Let’s take a better have a look at a high-key pastel by Childe Hassam, Up the River. I’ll cowl:
Title: Up The River
Date Created: 1906
Dimension: 17.7 x 21.7 inches (45.1 x 55.2 cm)
Medium: Pastel on Paper
Portray the Panorama (Free Workshop)
I’ll stroll you thru the complete course of utilizing one in all my current work. You’ll see how I’m going from concept during to reflecting on the completed portray.
Distinct Pastel End
Pastel is an fascinating medium. It has traits of each drawing and portray and a definite end that’s not simply replicated with different mediums. There’s a dry, chalkiness to it. It’s additionally mild and contemporary, particularly in comparison with the richness and fullness of oils (see Hassam’s oil portray beneath). On a separate be aware, there appears to be a little bit of rivalry as as to if a pastel paintings is taken into account a drawing or a portray or as a standalone medium. I’m nonetheless uncertain after performing some analysis. It appears to rely on how the pastels are used.

Tip: Every medium has completely different strengths and limitations. With a view to get essentially the most out of your chosen medium, it’s essential to use it in a means that performs into its strengths with out being crippled by its limitations. With pastel, deal with its comfort, versatility, and high-key colours. However maybe don’t deal with texture and mixing (pastel’s limitations).
Shimmering Colours
A lot of the colours are compressed across the center to mild finish of the worth scale. You may see what I imply within the grayscale beneath. The colours are even lighter in worth than I first anticipated (colour will be deceiving like that).

The sunshine colours give the portray its shimmering look. You may nearly really feel the crisp breeze and heat daylight. Although it does come on the sacrifice of worth distinction (mild in opposition to darkish). There aren’t any darkish colours to offer a robust worth distinction. And this can be a massive sacrifice, as worth is probably our greatest device as artists for conveying realism. It’s the alternative of, say, the dramatic chiaroscuro works of Rembrandt or Caravaggio the place worth distinction is the important thing driver. There’s at all times a trade-off in portray!
Small Areas of Distinction and Element
The portray contains a nice steadiness between small areas of distinction and element and enormous areas of quiet house. This can be a tried and true technique for a balanced composition. The small areas, on this case the buildings within the again (closeup beneath), draw our consideration and add curiosity to the portray. The quiet areas give our eyes a relaxation.

Directional Strokes
Hassam’s directional strokes add a way of motion and vibration. It makes it look as if wind is blowing within the sky and within the tall grass and there’s a delicate ebb and stream within the water.
For essentially the most half, the strokes comply with the contours and gesture of the topic. However I’d say the directional strokes of the sky are what Hassam felt labored finest within the context of the portray (it’s Hassam exercising his creative license). I do that with a lot of my calm landscapes—I take the freedom to inject a little bit of motion and vitality into the sky based mostly on what the portray wants relatively than what the wind is definitely doing. This often comes all the way down to a intestine feeling. Beneath is an effective instance that I painted again in 2016, Three Boats at Kingfisher Bay. Discover my radiating strokes within the sky which assist reiterate the sundown and its sensible colours.

Hassam’s directional strokes additionally assist lead our eyes across the portray. My eyes are taken on a journey from the boats, alongside the rickety jetty, up by the grass, by the timber on the again, and across the sky. Your eyes might go on a very completely different journey by the portray. That’s what makes artwork fascinating! All of us see and expertise it in a different way.

Coloration Gradation and Uncovered Floor
There’s a delicate colour gradation within the sky. Discover how Hassam created this gradation by altering the colour of his strokes relatively than by gently mixing the colours collectively. The closeup beneath additionally reveals how a lot of the toned floor is displaying by within the completed work. It provides the sky a delicate and heat glow with out overpowering the blues.

Leaving components of the floor uncovered is one thing Nicolai Fechin typically did in his landscapes. It provides a country, damaged colour look. It’s additionally environment friendly within the sense it permits you may reap the benefits of the floor colour and make fewer strokes.

Rule of Thirds
Beneath is the portray with a three-by-three grid excessive (created utilizing this free grid device). This helps us analyse the portray by way of composition and the rule of thirds. A number of observations:
- There’s a 1:3 relationship between the sky and land.
- The concentrated space of buildings within the background is across the top-left intersection.
- The boats are across the bottom-right intersection.
- The jetty aligns with the underside horizontal gridline.
Discover how many of the exercise is occurring across the gridlines and intersections? That’s to not recommend Hassam was actively interested by the rule of thirds as he got here up with this portray. However it might have been at the back of his thoughts.

Key Takeaways
- Pastel is an fascinating medium. It has traits of each drawing and portray and a definite end that’s not simply replicated with different mediums.
- With a view to get essentially the most out of your chosen medium, it’s essential to use it in a means that performs into its strengths with out being crippled by its limitations.
- The sunshine colours give the portray its shimmering look. You may nearly really feel the crisp breeze and heat daylight. Although it does come on the sacrifice of worth distinction (mild in opposition to darkish). We can’t have all of it in portray. There may be at all times a trade-off!
- Small areas of distinction and element paired with giant areas of quiet house is a tried and true technique for a balanced composition.
- Hassam’s directional strokes add a way of motion and vibration. It makes it look as if wind is blowing within the sky and within the tall grass and there’s a delicate ebb and stream within the water.
- Your eyes might go on a very completely different journey by the portray. That’s what makes artwork fascinating! All of us see and expertise it in a different way.
- You may go away components of the floor uncovered within the completed portray. This generally is a rustic, damaged colour look. It’s additionally environment friendly within the sense it permits you may reap the benefits of the floor colour and make fewer strokes.
Wish to Be taught Extra?
For those who ever need to be taught extra, begin with my Portray Academy course. I’ll stroll you thru the time-tested fundamentals of portray.
Thanks for Studying!
I recognize you taking the time to learn this publish and I hope you discovered it useful. Be happy to share it with buddies.
Completely satisfied portray!

Dan Scott