Here's my notes from her talk.
- She recommends using professional grade quality materials even if you're a beginner to avoid having to learn a different technique and unlearn the stuff you had to do to make the cheap stuff work when you make the jump from cheaper to higher quality materials. Plus higher quality pastels like unison have better pigment, better pigment load, excellent lightfastness and better consistency.
- She uses the premium sanded pastel surface like Wallis and Unison which is available on paper, hardboard and gator foam because you can put on multiple layers of pastel. Also if you don't like your painting you can wash it off (though some pigments may stain) and make a new painting. Other people use fabriana, tientes and watercolor paper.
- She uses mainly unison pastels along with terry ludwig pastels, http:www.terryludwig.com . She mentioned others such as giro? & holbein (harder pastels) sennelier, schmike?(very crumbly). She noted that you can say the pastel dust, mix it with water and roll out your own gray pastels. Let them dry on a paper plate for a couple of weeks.
- Surface must be covered by 80% or greater pastel to be considered a painting, otherwise it's a sketch.
- Some useful supplies are chamey cloth to erase pastels from automotive section of stores, generic baby wipes, exacto knife, sandpaper, stomps, tortillons (rolled by hand in China!) and gloves in a bottle http://www.glovesinabottle.com .
- She works from large shapes to small shapes. She's created 8 piece pastel portrait sets for our american population (caucasion, mediteranean, latino, asian, indian and african-american to name a few) which consist of warm & cool colors in a light, medium and dark with violet and green. It found it helps students when she teaches portraiture. She recommends going outside and painting nature. Spoke of how there is something in all of us that makes us create. Mentioned you can make an underpainting by melting your pastels with water, alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. All pastels are water soluble.
- She showed us an example competition/art show submission CD by Judith Reidy. The CD was printed, with a case, with thumbnails and artist info. Very professional.
- Very important to properly frame your art. Take pictures before you frame. Best glass to use is museum glass followed by conservation glass. Don't use picture glass (too much reflection) or non glare glass (can only see straight on.) She uses plexiglass on small pieces (36x24 or smaller) when shipping art work. Discharge static electricity by unwrapping plexi and letting it sit at least 3-4 days before framing you piece. Use spacers to keep plexi when it flexes or glass from touching your painting. She mentioned http://www.pictureframes.com . She wears white gloves when framing and uses windows with a soft cloth to clean. She never turns the pastel painting upside down. Sometime you don't need to matt. Always follow shows requirements for framing artwork, such as wired hanger, eyehooks, etc.
- When shipping artwork use Airfloat rated strongbox with inside puncture guard. http://www.airfloatsys.com Careful to check shipping costs and requirements for shows before entering. Some require expensive designated shippers and unpackers. Use blue painters tape to crisscross tape your glass so if it breaks it doesn't wreck your painting.
- Terry handcarries her pastels in a foam padded pastel case with their MSDS when flying. Once she put them in her checked bags and they turned to powder. She recommends shipping tubes ahead. For more info about TSA regulations you can call the TSA at 1-866-289-9673 according to Michael Shane Neal's March 31, 2008 entry in his blog, The spectator at http://michaelshaneneal.blogspot.com .
- Recommends hotwire.com for lodging
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