One hour black and white pastel portrait study, done on Canson dark gray, 14" x 12"

I thought I would try to paint a black and white pastel at a portrait workshop that I attend. It definitely is different than using charcoal or graphite. I was still thinking pastel, yet no color... kind of weird. But... I did enjoy it, and I think I will be doing it more often. It's a neat way to just do something different, yet still do pastels. And it's a great way to concentrate on values, which are so important.

I know the size of the pupils aren't quite the same and need tweaking, but this is for learning's sake, I will just apply the knowledge to the next one.   Not perfect, just an hour's worth of pasteling, a good exercise.

I painted this on dark gray Canson paper, and I used black, white and gray pastels, both warm and cool. NuPastels, Giraults, and Grumbachers (very old...) were used. Size is 14" x 12" ish....

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

"Lilacs", another painting without a sketch, 18" x 12 1/2"

The lilacs are in full bloom here, and they are beautiful. Last week I just had to paint them, but what's a person to do, there are sooooo many little petals. I tried the same approach as I did with the pansies, it was the only way I could manage these beautiful flowers. The last time I tried to paint lilacs was probably 20 years ago, and it was a disaster. I actually tried to paint all the little petals , not a good idea. Since then I'd always avoided painting them, as I wasn' t sure how to simplify. I'm more comfortable simplifying theses days, it's definitely the way to go for a subject like this. I may noodle a bit more with the background on the right, I used a really nice red violet in there and I may want to put a bit more in. I don't want to overdo it, but a little more might be nice.

My daughter likes this one, and she's asked if I can frame it and put it in her room. Of course I said yes .

This is done on Canson Mi Teintes, paper color tobacco. I used mostly Schmincke and Giraults, the size is 18" x 12 1/2". 

I am having a difficult time getting an accurate photo to post here.  It looks fine on my computer, but once I post it here the colors and values change.  This is the best I could come up with:

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

Here is the setup I painted from.  As you can see, I've worked on this a bit more, refining the flowers and playing with the background.  This photo is a bit washed out, it's difficult to get a good photo with lights on the painting, it tends to distort the values.

"The Architect", Pastel, 16" x 18", Painted on Wallis Belgium Mist

I do believe I am finally done with this painting.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process, so much that I am fired up to do another portrait.  I'm not sure who my next victim will be.  I'm thinking about my daughter, maybe......



This is very close to the original painting, I think I got the colors and values represented accurately.  Taking photos of my work is always a science experiment, I keep on trying until I get it right.  Thank goodness for digital photography, it makes things so much easier.

I ended up with almost a square format here, and I quite like it.  I've always been partial to either square formats or landscape formats for portraits.  I know, it's not what most people expect, and I think that is what I like about it, the fact that it's unexpected.

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.