Tracy Haines how to art videos on pastel painting Pastel painting for beginners, materials and techniques for painting in pastel

Hello!

I recently launched a YouTube channel where I will post short video tutorials on art.

As mentioned on my recent YouTube video,  I am happy to provide a written list of materials mentioned in the course of the teaching demonstrations.
(View videos on YouTube under Tracy Haines Fine Art)

In the Getting Started in Pastel video, pastel papers and various brands of pastels were mentioned.
Find most of these at your local art supply store or check out Blick or Jerry's Artorama online.

Pastels:
-small box of hard pastels such as Nupastels ( a box of 36-96, depending on your budget)
-box of soft pastels: Rembrandt is high quality and budget friendly- they are of medium hardness.  Other soft pastels to consider:  Terry Ludwig ( these are square and luscious- my favorites), Unison ( I love these- they are soft, round and thick and don't break and crumble easily) Sennelier and Schmincke.
I recommend visiting an art supply store and buying a few of the various brands to see what you like before investing in a large box of any one brand.

Papers:

If you are new to pastel, buy a 9x12 pad of Canson mi Tientes paper in earth colors. This is a good quality paper and reasonable in price.  Buy a small pad of Wallis sanded paper if you can find it.
Pick up a single sheet of Art Spectrum Colourfix Coated pastel paper or UArt Sanded pastel paper.  The Wallis , UArt and Art Spectrum will allow you to try my wet underpainting technique. ( Sennelier La Carte Pastel Card does not allow for a wet treatment)

Other items:  vine charcoal, workable fixative,   box of vinylgloves (or Gloves in a Bottle or ArtGaurd) to protect your skin, turpenoid or Gamsol odorless mineral spirits by Gamblin.

I suggest subscribing to Pastel Journal.  I learned so much when I began pastel painting from this monthly magazine.


Fresh off the easel!

Lair Abstracted is a 9x9 pastel painting on Canson mi Tientes paper.
Sold unframed,   $ 55.00

Avoiding Artist Block

This is a recent underpainting using bold strokes of bright color.

One thing I have discovered that is tremendously useful for me as an artist is to leave the studio at the end of the day with something that is in progress.

All of us suffer from the occasional artist block. Or, maybe we are not exactly blocked, but we just can't seem to get to work.  We get busy, but the business is a cover up: we are procrastinating and we know it..... and it's an uncomfortable feeling.

Having a work in progress seems to lessen those times for me.

Study for All's Well by Colorado Landscape painter Tracy Haines

This was a quick study on Canson for an upcoming show. I didn't end up using this view of the river for the show, although I liked aspects of this angle.

Wild West II : Colorful Colorado landscape Paintings by Tracy Haines in Oil and Pastel

This 18 x24 oil took most of the day today; there were many distractions. Sometimes I wish I had a dedicated studio space outside the home.

At least I have a dedicated room to call " studio!"

18 x 24 Oil

$ 400, unframed