Nina Squire – Soft pastel workshops. Here’s one of my favourite walks, the River Stour, it’s been the inspiration for several of my online soft pastel workshops using Unison Colour. The scenes below capture my favourite elements of rivers and moving water, there’s dappled light, tumbling hedgerows and sparkling pebbles that catch the light. There are several techniques that I share in the workshops that are transferable across several subjects. People are often inspired by subjects but the skills are often the same, just applied to different shapes and forms. You’ll find your individuality comes through in your artwork, much like handwriting. I know who’s written an envelope ahead of opening the card.
It’s the versatility of soft pastels that I am also excited to share and the individuality possible. Working with soft pastels to create a pastel painting with liquid enables me to extend the range of marks possible, plus the layers of colour add to the luminosity.
My soft pastel workshops
Those that have followed my workshops for a while will know that I love to be by the water, either the sea or a favourite river walk. My fascination with water started from an early age, we grew up with a stream near by and weekends were often spent at the local beach. So it was the most natural progression to combine my two great loves, painting in pastel and water scenes. One of my favourite workshops in 2021 was a river scene that captured in soft pastel, a river bank and reflections on a sunny day.
The star of the show was the riverside cowparsley. It’s a frequently addition to my pastel paintings, I love seeing the sparkling flowerheads as summer progresses. They are a fantastic flower to capture in pastels. Foliage and flowers are always a enjoyable to create in using soft pastel painting. The pastels develop a unique edge through using them, it’s these edges that create a tangle of lines and shapes that create believable foliage.
I’ve also used swans as a way of sharing drawing tips. These swans are beautiful shapes on the water, in creating the water around them, you create the shape of the swans. It was the first introduction of the art term, negative space. My rivers and swans workshop helped people gain confidence in creating shapes and, for some, their first animal.
Soft pastel painting workshop, Dappled light
It should be no surprise that I chose to revisit the same theme in my Autumn 2022 Series. The workshop, dappled light, was inspired by an evening walk along my local river. My walks are often at that magical time of day, golden hour, as the light falls and the sun sets. The shadows are long and the colours warm, bathed in the light of the setting sun. The trees filtered the sunlight and I loved the dappled light that fell on the river bed. It brought life and sparkling light to the shallow pebbles and stones. It could easily have been a scene I’d over look but I just had a feeling that my pastels would love it.
3 secrets to successful paintings. My top tips ….
1. Develop your own artistic voice.
I emphasise developing a working practice to my students. I help them develop a process that they can follow to enable them to find their own artistic voice. The secret to success is planning. The work that goes in before the pastel hits the paper. Most important, is your choice of subject. There are so many photos available to artists now, I think its even more important to develop your unique themes. What makes you happy? Is it a favourite place, walk or view. Are you a sea person or a mountain person. Animals or townscapes. If you can, start to create your own reference images using photos and sketches. You’ll find that your artwork develops from this authentic approach, plus your minds eye will have captured so much more information than you could ever possibly imagine. All of that and more will be in your artworks. If you are using someone else’s photographs, make sure you reference the photographer. Here’s an introduction to copyright, which explains its history and why it’s so important to reference correctly.
2. Start with a colour study.
A smaller scale and a scrap of paper means I can be free with my marks and explore colour too. I selected my colours ahead of the artwork. If they look good together, they’ll make a gorgeous artwork. This process means I keep my colours clean and luminous. For my Dappled Light workshop colour study, I emphasised the warm colour of golden hour and played with the light on the pebbles. The colour study inspired me to work it through to a larger size. I knew it would be the ideal scene to demonstrate some of my favourite soft pastel painting techniques. I hope that by sharing these views, I inspire my students to see their own views with new enthusiasm.
Colour study’s and copying artists work have long been a way of studying and learning. As a student I spent many hours looking at artists who’s work I admired and creating studies of their artworks. On of my favourite artists is Stanhope Forbes. I loved his story telling and the influence of his wife’s input on his work. Studying artists is still one of the best ways to learn. These painted studies are a way of learning new techniques, understanding the importance of contrast, composition and colour in successful artworks. The end product is not the copy of my artwork but to use the techniques in your own views and resultant artworks. It’s always important and appreciated to reference the artists that you worked with in creating a workshop piece or art study. Art tutors love to see you sharing your work on social media – use an @ sign and then type their name, if you leave no space, this will ‘tag’ them in the post and that references their work.
3 It’s a cup of tea for me!
It’s so important to take a break and come back to your artwork with fresh eyes. Boil that kettle and savour your artwork over a favourite brew or even tipple. You’ll be able to spot areas in your artwork that need a tweak or something that distracting or just plain, in the wrong place. It’s also helpful to turn artworks and reference images upside down, and then compare. This new way of seeing your artwork will help you compare angles, shapes and proportions much more effectively. If you are still struggling, then you can always refer to my Top Tips, that has a collection of my favourite artistic slogans. It’s also important to remember, taking regular breaks avoids eye strain and neck and arm aches and pains that are all too often forgotten.
A new way of seeing
My soft pastel workshops are about developing skills, gaining confidence but also about engaging with your environment. Recognising the extraordinary in your everyday wanders gives people a chance to share that escape with others via their artworks. Have you found that art has given you both a new skill but also an ability to switch off ? I came across this video describing the Flow state. I think artists have long known the benefit to creating but I haven’t, until now, heard it given a name. Leave me a comment if it has, it’s always good to hear how happy pastelling has helped you.
