PASTEL PORTRAITS
Pastel portrait, pastel flowers, pastel flower portrait
pastel portait, wildlife pastel portrait
pastel pet portrait, pastel dog portrait,
pastel portrait, pastel wildlife portrait, pastel squirrel
pastel portrait,pastel pet portrait, pastel horse
pastels, pastel landscape, landscape in pastels
pastel portrait, pastel wildlife portrait, wolves in pastel
Pastels are a wonderful medium and the more I use them the more I love them! Pastels are so versatile and can be used with so many other mediums. Most people think of pastel as being "chalk" but this is not so. Pastels are pigment in one of it purest of forms. Pastels are light-fast, long lasting (archival-lasting hundreds of years) and very easy to use. Pastel portraits, especially those of animals, are great for capturing the emotions and character that is found in their eyes, the way they cock that head and even smile at us! Using pastels in pet portraits is my favorite way to use them but I do not limit myself to just dogs and cats! I love to do flowers and landscapes in pastels as well. Take a minute to look at the examples you will find on this page and then let me create your next "memory" to hang on your walls!
To see a larger image, just click on the picture!
"Golden Morning
      16X20
prints available
"Dinner Time"
   11X14
  available
"Midnight Howl"
     16X20.
Commissioned
"Pitcher of Cosmos"
        22X30
      available
"Pursuit"
16X20
available
    "Beauty"
      11X14
Commissioned
                    A little more history on Pastels
Technically, Pastel is powdered pigment, rolled into round or square sticks and contained by methyicellulose, a non-greasy binder. It can either be blended with finger and stump, or left with visible strokes and lines. Generally, the ground is toned paper, but sanded boards and canvas are also popular. If the ground is covered completely with Pastel, the work is considered a Pastel Painting; a Pastel Sketch shows much of the ground. When protected by fixative and glass, Pastel is the most permanent of all media, for it never cracks, darkens or yellows.
Historically, its origin can be traced back to the Sixteenth Century, when Guido Reni, Jacopo Bassano, and Federigo Barocci were notable practitioners. Rosalba Carriera, 1675-1750, a Venetian lady artist, was the first to make consistent use of Pastel. Chardin, 1699-1779, did portraits with a hatching stroke, while Quentin de la Tour, 1704-1788, preferred the blended, velvety finish. Thereafter, a galaxy of artists, Mengs, Nattier, Copley, Delacroix, Millet, Manet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Redon, Vuillard, Bonnard, Glackens, Whistler and Hassam, just to list the more familiar names, used Pastel as finished work, rather than for preliminary sketches.
Degas was the most prolific user of Pastel, and its champion, for he raised it to the full brilliance of oil. His protege, Mary Cassatt, introduced the Impressionists and Pastel to her wealthy friends in Philadelphia and Washington, and thus to the United States. Today, many of our most renowned living artitsts, have distinguished themselves in Pastels, and have enriched the world with this glorious medium.
                      Flora Baldini Giffuni

pastel portraits, pet portrait, pets pastel portrait
     "Okie".
Commissioned
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     "Inky"
     12x16
Commissioned
    "Sadie"
Commissioned
Pet Portrait, pet portrait from photos, cat portrait, cat art,soft pastels, Himalyn Cat, felines, feline
   "Bently"
    12X16
Commissioned
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