Challenge - Soft Pastels

Did you like using soft pastels? They are one of my favorite art supplies. I just love the gentle blending that you can get from them.

My daughter used lots of blue in her beautiful plaid that she created on Tuesday, and all she has left is a few scraps of blue - BUT did you know that is easy to re-form your scraps into a new pastel? Collect all of your little bits of the same color and then crush them. Add a drop or two of alcohol then roll into a fairly thick stick. Let it dry for a few days and it is ready to use.

Remember that when you work with soft pastels you need to work from Dark to Light. This might be hard for those of you who are used to watercolors where you work Light to Dark. With soft pastels, once you have your light colors down you can't go over them with darks without loosing your crispness and making your colors muddy. Watch this sped up video of an artist at work and keep an eye out for which colors he chooses. Experiment with layering your pastels on a scrap piece of paper - you will see the difference very quickly.

Pastels can be messy, so keep a paper towel nearby to brush away any stray dust which can mark your paper. If a accidental mark is made that won't brush away, with a normal eraser, you can erase pastels. Sometimes traces will stay on the paper, because pastel dust holds in the pores of the paper, but often you will be able to make the changes you need. For very fine corrections try using a flexible kneaded erasers.

Mary Cassatt loved to depict close relationships, especially between mothers and children. Try this yourself. Pull out your pastels and draw a portrait of a mom and her child. They could be

holding hands, working on something together, or just looking into one another's eyes. Try to capture the tender feelings that Mary Cassatt was so good at showing in her artwork.

There is a great simple biography and slideshow of Mary Cassatt's work at GardenOfPraise. She also has posted several wonderful games including a jigsaw puzzle of The Boating Party which you probably still have hanging somewhere in your home. Lots of a fun is to be had at this site. Don't miss it.

I have printed up your work from Tuesday and plan to deliver your get well cards tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some pictures posted for you soon. The residents are sure to appreciate your thoughtfulness.

January - Cassatt

2011 - Welcome to the new year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

This month we are going to be studying the work of

Mary Cassatt

(pronounced kuh-SAHT)

1844-1926

American

In preparation for class, please print out The Boating Party (1893/1894, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC) and place it where your child will see it often.

Click here for a printable version

Enjoy spending time intentionally discussing the picture with your child. Encourage them to notice things with you. It doesn't need to be complicated - point out the shadows, or have your child see how many lines that they can find which point to the baby's face. Another idea is to show the picture to your child and give them 30 seconds to study it. Then, take the picture away and ask them questions about what they saw - What color are the baby's shoes? What kind of boat are they in? How many hats did you see?

Have fun exploring this painting. It is a fun one!

Next Tuesday we will create pastel drawings focusing on color and line in the style of Mary Cassatt. Copies of finished projects will then be shared with residents of a local elder care facility.

You will need to bring the following supplies:

• One 9"x12" sheet of construction paper in any of the pastel colors per child - pale green, pale blue, pale yellow, etc.
• One 9"x12" sheet of black construction paper per child
• Paper towels and/or baby wipes
• Box of Soft Pastels
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pencil

Soft pastels create lots of fine dust so please wear short sleeves and/or bring a smock to protect your clothing.

See you January 11th at 6:30!