Last Saturday, I participated in a one-day pastel workshop led by local Colorado pastel manufacturer Terry Ludwig. There was one thing that I learned very quickly....one can never have TOO many of those little coloured sticks! Unlike with painting, where with a certain amount of skill and patience I can mix any colour I desire to apply to my canvas, pastel painting is limited to the colours in your box. For Christmas I received a 30-piece pastel landscape set, which I HAD thought would be adequate for a newbie such as me...but NOOO...for one who loves colour, I felt that I was on a diet - 30 colours - no more, no less. To be fair, the instructor brought oodles of sticks available for purchase at $3 bucks a stick, and generously treated all students to extras sticks to try out. I snapped up the free sticks, but didn't purchase any additional. I kinda felt that part of the experience of working in pastel is recognizing that sometimes you have to "make do" with what you have. I "painted" 3 landscapes on Saturday. Posted above are two that I was reasonably happy with.
