I’m once again excited to share with you the 10 pastels that I’ve selected from the 87 (yes!) that I collected over the month of October. More and more artists are showing their work on various groups so the choice has multiplied over the last little while. As always, a difficult selection to make and as always, my own personal choices. Along with the many pieces I saw by new-to-me artists, there were many pieces I loved from artists I’d already featured but in the name of sharing more with you, this time round at least, I removed the second group from the selection process.

So let’s get going!

As I scrolled and came across these eyes looking out at me, my breath caught in my throat. This capturing of what looks like a glancing moment certainly shows off Abel Marquez’s drawing skill. Beautifully drawn, it’s also beautifully painted in pastel on velour paper. You can see the softness of the paper in the hair and background but I never would have guessed the type of surface from looking only at the face. I love the combination of gesture and detail, of softness and hard edge. I’m taken by the extreme turn of the eyes, the parting of the lips, the highlights on tooth and eyes, nose and lip. Marquez wrote this about the painting: “This is a very fast portrait that I did …..I was showing my students differences between sennelier paper and velour paper.” Go see more of Marquez’s work here.

This pastel is a lot smaller than the one above but the energy of the strokes comes through loud and clear and makes it seem much larger. I love the way the gestural marks contrast with the contemplative pose. I like to think that the bright colours used give a sense of the personality of this man. An Dong’s effective use of the black outline reminds me of the work of Georges Rouault.  I was unable to find a website for An Dong but you can see more of his work on his facebook profile.

When I saw this beautiful pastel, I wanted to get up closer, closer, to see all the nuances of colours, of marks, to see the eyes, nose and mouth more clearly, to examine the workings of the hat. I also wanted to get to know this young woman who gazes out at us, quietly confident, yet who keeps part of her whole self hidden. This pastel gives you the sense of much detail and yet there is no fine rendering to be seen. Explore the surface and discover many contrasts: warmth and smoothness of flesh contrasted with the blue textures of the hat; subtle and careful noticing of one shoulder contrasted with the loose strokes of the hair against the other shoulder; eyes hidden versus exposed sensual mouth. See more of Akhriev’s work on his website.

Ah don’t you just love the expression on Ben’s face? The detailing of the dog’s head is wonderful but as we all know, detailing alone does not a successful painting make. My eyes travel diagonally up from the inquisitive eyes to the right ear from where I go spiralling down to the collar and identification. From there I move to the dog’s muzzle where I can delight in the soft flews (yes, a new word for me!), the wiry whiskers, and the cold wet nose. And then we slip back to those warm eyes. Arranging Ben’s head cocked to the left rather than straight on was an effective decision – so much more character is expressed through the dog’s pose. You can see Steve Morris’s work here.

Dead fish may not be everyone’s choice for a painting subject but Michèle Auge-Faure has successfully created a painting full of movement and colour with just such a subject. Looked at from a distance, the piece moves towards abstraction – you can see the strong swirling design that underlines the more literal representation. Although now long expired, the smaller fish on the left seem to still be swimming, circling the larger fish, blue surrounding reds. The darker shapes at the top corners emphasis this circular movement. For me, this painting is a fine example of the axiom: Beauty is everywhere, one just has to open ones eyes and heart to see it. At this point I don’t have a place to send you to see more of Auge-Faure’s work but I am hoping that will change.

Speaking of seeing beauty everywhere, look at this pastel of rubbery, slippery kelp floating in a turquoise sea. All senses are alerted here: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. I can feel the kelp against my skin as it swirls around me, and I can hear the water as it gurgles in and out of the kelp. I am in awe of the way Julie Freeman, in this superrealistic painting, captures the depth of water as seen by the more hidden parts of the kelp. Although capturing a single moment, the painting moves as the kelp sways with the back and forth of the water. Such a glorious celebration of marine life. You can see more of Freeman’s work here. (You will see a painting of a sheep’s head there that was actually on my short list last month!)

I’ve been an admirer of Aaron Schuerr’s work since I encountered and interviewed him at the June 2015 IAPS Convention. (You can see the interview I filmed by clicking here.) Schuerr’s plein air paintings are vibrant and value-rich capturings of nature and that’s certainly the case in this painting. Here he paints a rhythmic grouping of trees rising upward to the sky. Below is the chaos of grass and bush, above the canopy of leaves. The confident and energetic marks reveal Scheurr’s maturity as an artist. He portrays what he looks at with a directness that captures the essence of time and place: you can tell that this painting is all about autumn. Check out Scheurr’s website for more of his work.

This small pastel is an enchanting representation of the end of the day: the land and clouds in greys that are silhouetted against the glowing sky that’s coloured by the last rays of the sun. The softness of the natural forms of trees and clouds are contrasted with the straight lines of the manmade structures of the highway and signs. Movement is suggested by the radiating perspective of the road and the diagonal direction of the clouds. A deceptively simple subject skillfully rendered in such a way that captured my attention time and time again. See more of Butler’s work here.

We shift from the movement in the painting above to the stillness we find here in this pastel by Saeed Panahzadeh. It’s a quiet winter night. A light illuminates the snow and the building’s facade. Another light warms the interior. The hushed setting hardly feels peaceful though. There’s something ominous, something foreboding, that brings a tension to the scene. It reminds me of something out of a Dr Who episode (all you Dr Who-ers know what I mean – everything looks perfectly normal but look out!). The tightly closed, slightly dilapidated doors appear to have a ‘stay out’ or ‘enter at your own risk’ quality. Is this a home of safety and love or does it harbour hidden domestic violence or bizarre and unlikely activities? See more of Saeed Panahzadeh’s work on his facebook page.

I just love the colours of this piece – the warm blush of the fruit against the prussian blue of the sky and wall. I think what really attracts me to this piece (as with the one above), is the mysterious feeling that surfaces the longer I Iook at it. The painting reminds me of the 17th century Dutch paintings that are often referred to as Vanitas paintings. These still life paintings conveyed the transient nature of life and mortality and also the meaningless of worldy pleasures. Some of the items used in a still life to represent these ideas were objects that would rot, items that were ephemeral (bubbles, smoke), articles that showed the passing of time (hourglasses) or were clearly representative of death (skull). Here I see hints of rot in the fruit (almost as if insects were beginning to devour the apples) while the clouds symbolize the ever-changing and fleeting quality of life. See more of Sabina Zhou’s work here.

Sooooooo there you have October’s striking pastels. Tell me what you think of them by leaving a comment here on the blog. I sure appreciate your participation 🙂

Until next time,

~ Gail