I've never been fond of anything too dirty or too dusty. Charcoal is gross, although I love the effect. Pastel dust is toxic, and just the thought of that dust coating my fingers is unimaginably disgusting. BUT a box of pastels are beautiful, well, when they are new and clean. Just looking at a set of pastels with all those lovely colors makes my heart sing, but the thought of touching them grosses me out. So I kept walking....
Then I thought, WAIT! I have a friend who does pastels and every time I see her messing about I think it looks so fun. I always consider I should try it, but the thought of dust prevents me from experimenting. I sold a set of pastels in a garage sale about five years. They sat in my closet for about 20 years. I do regret selling them now.
So I bought them! The estate sale manager even gave me a discount off the asking price so this huge set of pastels was only $3.00. (I also bought a set of paint brushes.)
Yesterday was the bi-monthly drawing group and I tried them out. OH. MY. GOD. That was so fun! It was like finger painting! And they are so forgiving, unlike painting. If I decided I didn't like a color I just went over it with another! I wore thin, plastic gloves to protect my hands. I considered wearing a mask, but we were drawing outside so I positioned myself out of the wind and constantly blew the excess dust carefully into the bushes.
I still have a lot to learn but really, it was SO FUN! Here is the landscape of my friend's garden:
She offered to buy it and said it was the best rendition of her garden that she ever seen! She hosts the annual potluck every year so that is quite a compliment. I am honored. No one ever offers me money for art. I wonder if she'll frame it!!!????? HAHAHAHA! I don't plan to charge her for it, but I asked her to let me take it home and photograph it first. She has a really outstanding garden.
I'm so excited about pastels!
No comments:
Post a Comment