Enjoy creating with pure color known as pastels! In each class, you have the opportunity to paint from a still life setup that the instructor will use to demonstrate pastel painting. You are welcome to paint along or you can bring your own photo to work from. Students will explore the advantage of underpainting while discovering the beauty of pastels.
Required Supplies
PAPERS
Bring a paper that has a moderate grit and will hold up to a wash with water or alcohol. Working with sandpaper is suggested such as, U-Art Grit 400 or 500, Pastel Premier, White or Italian Clay or Ampersand Pasteboard. Size should be no smaller than 9x12 and no larger than 12 x16
PASTELS
You will need both hard and soft pastels for this workshop. For the hard pastels Prisma Nupastels, Createacolor or Faber Castell are recommended. Only a few DARK hard pastels like dark green/blue, dark blue violet and dark green are needed,
For the SOFT pastels, many good brands are available. Feel free to work with whatever you have. If you are new to pastels, I suggest one of the half-stick sets available from Sennelier, Unison, Jack Richeson or Great American. These sets have a good range of color and value. A set with a minimum of 30 half-sticks is recommended. Sennelier has a120 half-stick Paris Collection that is excellent for beginners and experts alike. If you shop online, my favorite stores for papers and pastels are listed below:
Dakotapastels.com Fineartstore.com Cheapjoes.com
BOARDS: Gatorboard is good support. Foam core, Masonite or a drawing board are good too. Make sure the board you bring is large enough to support the size of our pastel paper.
BRUSHES
These will be used for underpainting. A few coarse bristle brushes sizes 6-10.
TAPE
Artist tape is best. I find masking tape tends to tear your surface when you remove it
SKETCHBOOK
For making initial compositions. This is optional. I sketch directly on the surface I’m using.
WET WIPES
Plus a roll of paper towels. NOTE: VIVA paper towels are excellent for pastel dust.
PHOTOS You are welcome to use and work from your own photos. You are welcome to use my photos when I’m working on landscapes. When doing still life, I will set up a still life in class and be doing a demonstration. You’re welcome to paint a long or bring your own images. Please only use images from photos that you have taken and are not using photos from another photographer. We want to respect the rights of all artists.
Instructor
Gary Rupp
A new member to the Painting & Drawing faculty, Gary Rupp first studied Studio Art and Plein Air painting at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL. Over ten years ago he started working in pastels and has been instructed by Terri Ford, Albert Handell, Maggie Price, Doug Dawson and Michael Chesley Johnson. Gary is the current President of the Appalachian Pastel Society (APS) and has recently been awarded Signature Member status of APS.
In December 2017, Gary was very grateful to be selected by The Pastel Journal as one of seven international artists to watch in the coming year. His paintings have been shown in juried international exhibitions at The Salmagundi Club in New York City; The Bascom in Highlands, NC; The Cornwall Center in Charlotte, NC and the International Association of Pastel Societies in Albuquerque, NM. He was recently invited as one of thirteen Florida landscape artists to participate in an exhibition entitled "Fabulous Florida" held at the Ocean Gallery in Flagler Beach, FL.
