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Forums > Gallery/Topic by Medium > Pastel
Subject: New here but not to pastels

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dianecaudle
Posts:9
02/05/2008 11:25 AM Alert 

Hi, I'm a new artist to your forum and thought I'd throw in a painting or two.  The first one I'm including in this message is a pastel that was done from a photograph I took of my granddaughter.  The subject is pretty self-explanatory.  I think it turned out pretty well.  I've been painting off and on for several years.  The second one is one that I did of our foreign exchange student, Kanae.  I've seen some excellent paintings submitted in this forum and this is a very talented group!

I've been painting in pastels for several years but also took some time off from painting while I was a stay at home mom of four kids, almost all graduated from college now.

Does anyone else have problems taking photographs of pastels?  Lots of times I don't smooth the pastel with my finger and the painting will appear rough in a photograph.  I also have a hard time reducing pictures in size in situations like this since it's hard to get a  picture under 100 kb without making it larger than an inch or two in size.

Thanks,

Diane

http://www.gallerydir.com/dianecaudle








gene
Posts:1232
02/05/2008 3:37 PM Alert 
Hi Diane, Both of these are very nice, but I really like the bottom one. I love her skin tones, which I know is hard to manage. On the top one, I think maybe you could do something to make a bigger impression that the picture on the wall is a mirror. Now, I'm not sure what to do, but maybe some streaks in the glass, or something??? Again, maybe not. Yes, I do have trouble photographing my pastel paintings some time. I usually take mine outside and lay it down on the porch where there is a wall on the south side of the floor. I don't let the direct sun shine on the painting. In fact, I think I get my best photos when the sky is overcast. That's how I photographed my "Sunshine in the Shadows" that I recently posted and the photo turned out really well. Very close to the painting colors, etc. Thanks for sharing these. Both are really nice. Gene
pastelmimigt

Posts:359
02/05/2008 4:08 PM Alert 
Hi Diane,

Your work is very nice. I especially like the second one with the abstract background as it supports the focal point very well. The first one is a very interesting composition and I love the top/back of the hair on the child. A few comments on this one: It looks like the square mirror is a little off perspective. Is the focal point the image in the round mirror? That stands out very nicely. Still, I think the image in the square mirror competes with it.

I've found the same thing when photographing my work - that unblended areas appear very rough. In my work, I take it that the area needs blending in the painting, do this and then I'm satisfied. Also, I've found that taking photos of my work outside on an overcast day gets the best duplication. And then I'll alter it the photo in photo editing software if it still doesn't look like the original. I take the photo with the hightest quality and size settings the camera will allow and then compress it in Microsoft Office Picture Manager to web size to show here and on my website.

Welcome.

Michele
My Website
My Blog
LovetoPastel

Posts:78
02/05/2008 4:19 PM Alert 

Hi Diane,

Isn't this forum great?

I do art shows around the area I live in and I tried to take my pastel paintings to a professional photographer to get slides made ....until they demanded I fix my pastels and were going to charge me for cleaning the glass.... So, Now I take my own and have gotten into shows with them.

An overcast day does give you an even light source which is what is needed, but I've found my colors are truer when I take my pix/slides/digitals in the shade on a bright sunny day. More light is able to bounce around without it causing shadows. My work is too big to lay flat and shoot over so I use a tripod and hang my pictures right on our garage door. At the right time of day, the door is completely in the shade. ALL my work on my website was shot this way.

2nd piece is my favorite too.Yet, I love the concept of your first piece. It does seem to lack a bit of contrast, though. Maybe that is what Gene was talking about? Contast is important with reflective objects, but I'm not sure how to translate that to "mirror"

I have to convert an b&W photo reference of a little girl to color maybe you'll have some advice on skin tone Because I'll need it!
Suzanne
grodneyart
Posts:1
02/09/2008 12:12 PM Alert 

Hi Diane

Very imaginative composition on pictue one with the two mirrors. I agree with other commentators that the second is working best, but I wonder if you increase the color saturation on the the foreground figure if that will make the mirrored figure recede more and make it read more clearly as a reflected image?

Gail

 
pastelmimigt

Posts:359
02/09/2008 4:01 PM Alert 
Hi Diane,

I like Gail's idea about increasing the color saturation on the foreground figure to make the rest of the painting recede.

Michele
My Website
My Blog
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