Easy Design

Fashion Photography

The gallery director of the local art center is a working artist. The resident of Hempfield Township discovered her talents in high school, majored in art at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been active since 1970 in the local art club. The art center plays host to her work regularly. Silk Screen Printing as well as oils and pastels are the woman’s work fields. For more information on paintings check out custom painting canvas sizes.

So that she can show landscape pastel painting from a photograph, she was invited by another art club. However, she does not recommend that beginning artists work exclusively from photographs. She says that it is best for starters to go out and see the nuances of light and shadow.

According to her, when someone works outside, they can absorb the details, sketch the actual scene, and take photographs which can be referred to later on. This is how she normally does it. She additionally creates composite landscapes from various photographs. Sometimes a single photograph cannot cover all the elements that a customer requires, it is then that this method becomes very useful.

When using photographs as a reference to painting a picture, the painter can adjust the final image to his own liking. Whatever turns out as the most important part of your painting would have to be decided by you. Normally she wouldn’t do it but using a photograph helps her decide how the work would look when it is completed. For more information on paintings check out painted portrait from photograph.

A pastel portrait is painted by her as she explains her technique, by using an enlarged photocopy of a photo that was clicked during the fall at Slippery Rock. She does not draw edge to edge so that the frame does not cover any part of the painting. Because she paints on the wrong side of the pastel sheet that is less textured, she is able to achieve layering in colors.

She uses blues and reds to evoke dark logs and branches rising from the water. Bits of red, not visible on the photograph, are added to emphasize certain sections of her painting. Pastels are the closest an artist can get to using pure pigment and she exploits this characteristic with care.

She says that at certain times you should ponder over the color values. It isn’t too wise to use too much light too soon. When painting with pastels, one has the liberty to layer darker shades with lighter ones and one does not need to worry about conserving the white areas. It is important to feel your way around the pastels.

She says that some caution should be exercised when using the color range. Without having to mix different shades, one can get the right color by using today’s wide range of colors. Using pastels allow artists to wipe the color off and start over again in case they are not satisfied with the results. It is a rather easy going medium.

2010 Indianapolis Decorators’ Show House and Gardens