in between, the skills you will gain with Pastel Innovations, will help you build confidence and open your world so you can paint what CAN BE, not just what you THINK is. Explore the unique joys of pastel painting with: • An exploration of the basics: You'll expand your artist's vocabulary learning to use the elements and fundamentals of design to create beautiful, balanced paintings. • 20 simple exercises build off each other and help you grow as an artist, little by little, building confidence. • 40+ innovative pastel painting techniques: Feel inspired as you learn new approaches to using pastel to build up and reveal layers, incorporate monotypes as underpaintings, create texture that cannot be duplicated by drawing or painting, and more. • Thoughtful self critique: Questions, approaches and checklists that will result in better art, while at the same time making you a better artist. Leave your expectations behind and engage in the process of pastel painting with a newfound freedom to play and explore!