As I find myself entering the world of chalk, I am discovering that this simple medium (which is really called pastels, much different than the chalk used in school) is quite versatile. Edgar Degas is most famous for his pastel paintings. I love his ballerinas, but this one of the bather is quite beautiful too!
I love the warm glow of the bather's skin and hair, against the cool surface of the tin basin.
Edgar Degas, Le Tub
Some other famous pastel painters are Leonardo Da Vinci, Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt and James McNeil Whistler. 
Jason Chang PSA- Man with Hat
This painting amazes me! The flesh tones are so warm and believable! I found this painting on the Pastel Society of America website.
Here is a completely different application of the medium. This artist uses his photography skill to capture shadows at night in New York City. To emphasize these magical shapes he outlines them with chalk. Reminiscent of a crime scene.
You can see more of Michael Neff's chalk photos here."Buttery soft, velvety smooth and brilliantly hued pastels bring true pleasure to many artists and art lovers. Florals, figures and fauna manifest themselves in bursts of light captivating radiant color upon toothy surfaces as if through sheer magic." Pastel Painting A brief history
Here are a couple pastel paintings/drawings that I did several years ago.
Honey 11"x14" (my childhood dog)
below- "Man with his dog"- 11"x14" (commissioned piece)
5 comments:
Wow you can do that all with chalk?
Very nice post...moving right along...
I got to see some of Degas's work a few years ago when I was in Paris. It's breathtaking in person.
Wow! You are so very talented! I mosied on over from Hayley's award post. I'm blown away by your talent. I'm sorry to hear that your old blog was wiped out. But have no fear, new followers will (and already have! :-)) come along!
Good luck on getting everything just right!
Hi there! I'm visiting from SITS. I loved working with pastels in high school & college :-) I love the picture of your dog!
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