SEPTEMBER 7TH - SUE McDONAGH - PASTELS
The meeting opened with some announcements regarding our painting days and a request for the member’s reaction to a proposal to organise a coach trip to the Lowry Centre in Manchester. Members were reminded of the closing day for entrants for our October Exhibition in the Kingfisher Centre. Our Chair then introduced Sue McDonaugh to give her presentation on pastel painting and to demonstrate with a painting, “Children on the Beach”
Sue had made her charcoal drawing on a pastel card, explaining that she preferred its slightly abrasive surface to that of pastel papers and that velour supports were not suitable for her technique. She related a bad experience with a painting on velour when some light knocks had caused much of her painting to fall off the velour surface. This may be explained by the fact that painting on velour requires the pastel to be pushed into the surface fibres whereas Sue’s technique is to apply patches of colour without rubbing in or blending. The card surface readily accepts the pastel which she applies with a very light stroke and will also accept multiple layers of pastel.
Her picture was of two young children hand-in-hand, paddling at the seaside and a colour photograph of the subject was used as a reference. Started with the dark areas, she progressed to the pinks of the flesh tones all the time using the flat of the pastel stick with a light, loose touch. Sue does not use pastel pencils but obtains her detail and sharp lines by exploiting the edges and facets that develop naturally on the pastel stick. When painting the curved surfaces in the subject’s hats and clothing, she suggested the shapes with the direction of her pastel strokes. She explained her technique as she developed the painting, saying that she liked to preserve the vibrancy of the painting with discrete patches of unblended colour. She followed her normal practice of developing the figures to quite an advanced stage before moving on to the background and foreground. Using the edge of her pastel, she delineated the outlines of the children and introduced some tonal contrast by setting dark tones against flesh tints. The sea and sand forming the background and foreground for the figures were painted in loosely and then developed with highlights and shadows. In the case of the highlights, Sue pointed out that she did not use white but preferred to avoid its chalkiness by instead using a very light tint of the appropriate colour. She finally added some details to complete a charming, colourful picture, much admired by her appreciative audience.
David Price
