I am continuing to have fun in the studio using soft pastel on top of prints using acrylic or oil paint. Here are two of my recent paintings. The snow scene was done on a trace mono type and the flowers on a gelli plate print with acrylic

Here was my process. The snow scene was inspired by one of my photos that I turned into a black and white image.

I used a brayer to coat the slick side of freezer paper with water mixable oil paint. Then I put the oil side down on a Lux Archival pastel paper and the photo on top. Using a stylus, I traced the main tree trunks and branches. I used my fingers and other tools to push into the very dark areas. Then I had the idea to spray water on it to see what would happen. Most of the branches disappeared but the oil paint bloomed like watercolor!

I established the branches again and then started layering pastel. Since I was using a quality pastel paper I did not have to do anything with it before applying the pastel.

I had no difficulty layering pastel on top of the water mixable oil paint. I let it show when it was helpful.

This is the final piece, an 8 x 10 in. soft pastel called Spot On. You can see this on my website at www.sueflanagan.com

The second painting was done in another way. It is a still life from a flower arrangement on my kitchen table. This is a photo of my inspiration.

I spent quite a bit of time printing artificial flowers on my gelli plate. I had a lot of failures but here were two very different prints that I thought had potential. Both were done on Strathmore Series 3 printmaking paper and acrylic paint.

At first I thought I would try the first image because it clearly had flower impressions. Then I realized that those impressions would inhibit me from painting my vase of flowers.I know myself. I would start developing the flowers already on the paper.

So I used the second print that had a more abstracted background. Before I could use pastel, I had to put transparent gesso on the paper to provide some grit. The paper buckled a little so I put gesso on the back as well. Transparent gesso provides a much rougher surface than the Lux Archival. That gives the final painting a more textured surface and a different look.

I don't have any process photos. I tried to keep the background untouched. This is the final painting.

I think I will try doing a pastel painting with the other print and my failure prints will probably end up in a collage.

Try using creative under paintings in your pastel paintings. It is a lot of fun and can provide interesting results.

Sue and Suzy, the artist with the split personality

I have been painting for about 25 years. I started in oil and then soft pastel became my true love. However, a collage class lead to acrylic painting and then to mixed media.

Experimentation is important in my practice or I become bored. Lately I have been experimenting with soft pastel with a goal to have a more painterly outcome. My materials, tools, and process are different. Many of these ideas come from Dawn Emerson's book, "Pastel Innovations," which I highly recommend.

I have written before about using a Gelli plate to create mono-prints as under paintings for a pastel painting. The prints can be in acrylic or in pastel. Sometimes I made an abstract background with acrylic and then found an image to develop on it. Other times I have put paint on the plate and drew an image by pulling wet paint off using a variety of tools. Then I transfer the image to paper using paint or mat medium. Finally I add soft pastel to complete the image. Go to those posts for more details.

This time I focused on the drawing using a trace monotype. I am dating myself when I say this is like using carbon paper to transfer a drawing to paper. If you don't know what I mean, enjoy your youth.

Start by putting a thin layer of water soluble oil paint on a piece of freezer paper. I tried using Golden Open acrylics but that was not as successful because of the drying time.

Next, turn the oil paint side of the paper down on a blank paper. Don't let the freezer paper slide around. I used printmaking paper because it was thinner in case I wanted to do other techniques. However, you can use other types of paper. Experiment. I also tried using Pastelmat because I wanted the tooth for later pastel applications.

Now use a ball point pen to draw your image onto the freezer paper on the side that does not have the ink. Try other tools as well to push the oil paint onto the blank paper underneath. You can develop line or shapes for shading. When the drawing is complete, you can remove the freezer paper and you have a beautiful line drawing with oil paint. Here is an example of a drawing I did of a tree using this method.

Then add your pan pastel and/or stick soft pastel to develop the image. You do not need to wait for the paint to dry. Here are two images that I did using this method.

In the first image I used too much paint and that caused the background which I ended up liking. With the squirrel I did two other things. I used the pan pastel with a stencil to make the diagonal lines. The other patterns were made with pastel sticks in frottage. I learned that in kindergarten. Put something textured under the paper and rub the pastel stick or charcoal over the top of the paper. The stick picks up the peaks of what is underneath leaving a pattern on the paper. The paper must be thin enough for this to work.

Here is another image I created with a trace monotype. The vertical stripes in the background was made with frottage or rubbing pastel on your painting over corrugated cardboard that is underneath the painting. The dots were made with a stencil. I blurred lines and made directional strokes to help with a sense of movement.

You can see these images and more of my work at www.sueflanagan.com

Happy painting,

Sue Flanagan

Color has three aspects: hue (red, blue yellow, etc), intensity (saturation), and value. Value is how light or dark a color is on a scale from 1 to 10. For this discussion 1 is the darkest or black and 10 is the lightest or white. Value is very important for the success of any kind of painting whether it is hyper-realistic, abstract or non-representational. This gives contrast between shapes.

I always recommend to my students that they draw a thumbnail sketch that has at least white and black. This is called a notan. However, in my world it is helpful to include a gray. The thumbnail is just a couple of inches in size and it clearly shows the large shapes and their value. Shapes are not objects. A shape in a landscape could include a row of trees including the dark vegetation next to them. There is no detail in the thumbnail and it takes only a couple of minutes to make.

The quick sketch firmly establishes the value pattern on your surface. It imprints the design in your mind. This gives you freedom! As long as the value in the shape is correct, you can use any color.

OK, but how do you see the value in your subject and paint? The most important thing is to squint.  Squinting diminishes the color so that you can see how light or dark it is. When you want to see the color or hue, open your eyes. When you want to see value, squint.

There are tools on the market that are very helpful in assessing value. Below is a view finder with a red film. The first photo is with the viewer open and the second is with it closed over a grid. My view finder is dirty from use so the gray scale next to the windows is off.

When you look through the red film in the window, it negates color and you can clearly see the value of the shapes. The windows are proportionate to common sizes of painting surfaces so it also helps you to crop your subject to the size of your painting surface. The grid helps you with composition and drawing. This type of view finder is particularly helpful in plein air painting. You can actually buy glasses with a red tint.

Of course you probably have technology that can also be helpful. Take a picture with your smart phone and use the editing app to put it into black and white. Or, if you are on your tablet or computer, there are apps or programs to put your photo into black and white. I have Photoshop Elements for this purpose but there are many others.

If you have a photograph as a reference, then a gray scale and value finder is helpful. This is an example.

I highly recommend making a 10 value scale of your own. Use white paint for value 10 and black for 1. Then mix grays in gradual steps as in the picture above. It is a good exercise for anyone and might not be as easy as you would think.

Now, how do you use it? You put the holes over the color and squint. The hole that seems to disappear is the value of your color. For example, this scale is put on an off white paper. Even though it is off white, the hole that is closest to the paper in value is number 10 or the lightest. There is still a noticeable contrast between the paper and number 2. The difference between the paper and the other values is clearly very different from number 1. Black has the most contrast.

Now, let's look at the scale on brown below. When you squint your eyes, you can see that the brown disappears with value 2 (top row, 2nd from the right). The brown looks lighter compared to 1 or black. The brown looks darker compared to #3. So, this is a very dark value #2 brown.

This all sounds easy but wait. It is not as easy to discern on bright colors. Saturated color can make this more difficult. Let's look at blue. I put the scale from white to black in a row. Squint your eyes. Can you see that the blue is darker than values 10 down to 6? I can see that it is lighter than 3, 2, and 1. It is more difficult to see the blue in the 4 and 5 holes. Sometimes it is that way. It feels like a value is in between. Do you see how intensity of color can throw off your perception of value? This blue is a bit darker than I might have thought without the gray scale.

The gray scale and value finder can also be used when painting from life. It all requires practice and I believe it is a life long journey. Well, I hope this was helpful.

You can see my work and sign up for my newsletter at www.sueflanagan.com. Here is "Hidden Tropical Beauty" in color and in gray scale.

Happy painting!

Sue Flanagan

Although I am always tempted to cut corners and skip a step, I am grateful that I did not for this painting. The planning stage of a painting is the most important.

I started with a thumbnail sketch of this landscape and then I painted a small color study. The value study of the thumbnail is the most important to me. It tells me the light and dark areas of the painting and establishes the composition in my mind. It is advisable to try several formats like square, portrait, and landscape in different proportions.

I usually don't do a color study but I am glad I did. Not only was experimenting with color helpful, but I decided that perhaps I needed a different proportion for the final painting. I decided to use an 11 x 14 in. white Wallis sanded pastel paper so that I would have the option to cut it down to 9 x 12 in. Unless you can afford custom framing, keep in mind standard frame sizes.

First, I toned the entire paper with fluid acrylic paint. I used Golden's Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold and Green Gold. When that was dry, I blocked in the large shapes with a Spruce Blue Nupastel. This is the photo and painting. I decided to remove that tree stump in the bottom left corner. I look only at my thumbnail for this stage, not the photo. That is because I want to establish the big shapes. No detail is needed at this stage.

I used 70% rubbing alcohol and a brush to liquefy the pastel. This fixes the initial pastel into the paper. Now I have my road map for the painting. I use different colors of the same value in each of the large shapes.

The acrylic paint adds a nice glow as it shows through a little here and there. This is the final painting, "Walk Toward the Light". I have decided to keep it an 11 x 14 in. size. You can see this on my website in the Landscape section of Works: www.sueflanagan.com

T

I used a variety of pastels but mostly Unison and Terry Ludwig. In the sunlit areas I used warmer greens and in the shadow I used cool colors. I kept the highest contrast and an intense orange for the focal point.

I signed it when I thought it was done but it helps to sleep on it. That's because I noticed a small but distracting shape in the center of the painting when I looked at it first thing the next morning. No worries, it was easy to remove. Photograph it and keep a record of it.

Please, slow down and do the planning stages of a painting. It will save you a headache latter on. Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Happy painting,

Sue Flanagan

I have been enjoying using subtractive techniques in my acrylic paintings. I layer color on the surface and let that dry. Then, I cover that layer with another color. Before it dries, I remove parts of it with a variety of tools like color shapers, skewers, etc . This reveals the color or colors below. It can have very interesting effects.

Why not try this with pastel? I applied pastel to a sheet of Lux Archival paper. Then I took pipe foam insulation to push the pigment into the paper.

Then I started establishing lighter values by erasing the pastel. I used a variety of erasers including my electric eraser.

I used some stencils to erase and create a pattern on the vase. Then I used a few positive strokes and lightened the background.

I couldn't resist using an intense Diane Townsend pastel to bump up the pink color and I strengthened the darks. Here is the final painting, "Less is More."

This is just one more technique to remember in your pastel painting. It can be very useful.

Happy painting,

Sue Flanagan

I made some mono-prints many years ago and they have not inspired a painting until now. I put transparent gesso on them for the tooth I wanted for a pastel painting. This is one of them. Do you see an image in it?

I finally saw something. My challenge was to use as little pastel as possible to bring out what I saw but leave enough of the mono-print for interest. Here is the next stage.

Should I have stopped here? No, as usual, I went on. This is the final painting.

Did I go too far or not far enough? What do you think should be the title? It is fall in Michigan as I write this. Clearly that was my inspiration.

I like the loose rendering of this piece and the viewer can see the rough texture of the paper and the acrylic under-painting.

Happy painting,

Sue Flanagan

www.sueflanagan.com

I have some beginning students at Pine Tree Studio. This group is interested in representational painting but a lesson in value is important for any painting including abstracts and non representational work. Value just means the light or darkness of a color in a shape. The shades from white to black are clearly seen in black and white photography.

I wanted to show how the beginning of a painting should be done with value in mind from the very beginning and it doesn't matter what medium is used. I started with a Notan or a thumbnail sketch only in white and black. I also took a photo of the pears I would paint and changed it to black and white.

I covered a canvas with Transparent Red Oxide. Then I wiped out the areas in the light and strengthened the dark shapes.

After this, I started to paint the local color keeping to these values. I was also looking for subtle shifts in the color intensity and relative color temperature. It looks harsh at this point.

This is the final painting after making smoother transitions between shapes.

To show how this initial value block in could be done using different colors and in different mediums, I did two more examples. The first is pastel using shades of blue and the other is acrylic.

I enjoy layering local color onto these under paintings carefully because I like some of this initial color to show through in the final piece.

I encouraged my students to do this exercise many times because shapes like pears and apples are simple. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Following my own advice, I once painted 50 apples in 50 days. It requires creativity in the set up and execution to avoid boredom. Here are a couple of examples.

I hope this helps you to get a good start in your painting.

Happy painting,

Sue Flanagan

I was in the mood to paint a simple dune painting in pastel. The problem was that the photo I had was very dull and boring. It was a cloudy day on Oval beach and the sand looked gray.

As I looked at the digital photo, it occurred to me that I could see what the camera and computer was registering in color. I put the saturation to maximum in Photoshop. This is the saturated computer image.

The intense color was visually very appealing in an abstract way. Then I removed all color to check the values or the light and dark shapes.

With this information, I decided to do a dry under painting that had all of the bright colors. I did not use a liquid to distribute the pastel this time. I rubbed the pastel into the paper with pipe foam insulation. I believe this was Premier pastel paper.

I started developing the image with more realistic color but still maintaining some of the vibrancy.

I took a break. I returned to the image and felt it required a lead in with more grasses. The shadows also felt harsh and it needed more sunshine. Here is the final painting and the original photo that was my reference.

My Photoshop skills are very limited. If I can adjust the saturation on a photo, I am sure that just about anyone can do it. It is simple. Try this approach when you have a dull reference that is not inspiring you. It might spark some enthusiasm and ideas.

Happy painting,

Sue Flanagan

I believe that I enjoy landscape painting because I like organic shapes and random line with texture. These are the elements that are so much fun to depict in abstract painting.

However, I also like painting in a realistic style. I am finally beginning to effectively combine the two approaches. My most recent mixed media piece is a 12 x 12 in. acrylic on a cradle panel. It is called "Competing for Air Space." You can see it on my website in the wildlife works. www.sueflanagan.com

This abstract background was a lot of fun.

I started with collage including music, text and some mono-printed deli paper. When that dried I used permanent markers for line. Then I applied blue acrylic paint.

When the blue paint dried, I applied different colors of green paint. I used a silicone brush (silicone shaper) to subtract green paint and this created the large branches. I also scraped into the green paint with a skewer to create fine branches. Spritzing large drops of water on the green paint and lifting with a paper towel creates random texture.

After a little more collage I moved on. These two Blue Jays visit my bird feeder. I find them inspirational.

The birds were painted with acrylic paint when the background was dry. I lightened some of the sky holes and painted the suggestion of a few leaves. Then it was time for some stamping and my signature.

I like to finish my paintings with a satin varnish because it brings out the color and it is not too glossy.

If you live in the Holland, Michigan area, I offer classes at my summer studio, Pine Tree Studio and Gallery. Go to my website for details.

Enjoy the creative life!

Sue Flanagan

At first I started Pine Tree Studio/Gallery in Holland Michigan simply to have a larger space for creating my art in the summer months. It is near Saugatuck and Douglas.

Since it is in the countryside, I did not expect foot traffic. I was wrong.

People who drive by this building all the time are quite curious about what is going on in this space. Many people ride their bicycles along these country roads and they stop by when they see the open sign. All of my friends who visit can see potential. My vision for this space quickly changed.

I have felt for a long time that I am meant to use what artistic talent I have been given to encourage people in their creative life. This is my mission.

Creativity is a gift that every human being has been given but many people do not believe this. Creativity is the foundation of all innovation in any field. That includes science and technology. It is not just part of the arts.

I am captivated by the visual world. My creative medium is in fine art materials.  However, there are many other forms of expression. Your medium may be a garden, textiles, wood, metal, a musical instrument, food, a computer program, etc.

I now have space for making art and for showing my finished work. I also have this great space for classes and to build an artistic community. Pine Tree Studio is a place to fulfill my mission.

So, I have begun offering classes in pastel, acrylic, and oil painting. If you are nearby and feel called to give this a try, then go to my website: www.sueflanagan.com to contact me.

Not everyone will want to continue painting after a class or workshop, but I hope that they will learn different ways of seeing the world. I hope that will develop a love for experimenting and have joy in the process with other courageous people.

If you are not in this area, find an instructor near you. You may be surprised that art is healing to body, mind, and spirit.

Please remain curious and explore your God given gift of creativity.

Sue Flanagan