Saturday, June 1, 2024

30-Day Art Challenge 2024 - Day 01: "Pastels"

Time for an art challenge!

The end of last you, I asked the followers of my Facebook page: Without explanation or analyzing, what is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the word "art"?  I took their suggestions, plus a few more from various and sundry places, and came up with a challenge list.

It's June and I think I'm finally ready to tackle this challenge.

Each day for the next month, I will randomly pull one of these words out of a basket and attempt to make a art/craft project relating to the word.  I don't have a lot of time during the week (you know, that job thing I have), so I have to think fast.

Today's word:


In one of my previous Monday Mess Making posts, I mentioned that I was doing experiments with unused or rarely used craft supplies.  I'd traced out what I wanted to paint and bought the chalk pastels a year ago, but couldn't work up the nerve to try them. Well, today's' the day.

Although I'm pretty pleased with the results, I hate this medium.  I enjoyed the tactile nature of the blending process.  However, I had little to no control in areas where I wanted small details, so I ended up using a Q-tip instead of my finger. That was a better technique, but I still didn't care for it.  The color smears very easily and is quite messy.  I was a little wary of using pastels inside; I'm not sure chalk pastel dust and light colored carpet go together.  So, there's another negative--having to go outside to use the paints. Oh, and then there's the issue of sealing the painting.  I read on many different websites and saw on YouTube that a pastel painting can be sealed with hairspray.  Maybe, but it doesn't work very well.  It's quite possible that when I close my sketchbook, the painting will get smeared onto the page before it (or stuck to it).  If I ever try this medium again, it will have to be under live instruction.  I've learned many art processes through video, but this one was a bust.

*sigh*

Hopefully the rest of the prompts will be more of a positive experience.

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