A walk on a crisp autumn afternoon inspired this piece. The breeze was chilly, the leaves rustled, showing off their fall colors. It was a beautiful sparkling moment.
This piece takes advantage of the vibrant hues of fall in my selection of Schmincke pastels. It is available for sale.
This is a follow-up to my earlier comparison of Henri Roche, Sennelier, and Blue Earth soft pastels.
It has become increasingly difficult to source Henri Roche pastels in the US, and they’ve temporarily closed their online store. With that in mind, I decided to give Schmincke’s line of soft pastels* a try. I purchased an assortment of half stick and got started.
*This review is not sponsored content; all supplies were purchased by me, using my own funds.
I’ll be ticking with the same details as in my prior review.
I painted two pieces using just the Schmincke soft pastels to get a feel for them.
Here’s what I observed about the Schmincke pastels:
I hope this brief practical review is useful.
I took a couple days on the coast to paint. I am fascinated by the tide coming and going from Siletz Bay. The most challenging detail is tearing myself away from the view long enough to paint at all.
This piece was done using Blue Earth and Sennelier soft pastels, on Claire Fontaine Pastelmat.
Inspired by the sight of a “Starlink train” of new satellites moving into position in the dawn sky one August morning. Seen from a favorite trailhead, as I got started down the trail.
This piece is painted on Pastelmat, using a combination of Sennelier, and Henri Roche soft pastels, and is available for sale.
This piece was inspired by a misty morning hike down an oak lined trail. This piece was done using Blue Earth pastels, listening to Downliners Sekt (an old album, “Statement of Purpose”).
I enjoy a beautiful sunrise. Happily, there are so many!
This June sunrise is done on Ampersand Pastelbord, using Blue Earth soft pastels. It captures the western horizon on a colorful morning, seen from a local trail.
This piece is available for sale. If interested, please contact me by email.
Inspired by a year of stress, this piece is the first abstract work I’ve done in pastel. Small, because honestly stress doesn’t need a boost to feel huge.
I sat down to paint, feeling the lingering fatigue of a busy week, and a little low, generally. My heart felt heavy with the weight of unexpressed concerns, mostly fairly abstract and unresolvable. This painting is inspired both by my heavy heart, and also by the awareness that a new day will dawn. I could have titled it “This Too Will Pass” and conveyed similar sentiment.
This piece is painted entirely with Blue Earth pastels, and on Clairefontaine Pastelmat, taking advantage of a new tabletop easel. It’s been awhile since I worked from an easel, and in pastel there are some definite advantages, one being that loose pastel dust falls away from the work immediately, reducing the risk of smudging it into the work in spots where it doesn’t belong.
I take a lot of early morning hikes. I see a lot of sunrises. No suprise then that I also paint a lot of sunrises. This view is a favorite one, from “my” parking place at a favorite trail. I see the sun rise from this vantage point often. This colorful sunrise, a view seen in September (as I recall) was quite a splendid one, and I did my humble best to capture it, although there is no universe in which art could accurately convey the beauty of the colors I saw that morning. I’ll keep trying. I’ll keep wondering at those beautiful sunrises.
A pot of autumn chrysanthemums on a table inspired this piece. I enjoy using the bright hues of yellow, orange, and red pastels. There’s something fun and freeing about painting flowers, and an innocence and simplicity the riot of bright colors. Flowers seem somehow undemanding and joyful, and of all the pieces I’ve recently painted, my eyes keep coming back to this one.
