Who we are - Page 30

robertsloan2 · #**436** 04-24-2012, 05:24 PM

Great to meet you, Emily! Can't wait to see your paintings of Australian birds, they sound wonderful. Glad you returned to art and very glad you came to WetCanvas.

Arrow D. · #**437** 04-27-2012, 02:06 AM

Hello Everyone, Im new here except for a post a made a little over a month ago when I was having paper challenges during my trip. You all were so helpful

Im 59 and living in rural Idaho surrounded by incredible mountains, with my husband, as we build our retirement house and little farm. Both of us have been artistically inclined throughout our lives but the raising of kids and trying to make a living pulled us in directions other than our highest aspirations in creativity. Now that we are largely free from the work grind we are taking time to experiment with painting again. My husband does acrylic painting and I am exploring pastels, which had captured my interest so long ago.

We just retured from a 3 month trip in our camper to the deserts of Arizona and took many photos. We camped in remote areas and were able to set up our tables and painted away as weather permitted.

There is so much to learn and I am looking forward to going through many of the threads here. I did get to take a few private classes with a pastel artist in Ajo and that was quite inspirational but it clearly showed me that I have a lot to learn.

On our trip we camped at Walmart in Scotsdale and spent a couple of days going through all the galleries. It was incredible to see so much quality work and there were more pastels on display than I had anticpated. Some of them were so smooth and professional at first I thought that they were photos! Then when my senses came to me I assumed they were oil paintings... then I finally read the tags to see that they were pastels. It was like.... WOW!

So I ve had a heavy dose of inspiration of late and hope to spend the summer trying to get some of it down on paper. Looking forward to viewing all the fine paintings on this website and gleaning more learning here.

best
Arrow

Yoshi · #**438** 06-02-2012, 09:12 PM

Hi every one,

My name is Lia I am 27 years old and I am from Greece. I am a big fan of this forum and I have been reading it a lot. I would like to thank everyone for the great work that has been done with the posts, they really help all of us who are new to pastels.

I am self taught and I have been working with pastels for under a year now and I am honestly in love with them. Although here in Greece pastels are not popular and a bit under estimated by the professional artwork dealers(which tend to say get rid of pastels and start with oils) I feel as if there is nothing else that can replace them and I refuse to use anything else...I love working with my hands and have fool contact with my artwork, plus I don't know how to use anything else that has to do with brushes

!

I love horses and it is the only subject i can draw with success (I think...

)! I recently had my first art exhibition which went well although we are in the middle of economic crisis here and everything is falling apart to be honest... I know I still have a long way to go until I achieve great results, but the more you work the better you become right?

I am glad I found this forum

it is a great escape from this hell our politicians have created here!

Cheers
Lia

**allydoodle** · #**439** 06-03-2012, 05:08 PM

Welcome Lia! Pastels are an addictive medium, once hooked always in love. You've found a great forum, the people here are very welcoming, helpful and encouraging. I look forward to seeing some of your work sometime. When you are ready to post something you would do so in the Pastel Gallery. Enjoy your time here, I'm sure you will find everybody very friendly.

LucyJane · #**440** 06-25-2012, 01:08 AM

I should thank North Light Books for leading me here! I've been digging around researching materials and techniques after discovering some of the fantastic things pastels will do and the great new surfaces to use

Like so many others here I am retired with gaps of time I can now fill with personal pursuits. I recently had to move a bunch of my studio equipment from where it sat in a garage while I raised my kids and on to grandkids. I found a pastel self portrait I did 40 years ago hidden under a print which had gotten water damaged. It wasn't terrible. In the box of stuff I was never good enough with to use up was about 20 pastels. I've got nothing to lose but paper and dust. This looks like fun to me.

Sincere thanks to the members of this forum for the confidence they've given me to choose a Dakota small box, and a complete set of the Munyo soft extra fine round pastels and some paper samplers for a productive start. I'm also waiting a green assortment from Dakota's exotic lineup so I can get more worldly.

It's stimulating to see what people are doing in real time and learn how they work.

**allydoodle** · #**441** 06-25-2012, 11:43 AM

Welcome to the Pastel Forum Lucy Jane! I'm sure this is just the beginning of a wonderful experience with your new found pastels. This is a very addicting medium, most of the people around here just love their pastels and their supplies. We have some fun threads that you can participate in, for example the Spotlight has a different theme each month. You can join in on the fun and post your work, it's always neat to see how others are painting the same subjects. Different approaches with different results, very enjoyable! I'm looking forward to seeing some of your work!

LucyJane · #**442** 06-25-2012, 05:00 PM

I Love the Spotlight thing! The last 2 have been wonderful exercise for me as they comprise my first stabs at it with what disorganized supplies I have on hand. I'll soon be workshop ready when I get some colors and more of the new amazing paper that makes all the difference in the world.

markusrydh · #**443** 07-23-2012, 11:52 AM

Hi all,

after hanging around in the pastel forums for about a year I think it is time to properly say hi to you all! I am a programmer in the mid thirties, with wife and two kids (4 and 7). We live in a smallish apartment in Uppsala, Sweden together with our two cats. I have been interested in drawing and painting since my mid teens, but never really gotten around to it except for a minor attempt at oils 20 years ago. By coincidence I ended up taking a pastel course last summer, which was great. Immediately hooked on the simplicity of pastels (wow, little did I know of the neverending hunt for papers and pastels...) I have been trying to learn the medium for the last year, more or less regularly.

Came upon this forum while scouring the internet for pastel tips and tricks, and what a great forum! I hope to learn lots and lots from you all and hopefully contribute with something of my own as well.

Between family and work I do not always have as much time as I would wish for painting, but I am keen to learn. I do appreciate honest critique as well as encouragement and I hope in time to get to know you all!

**allydoodle** · #**444** 07-23-2012, 12:33 PM

Welcome to the forum Markus! Glad you've come out of lurkedom, I hope to see some of your work soon. Yes, pastels are quite addicting, once hooked always caught!

Judi1957 · #**445** 07-25-2012, 05:14 PM

Hi All

I am an amateur artist from Johnstown, Pennsylvania USA. Have dabbled in pencil, charcoal, colored pencil, watercolor, pen & ink and pastels. I used to be involved with the Drawing and Sketching Forums Classrooms. Ohhh what fun that was!

I was 'out' for a few years now and decided to come back to the colorful world of Pastels. But I am really out of shape. Suprising how you can loose the touch. Hope it is like riding a bike in a way and have a speedy recovery.

markusrydh · #**446** 07-25-2012, 06:02 PM

Welcome back, Judi!

***Deirdre*** · #**447** 07-25-2012, 07:53 PM

Hi Emily, Arrow, Lia, Lucy Jane, Markus and any other new members I might have missed...and a special Hello to my old friend Judi...not that you're old Judi

Just that we've virtually known each other a long time from our D&S days as we were both on the team. However, we all have one thing in common...we love pastels...some of us are more addicted than most...but the rest of you will soon catch up!

Judi1957 · #**448** 07-26-2012, 12:12 PM

Thanks Mark---good to be back.

Dee!!!!

AnnMargaret · #**449** 08-26-2012, 01:04 PM

Dear all
I am a new member a beginner in painting. My reference is dictionary. Apologize. I am 58 years old and married to a wonderful man for the past 34 years and have a grown two son and have 1 grandchildren and two dogs . I am beginner in English language, in pastels painting, and to post to forum. My name is Aurora, I from Serbia. There is so much to learn and I am looking forward to going through many of the threads here. I will post somy my paintings in pastel when I learn how to do this. I am so hapy to have found this forum because I fell that I am learning. There aren't any workshops near me. I did not make a lot of grammatical errors... I hope

***Deirdre*** · #**450** 08-26-2012, 03:31 PM

Hello Aurora! Welcome to the Pastel Forum!

If your pastels are as good as your English, we will have a lot to look forward to

...you need to post another time - without pictures...then you can start to send your pictures too. Most people find it helps them a lot to post their picture and ask for C&C = constructive critique..otherwise known as feedback... you will also see members posting WIP paintings...which simply means Work In Progress.

Have a good look around the forum...there are many sections...but you can only post in 2 of them...Talk or Studio/Gallery the rest are archival only. If you get lost or need to ask a question...just ask!

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