Broody

12x15.5
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: Contact the artist.
Year painted: 2005
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist.
I used to keep chickens, and this is a painting of my Black Australorps hen, Serena, after she had gone broody for the first time. When you approach a hen that is sitting on eggs, she will ruffle her feathers to make herself look big and fierce. Serena, true to her name, never went beyond the ruffling pictured here. She would not even peck at your hand like many other grouchy broodies might. Black Aussies have a wonderful iridescence to their plumage, which came out nicely with Sennelier and Schmincke pastels.

Montana Sunset

4x6
Soft Pastel on Canson Mi Teintes Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2005
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: A photo found on the Internet.
No copyright info available.
This was my second experiment painting on a very small scale. I used the reverse of the Canson Mi Teintes paper. For smaller works, I would recommend using a fine grade sandpaper instead.

Scottish Pastures

4x6
Soft Pastel on Canson Mi Teintes Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2005
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: My imagination.
I had read somewhere that pastel paintings are usually meant to be larger works, generally to be seen at a distance. I thought I’d try for myself whether or not pastels could work on a very small scale, and was quite happy to find that this tiny 4x6 postcard size allowed me to create a very nice impressionistic feel in the final painting. I intentionally used the reverse side of Canson Mi Teintes because it has less tooth than a sanded paper, which forced me to keep my strokes simpler.

Gone Ahead

12x18.5
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2005
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist.
This is my Hovawart, Cody, painted just days before he died from cancer. I had taken many photos to study his magnificent tail in the weeks preceding his death until I found the perfect one. Even when he was very ill, he carried this great plume jauntily, until the very last day when he could no longer walk.

Andy

12x18
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2005
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist.
Andy was a very camera-shy dog, so I have few pictures of him. He would look alarmed as soon as he spotted a camera, and if he saw a flash he would run and hide. I used to take Andy to work with me. The photo that became the model for this painting was taken from about twenty feet distance, while Andy was waiting for me to come open the office door. He was still ‘smiling’ happily because he had not noticed the camera, and being well into his teens his eyesight wasn’t the best at a distance. He had been quite ill and had recently recovered from surgery to remove a large tumor on his right flank, which is why there is no fur in that area. To me, this painting captured his happy nature and it still makes me smile today, even though Andy has been gone many years now.

Cody

18x24
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2005
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist.
This is a portrait of my Hovawart and faithful guard dog, Cody. I had been in the process of building a chicken coop, and he was lying on a mound of dirt surveying (supervising) the proceedings. This painting was a deliberate attempt to use more natural hues than the usual ‘wild’ and brighter colors I gravitate toward in my art.

Pain Relief

9x11
Soft Pastel on GatorGrit 350-b Waterproof Sandpaper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2005
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: A German magazine.
Copyright information not available.
This is my rendition of a color-enhanced photograph of acetaminophen crystals (I think that's what it was! I know it's not aspirin.) The colors quite captivated me, which is why I had saved the page from a long-forgotten magazine for many years. It never occurred to me to paint it until I accidentally stumbled across the picture again, and thought I'd try to recreate the glowing colors. And I also liked that the crystals were in the shape of a cross. :)

SRV

12x18.5
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Photo found on the Internet.
No copyright info available.
I had worked on black canvases with oils and acrylics, and wanted to explore darker papers for pastel painting as well. I used charcoal colored La Carte paper for this painting because I wanted the colors to "pop" (and I couldn’t afford to buy other brands of sanded pastel paper that come in black). The original image from the Internet had a low resolution and was rather blurry, which allowed me some freedom of color interpretation.

Big Wave

9x12
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: A photo found on the Internet.
No copyright info available.
This was a gift for a friend’s teenage daughter who was very much ‘into’ the surf thing. The challenge was learning how to create depth and luminescence in water.

Iron Creek Falls

9x12
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: A photo found on the Internet.
No copyright info available.
Iron Creek Falls in Lewis County, Washington. This is one of my favorite paintings, which was a gift for my father on his 70th birthday. It was the first time I had attempted to paint water with pastels; quite a different process from working with oils or acrylics. Schmincke pastels helped create the sparkling highlights that made the waves come alive.

Stonehenge

12x18.5
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: Picture from a German magazine.
No copyright info available.
A failed attempt to paint a sunset sky; but I was very happy with how the rocks turned out.

Cheek to Cheek

12x18.5
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist’s sister.
Used by permission.
My sister supplied the adorable but tiny 2.5x3.5” photo of my nephew for this painting, which was unfortunately very underexposed and nearly colorless. This was before I had access to digital imaging and photo editing programs, so after completing the initial sketch, I just let my imagination run wild and had fun with the colors. A baby’s happy smile is one of the nicest things to paint.

Birgit with Braid

9x12
Soft Pastel on Canson Mi Teintes Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist’s sister.
Used by permission.
My sister likes to take pictures of herself with her digital camera. I enjoyed learning how to create the textures and colors of her hair from this sketch. I painted on the reverse of the Canson Mi Teintes paper to avoid the holey texture, which also gave me less "tooth" to work with, however. The challenge in pastel painting is to not overwork the paper, i.e., to not fill it with so much pigment that it can't take/accept any more. Yes, even paper can reject you. :)

Rose

9x12
Soft Pastel on Strathmore Cold Press Watercolor Paper,
textured with Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer.
Price: NFS.
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist’s sister.
Used by permission.
This was my first experiment with underpainting and creating my own textured surface. I also used this piece to learn how to paint water droplets.

Cross Jelly

9x11
Soft Pastel on GatorGrit 400-b Waterproof Sandpaper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Multiple photographs found on the Internet.
This was the third in an ongoing series of works studying jellyfish. I especially enjoyed the process of learning how to create the luminous quality of their transparent bodies. I discovered that this fine grade of sandpaper works very well for blending colors and thus create the soft glow jellies have when they are lit within the confines of an aquarium.

Jellyfish

9x11
Soft Pastel on GatorGrit 400-b Waterproof Sandpaper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Multiple photographs found on the Internet.
This was the second attempt to paint jellyfish. (The first one on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, was "tossable.") Colors, colors, colors!

Bobby

12x15
Soft Pastel on Canson Mi Teintes Watercolor Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke
Source: Photo taken by the artist.
This was part of a lesson by my artist friend and teacher Nanette H. The object was to paint loosely, not be a slave to the source photo, and not overwork it. It only took me about an hour. I added a more colorful background, changed the carpet color, and rearranged the placement of the toilet paper rolls Bobby was playing with. Though there are some things wrong with this piece, the expression on the dog's face is perfect, 100% Bobby. After this lesson I decided I really don’t like the textured watercolor papers for pastel painting.

Sammy

12x17
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 2004
Pastels used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Photo taken by the artist.
My cat Sammy in her favorite cozy. The purpose of this painting was to learn how to paint fur.

Frog

9x11
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year Painted: 2004
Pastels Used: Nupastel, Rembrandt
Source: A calendar photo. No copyright info available.
Just a fun exercise. I liked the light in the original photo, and I like frogs. So.

Waterfall with Rainbow

9x11
Soft Pastel on GatorGrit 400-b Waterproof Sandpaper
Price: Contact the Artist
Year Painted: 2004
Pastels Used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist at Yosemite National Park.
This was my first experience painting on sandpaper (while I was waiting for my first order of Sennelier La Carte to be delivered). This particular grade has a very fine tooth, which forced me to not overwork the painting. As a rule, I do not like to use spray fixative because it dulls the colors, so it is only a last resort to ‘fix’ a mistake. Happily, there were no such mistakes in this painting, so the colors are pure. I enjoyed watching the rainbow ‘appear’ in the mist with the butter-soft Schmincke pastels.

Woodstock

12x16
Watercolor on Paper
Late 1990s
Source: One of my cats.
One of my few attempts (or maybe the only one) at watercolor painting since high school. I actually didn’t work from a photograph, but rather had done a quick preparatory pencil sketch as Woodstock was napping on a pillow. I wish he’d positioned his tail and face a little more decoratively; they really looked as wishy-washy as they appear here.

Factum Est

14x17
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 1983
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: My imagination.
This was painted three years after the Dung Beetle, with the same "nasty" hard pastels on plain ol' paper. The image is purely fictional, since according to the Bible it actually got quite dark when Christ died on the Cross. The brilliant light represents the hope that dawned for us when He died. I painted the single cross (without the two thieves who were crucified on either side) to emphasize how alone Jesus was in His dying moment.

Babies 1

15x20
Ink on Watercolor Paper
1983

Babies 2

15x20
Ink & Watercolor on Watercolor Paper
1983

Babies 3

15x20
Ink & Watercolor on Watercolor Paper
1983

Babies 4

15x20
Ink on Watercolor Paper
1983

Garmisch-Patenkirchen

15x20
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
NFS
1982
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: Photograph taken by the Artist
The reference photo was taken from a bridge over the Loisach River in Garmisch Patenkirchen. I loved the view to the Alps and the lush colors all along the river and in the water.

Mühle am Wall

15x20
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
NFS
1982
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: Photograph taken by the Artist
This is one of my favorite spots in Bremen, Germany.

Dung Beetle

11x15
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 1980
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: A German bug and beetle guidebook that was later chewed up by one of my dogs.
No copyright info available.
This was my first foray into pastels. Someone gave me a box of 100 Grumbacher pastel sticks; they were quite hard, but I didn’t know anything about pastels then so that didn't discourage me. I loved the vibrancy of the color, which has not diminished in nearly 30 years.

My Village (sort of)

9x11
Charcoal on Paper
Late-1970s
Source: My imagination.
This was a high school art class assignment; it's a fictional view of the village where I grew up. The church does not exist, at least not in that form or at that location (it’s actually a tiny A-frame chapel quite a ways away from the center of town), but the other buildings did. It is also fictional in the sense that I have no idea if the aerial view is correct; this is simply what I imagined it would look like if I could fly over the village.

Sunset

12x16
Oil on Canvas
1980s
Source: A lesson in a book.
Long before Bob Ross’ oil painting series on PBS, there was William (Bill) Alexander’s “Magic of Oil Painting” in the early 1980s. It’s the exact same painting method as Bob Ross, and Bill Alexander actually invented it: the liquid white as a wet medium on the canvas, and the much thicker than average paint as you work this wet-on-wet method. I can’t say I enjoyed Bill Alexander’s PBS shows as he had a horribly thick German accent (he was a German Canadian), and I got really tired of his yelling “Fiah it into de canvas! You ah de migh-ty creator! You vant a tree? Dere! Just put it over zere! Ver-ever you vant!” over and over and over again. However, the painting method intrigued me, so I bought one of his books and the oil paint and accessories. This is one of two paintings I actually finished.

Two Watercolor Sketches

7x8 (each)
Watercolor on Paper
1978
Source: Live models.
In 10th grade, one of the mediums we explored in art class was watercolors. I can't say that I liked watercolor much, except for this one exercise. We had three minutes for each sketch, done from a live model (students from our class). My first sketch was horrible, so I didn't save it, but number 2 (on the left) and number 3 turned out. I was really pleased with the sketch of the girl -- until my teacher, Mrs. Dzaebel, happened to walk by and just yanked it off my desk, lifted it up to show the class and exclaimed: "This is what it's supposed to look like!" While I watched in horror as the wet paint dripped down the paper and ruined my theretofore perfect sketch. I don't think I ever really forgave Mrs. Dzaebel for ruining the little painting, even though I got an A. Anyway, it's a great exercise for learning to see the essentials and being "loose" in your approach.

Leaf Art

9x11
Pencil & Marker on Plain Paper
1977
Source: A branch I plucked from a tree.
A 9th grade art class assignment. We were to take an item from nature, draw an outline, and then create an abstract pattern in it. I saved this drawing because it’s always been one of my favorites. I like the soft, leafy shapes in contrast to the stark black and white patterns.

Weird Party Art

8x10
Glow-in-the-dark Paint on Aluminum Foil
1979
I saw a painting of these creatures in a science fiction magazine. My parents decided to have a Sci-Fi themed costume party, for which my dad obtained a black light. These two paintings were part of the wall art for my parents’ party cellar (which also had a bar and a dance floor). I drew an 8x10 pencil sketch from the magazine picture, laid it on top of a sheet of aluminum foil, and traced the outlines, which created grooves in the foil. Then I simply painted the areas I wanted to glow in the dark. I liked the idea of these aliens looking scared as they gazed upon the dance floor with a bunch of middle-aged Germans flapping their elbows and twitching their tuckuses and gyrating their hips to the day’s top hits. (A frightening sight, to be sure!)

Winter Scene

12x16
Pencil on Paper
1979

I had this postcard with a breathtaking wintry scene: lovely shades of sunset orange against stark black silhouettes of barren winter shrubs. This was my attempt to turn it into a black and white pencil rendition. One of my favorite drawings, because the scene still evokes the same sense of wanting to take a deep breath and relax.

About This Art Blog

Welcome to my little artsy corner of the world! This is mostly a chronology of my exploration of painting with soft pastels, which began in 1980. After many years of working with different media (pencil, charcoal, ink, oils, acrylics, examples of which I will also post), I recently returned to pastels and am hooked.

Soft pastels come in varying degrees of firmness, and some of them are actually quite hard. The term "soft pastel" distinguishes them from oil pastels, which are a completely different medium; think fancy crayon. ;) (Just kidding!) Purity of pigment is very important in quality pastels. The less fillers there are, the more expensive the pastel: one stick runs an average of $2 to $3. Higher prices are not uncommon, especially for the "buttery soft" brands like Unison, Great American, or Schmincke.

From time to time I plan to post a series of pictures on the different phases a painting goes through before the final product. You might be surprised at some of the earlier "ugly" stages (the ones that make me think I should just toss the whole thing and start over). They are part of the process, however, and quite necessary. Painting, like so many other creative endeavors, is ten percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration (i.e., mental and physical effort).

Each painting teaches me something new. That's one thing I love about the creative arts: you never stop learning. You're always reaching, stretching, growing, pushing the envelope, learning to see things in a different way. These days, I have more ideas than time to realize them, but I'm grateful that the creative fires keep burning!

I hope you'll find something you enjoy on these pages. Feel free to comment or to contact me directly (MizMinka[at]hotmail[dot]com) if you have any questions.

Ars artis gratia. (Yes, that's the correct way to say it, MGM had it wrong.)