How to create a nude in pastel

I really enjoy using pastel as a medium. It  is particularly well suited to achieving soft tonal gradations and the delicacy of skin tones.

This drawing is one of Lyn, a lady who models for lots of art classes and groups around the Cambridge area.
It was done on tinted Murano mount board using a range of different pastels. I use both Winsor and Newton and Senellier soft pastels , as well as charcoal ( willow sticks and charcoal pencils) and conte.

My initial tentative steps at placing the figure on the board are shown above. As can be seen, I didn't get it right first time, and changed the format to landscape. Frustrating, but there is no point in struggling on if the initial planning is wrong. This is done in charcoal. Here I am looking at rhythms through the figure, at basic proportions and angles. It is a very linear method and is only one way of approaching it. I will be considering alternative methods in future blogs.

As I am fairly happy with the basics, I now start blocking in the main masses paying a little attention to tone and colour. I say "little" because these are only the first tentative steps and I know that these will eventually be overlaid and modified. The darker areas are burnt sienna, the lighter tones naples yellow and yellow ochre. 

I now have to consider the background and begin blocking it in. I also make a start on the head. I am able to use soft pastels because very little fine detail is required on these larger areas. Sections like the head, hands and feet, I am careful not to overload and will dust them down before continuing on them. I use a combination of fingers, torchons and clothes to blend. How much blending one does is obviously a matter of personal preference or can be dictated by the subject matter. A wizened old man would suggest a bolder approach as opposed to the soft flesh of a baby.

The process continues. I pay more attention to light , shadows and reflected lights. I try to suggest the roundness of the forms and am also looking more closely at subtle colour variations within the flesh. I find myself adding cool blues and greens , overlaying them with softer pinks , sometimes blending them together , at other times leaving the colour underneath breaking through. This is a little like scumbling technique as used in oils. I am frequently asked what should my palette be? Everyone likes a formula it would seem. With pastels, I am a little at a loss for an answer. I have hundreds of pastels. The actual process is for me, to a large extent,  almost intuitive. I look closely and what I observe suggests a colour. Sometimes it seems a bizarre choice , but when blended works. Often, when I am doing a pastel demo to an art group, I start off using somewhat weird colours. It has a wonderful shock effect on the audience and certainly captures their attention. They clearly think I am mad! But the trick is to be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat and show
that by adding and overlaying, even this initial "disaster" can be turned into something pleasing.

When it comes to the head, I use a combination of conte crayons and pastel pencils then overlay in places with softer pastel.

The same approach is used when it comes to hands and feet.

Other areas are left softer and more diffused.

The finished drawing.


It was an attempt at a classical pose, both gentle and graceful. There was no desire to shock and reveal all. In many respects it is harder to capture the subtlety than present the viewer with a work where absolutely nothing is left to the imagination.

Perhaps that will be the subject of a future blog.

Yesterday, I returned to Pin Mill in the hope of completing the painting I had started the previous day.
The block- in stage was complete. Now it was time to focus on more detail. Obviously, work was required on the barges and distant horizon. I also wanted to capture the reflections and play of light on the water.

But as Robert burns said ” The best- laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft a-gley”. Unfortunately, good light stopped play. Instead of the brooding sky of the previous day, I was confronted by bright blue sky and white fluffy clouds! There was absolutely no way I could continue with the painting above . Everything was different, from the light to the colour, shadows and reflections! Painting en plein air can be very frustrating!
And so I had to move to plan B. Fortunately, I had come prepared to start another painting. Beyond the barges and houseboats, there are some marvellous old rotting hulks which appeal greatly. I love the decaying moss- covered timbers , the flaking paint , the rusting metalwork. Not the picture postcard view of Pin Mill , but equally fascinating.

My medium was still gouache, but this time I chose to work on a rough surfaced watercolour board (N.O.T.) The subject just cried out for it with all that decay and texture. As before, I went straight in with a large brush, geting the basic outlines and main masses. The pigment is still fluid. Olive green, ultramarine, burnt sienna and white were the colours used at this stage.

I move rapidly on to painting the sky, indicating the distant trees on the other side of the river, and ,of course the river itself. ( I am aware the horizon dips steeply to the left, but this will be corrected later) I have already indicated the foreground mud but decide to leave it and see what happens when the tide starts to come in. I concentrate on drawing the boats ( a tricky piece of perspective) looking at scale and shape. I begin to start painting thickly in places to suggest the texture of the timbers or flaking rust. Gouache is an ideal medium for this . It dries instantly and retains its impasto. But it remains water soluble and can thus be painted back into or even sponged off if required. A very forgiving medium indeed.

By now, after about 2 hours painting, the tide is rapidly moving in to engulf both the hulks and the artist! Suddenly, the subject becomes alive with the image of thes old boats, abandoned and stranded atop the sandbank. I very quickly indicate the approaching water and reflections on it.
It is now time to pack up paints and easel and retreat to dry land.
As before , I am now left with another unfinished painting, but the excitement of that initial image is still there.
With both these paintings I will go back and do more work en plein air as well as finishing off in the studio. I will show the completed works in a later blog.
Tips.
Working from photographs can not replace the excitement or energy required when painting on the spot. You are at the mercy of the elements and have to work at breackneck speed. You simply do not have time to fiddle around.
Be prepared for frustrations and always have a plan B, if not C at the ready.