About

the blog for soft pastel art lovers

Inspired by my love of pastels and the enjoyment I receive from teaching about them the How to Pastel Blog has tips & tricks, reviews, step-by-step progressions, guest bloggers, and a great community on Facebook.

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Have a look around!

Gail Sibley, "We Three," Unison Colour pastels on UART black 400, 12 x 9 in.

Check out the Welcome Video!

A bit about me

I am very lucky to have been born and brought up in Jamaica, a land of beauty and complexity, of warmth and coolness, of vibrancy and tension. Many say that my Caribbean upbringing influenced my palette and I think they may be right. I do know that it shaped my worldview. Check out these sites to learn more about me and my work.

Most Recent Edition

Artist Susan Ellis paints the clammers of coastal Massachusetts. She shares her process and her love of painting these figures working in the mud.

More Editions...

Gail Sibley, Flowers in Neutral, Unison Colour on recycled UART 600 paper, 11 x 6 in. Detail

Recycle UART Paper For Your Next Painting!

It’s easy to recycle UART paper making it perfect for the budget conscious (and earth conscious!) student. Gail goes through the progression of a piece done on recycled UART.

Yuji Sakuma - reclining model

Yuji Sakuma – Expressing A Model’s Heart And Soul

For ages now, on Instagram and Facebook, I’ve seen the bold, confident, colourful life drawings in soft pastel posted by Yuji Sakuma. Not only does this artist produce startling work, he produces A LOT of it! You can feel his passion for the medium and subject come blazing through. 🔥  Recently, I also noticed that

Jean-Honore Fragonard paints with pastel!

Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) was an outstanding representative of the Rococco style in France. He is well-known for paintings such as The Swing, Blind Man’s Bluff , and A Young Girl Reading.               But he also did beautiful drawings and even a few pastels. Check out this sensitive portrayal of

Pastel Gems – November’s Choices

The Pastel Gems It’s the end of November already and it’s time for another gathering of pastels that have wowed me over the past month. Extremely hard choices again this month especially with everyone posting their pieces accepted into the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Online show. (The show will available for viewing in December at this website.) Over and over the

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6 thoughts on “About”

  1. Gail! Just got turned on to your website by a fellow artist from Wellington, Ontario… both of us former presidents of the Pastel Society of Eastern Canada. I work primarily in pastel and it will always be my medium of choice! I could never give them up! Being a landscape artist for years, I would now like to change things up a bit and try abstract. I was inspired by your article about the progression of your abstract painting…it’s given me the courage to take that (for me) giant leap and go ahead with an image I’ve had in my mind for a long time. Thank you! I look forward to future e-mails! Your’s is one of the best Pastel websites I’ve come across. Look forward to receiving your emails.
    Kathryn

    1. Thank you for writing Kathryn, and for your enthusiasm! It comes over loud and clear 🙂 I am wondering which article on abstraction you are referring to. Perhaps you can add a comment directly on the blog? Good luck with your leap. I know how difficult it is to make. It’s ongoing risk-taking that’s for sure! Please let me know how it goes.

      Look forward to hearing more from you

  2. Marcia L. Hochstetter

    I just read your article in the April issue of “Pastel Journal”. Thank you so much. I felt as if you were speaking directly to me. I am going to tear it out and tape it to my studio wall.
    Marcia

  3. Hi Gail. I’m really excited and pleased to have discovered your website. I live in southern Australia and I started painting with pastels a few years ago (self taught) , but went a bit stale after doing a couple of workshops- mostly because the pastel artists here who I came across seem to be very conventional and felt that I wasn’t learning much. I’ve been working in oils since and enjoyed it- as I’ve realised, it’s similar in many ways. You showcase so many exciting works – use of colour, composition etc. , and your quick tips are helping me rethink how to approach my work. Looking forward to hearing more about your workshop in Tasmania, or perhaps one in Europe in a couple of years’ time.

    1. Hi Judi,
      Thanks for writing such a lovely introduction to yourself and your work. Certainly oils are similar to pastels in the way one builds a painting. Interesting that! I’m glad though that my blog may bring you back to the pastel side 😀 Even if not, so much of what’s here can be applied to the other media available for painting.
      I look forward to having you in one of my workshops whether in Tasmania or Europe!!

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