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Chalk Pastels

In January of 2010, I first tried out chalk pastels.  I was volunteering at a juvenile detention centre in our town and wanted another medium that could be counted.  In order to teach our young artists how to use them, I needed to know how to do it myself.  Inspiration came quickly with the earthquake in Haiti.  Thought provoking images were splashed across the front page of The Toronto Star.  Below are those first attempts at chalk pastels.

Chalk pastels are a breeze to use compared to watercolours.  The best part is that they can be erased!  They can be layered to mix colours.  They are wonderful.  

For subject matter, I first got permission to use other people's images as reference.  As I became more confident in my own photography, I began to use my own photos.  If you take enough photos, you're bound to find one or two that are worthy of spending weeks with painting!!

 

For the early paintings, I used Canson Mi-Teintes paper.  Once I tried both the Art Spectrum Colourfix and the Canson Touch papers, I decided there was no going back.  They make you a much better artist.  I only use Stabilo Carbothello chalk pastels.  They have the range of colours I appreciate.

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A few of the following paintings are still available.

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