My First Pastel Piece… “Drawn To the Light” – 12″ x 16″ on Mi-Teintes

“Drawn To the Light” – 12” x 16”
Sennelier pastel on tobacco Mi-Teintes

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” – 1 John 1:5

This is the first soft pastel piece I completed. I began using soft pastel this January after receiving a beautiful set of Sennelier half sticks for Christmas. I was inspired by an artist on Instagram who did beautiful florals using soft pastel. Though I have done nearly 300 commissioned pieces in watercolor, oil, acrylic, and graphite, I had never used soft pastels and had been wanting to try them. I wasn’t quite sure what paper to use but observed that many pastel artists use the Mi-Teintes paper. So, I ordered an assortment of colors. Since I began with the dark brown paper. I started by laying in darker browns and lighter browns around it forming the tree trunks. Then I laid in the blues of the sky around those shapes. Next, I began laying in the bright lights coming from the back of the path and the colored reflections on the path coming toward the viewer I also put in the lighter lights in the trees above the path. The more I worked, the more amazed I was at the vibrancy of this beautiful medium. Then lastly, I put in the bright pops of color in the leaves on the little trees in the foreground. This is one piece of art that seemed like just about every stroke I laid down just “worked.” If you’ve been an artist for very long, you know that can be a rarity. And on top of that, it sold right off the bat. Even my adult children said it was their favorite piece I’d ever done. And, for the record, I am now officially hooked on pastels.