Author Archives: Sheila

Pastel Pear

I am a slacker. Apparently. It has been two weeks since my last post. (Why does that sound as if I am in the confession box?)

As long as I am confessing, I will add my name to the list of artists who feel like they have hit a brick wall. Slight relief to know at least, that I am not alone.

Is there something in the air?

Does pollen make you procrastinate?

I have worked on this pear for several days. Not sure why pastels are drawing me in now. But I do know it has a lot to do with Karen Margulis and her amazing work. She is a daily painter and she is so generous in sharing her insights on her blog. She also has Fabulous lessons for sale in her Etsy shop.

A couple of years ago, I took several free online classes with Johannes Vloothuis. He worked in several mediums, one of them pan pastels. It was love at first sight for me! I never had any interest in pastels before. Much as I did not appreciate Impressionism when I studied art history, I could not find beauty in pastel paintings. They just never captured my eye.

But again, I have done a 180. I think it is due to the fact that so often details are kept to a minimum. I find pastel very, soothing, Pastel landscapes, draw me in, and give me… a peaceful moment. I have yet to try pan pastels (expensive!!) but I my lust for them is like that of a youngin’ counting the days until Christmas, in July.

I just have to give a huge “Thank You!” to all the artists who share their knowledge so freely. What a blessing!

Here is my humble pear study. I’d love to hear what you think.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

A beginning. Pear. 5 x 5 pastel, © Sheila Delgado 2014

A middle. Pear. 5 x 5 pastel, © Sheila Delgado 2014

An end? Pear. 5 x 5 pastel, © Sheila Delgado 2014

A Pastel Floral

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Flowers for Mama. Pastel, 5 x 5. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

I am so happy with how this turned out.

I found these pastels in the clearance aisle. The set is missing six, all warm, and mostly yellows. Explains why I am leaning towards the cool end of the spectrum. I only spent $4 on a set of 36, so I don’t have that feeling that I am wasting expensive art supplies. Freeing, when it comes to learning a new medium. I can play and just have fun.

I started out thinking I would paint Bougainvillea. Maybe close up abstract shapes. Not what this is at all.

I started with some loose pink shapes in watercolor. I worked the entire piece, but left the flowers until the end. I absolutely love the light green in this, light sap green. Using that with light blue, and indigo and seeing how they play off of each other. The darks in this are all indigo, sometimes mixed with green.

My composition could use tweaking. I have an even amount of buds, and they line up a bit more than they should. I could have divided the layout better, had more of the sky, and more of the shadows. Blah-blah-blah. But I did manage to seal this one without destroying it!

Still for all the blatant mistakes. I like it! Maybe I am hallucinating, I think it really looks good on a pillow. And that is what I intended.

What do you think?

Flowers for Mama © 2014 Sheila Delgado. Zazzle.com

Lumbar Pillow

A bit of spring to brighten your abode!

Mother’s Day Sale ~ 20% OFF ALL ORDERS! Ends 4/29/14

Pastel Disaster

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AAUGH!!!

Daring whispered in my ear today.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to do a pastel to celebrate Earth Day!”

“YEH!”, I thought.

Never mind that I do not know much about pastel painting. It felt only right to work with my hands, to get them dirty. Pastels get you dirty. This is only my third ever, pastel painting.

I spent almost three hours this afternoon working on what you are about to see. Ok, maybe more like two hours, because I was checking on the split pea soup, and changing loads of laundry too.

This is small, five inches square. It is a good thing I really had fun working on this. Otherwise I would be really, REALLY, REALLY upset.

I apologize for the horrible photos. This is a quick look at the process. I was happy with the result. That is, until I decided to seal it, so I would be able to scan it for this post.

Brilliant, bloody brilliant Sheila.

It didn’t help, that right when I started to spray sealant, the wind kicked up and spread a fine dusting of little yellow specks from the trees nearby.

pastel progress. Hydrangea, 5 x 5, watercolor and pastel on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

I started with a watercolor wash. Then a few layers of pastel to get the basic shapes. I changed my mind, and decided the leaves looked better on the side, instead of the bottom. Little by little, I added details. I used Prismacolor NUPASTELS.