Product Description

A survey of materials, equipment and the exciting range of pastels now available leads straight into the first lessons in mark-making and developing pastel techniques. The essentials of form, tone, light and colour are explained next, before moving on to working from life, both indoors and out. All the basic elements of picture making - including measuring and drawing skills, dealing with backgrounds, using photographs and sketchbooks, and tackling perspective - are explored here through a wonderful range of still-life, figurative and landscape subjects, which build skills as the lessons progress. Each lesson begins with a list of its aims, which are followed by clear instructions on how to achieve them. Step-by=step demonstrations, annotated artworks and finished paintings reveal the whole process in detail, while practical exercises allow beginners to build up their own invaluable workbook - from first strokes to finished landscapes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #638831 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From Library Journal
Simmonds, a popular English pastelist, has stunningly produced exactly what she set out to: a complete, well-written pastel course, covering everything from simple marks to sophisticated paintings. Her lesson on water and skies, for example, contains dozens of mini-lessons on the transitory moods and colors of the sea, the clouds, and reflections in ponds. Whether dealing with portraits, landscapes, or creative interpretations of the styles of C?zanne or Van Gogh, Simmonds never fails to inspire. Recommended for most collections, this is a good companion to other pastel books, like Exploring Pastel with Barry Watkin (LJ 3/15/97).
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
'... continues Daved & Charles' successful series of well-designed landscape-format study guides... lively, user-friendly, packed with gorgeous reproductgions... a real pleasure to use.' - Leisure Painter

About the Author
Jakie Simmonds is a well known and popular pastel artist. The winner of two major awards for pastel painting, she has held several one-woman exhibitions and her work has featured in many others. She is a regular contributor to the leisure paiting press and one of the foremost authors on the subject, with several other books to her credit. Her beautiful light-filled paintings have appeared in numerous other publications and she teaches and makes videos on the medium. Jackie lives in Northwood, Middlesex.

Customer Reviews

GREAT BOOK FOR BEGINNERS!!
I am an absolute beginner and have bought many pastel books and this is one of the 2 best i have.It assumes you know nothing, which for me, was true.It begins with basic marks and techniques and progresses into making pictures. I gained much confidence by going through this well organized book. If you are an absolute beginner, buy it!!!

Fine for novices
Being a painter most of my life, I decided to try my hand at pastels after a good friend of mine gave me a small set for Christmas. I soon found that pastels are very different than paints (I actually thought you could mix the colors like paint), so I started looking for some printed guidance. After reading the glowing reviews about this workbook, I decided to take the plunge and buy this book. After all, it was pretty cheap. What could I lose?
All I can say is if you are an experienced artist, this book is not for you. Over half of the lessons deal with the obvious design problems any first year art student is confronted with. If you know anything about composition and color, then you can skip the first half completely, except maybe the materials page. Most of the early exercises are pretty elementary, but I suppose that is necessary for anyone who is either new to painting or very dependent on guidance.
The second half gets better with applications and demonstrations. They are simple enough not to overpower someone new to the medium. Yet they convey enough information to carry a person through to more complex compositions. It was enough to show a painter like me at least a rudimentary approach to pastel solutions. Was it worth the money? Yeah, I suppose so, but I believe there are probably a lot better books out there for a little bit more money. So I will keep looking and buying.

WOW! What a PASTEL WORKBOOK!!
Simple,direct, easy to follow. It helps you become comfortable with the idea of what are pastels and how to use them!! One of the best pastel book for step by step practice.