PAINTING CHALLENGE #2 THE COLD OF WINTER

Here is the next challenge, depicting WINTER'S COLD

1 The feeling of COLD as depicted in ice, wind, snow or sky.
2. You think it, you paint it, just make it COLD

As Charles Mingus, Jazz Musician and Composer said, "Making the simple, awesomely simple that's creativity."

Your digital submissions will be reviewed by a PAC Master Pastelist with experience in the relevant area, who will choose the ‘top three' works and provide comments about what painting principles/techniques they illustrate that make them stand out, (this is NOT a critique, just a summary of the strengths of the paintings).

All the submission will be posted to the PAC website, and the top three (with the reviewers' comments) highlighted. There is no submission fee, and no prizes-this is a PAC community event.

Submit your digital image (.jpeg, minimum 300 dpi, 900 pixels on the longest side) to Maureen Dorinda, MPAC co-ordinator at: maureen.dorinda@sympatico.ca by midnight on February 29, 2012

Submissions will be reviewed by Master Pastelist Margaret Ferraro and the results posted by March 16.

To view Margaret's work click here

Comments from Maureen Dorinda, PAC,MPAC
MPAC Co-ordinator

We are delighted to have ten of our members meet the first Painting Challenge reflecting Fall. Thank you all. We asked our Karin Richter, MPAC from Calgary, to comment on the three she believed deserved special recognition.

Through this challenge we are endeavouring to help you assess your own paintings to see the principals/techniques that make them stand, to encourage you go go beyond your comfort level and try new methods/subjects, to give you positive feedback and to showcase your art on the website. Karin has gone the "second mile" and forwarded us the principles/techniques she uses to assess her own paintings. Thank you Karin for sharing. (If you wish to see how Karin applies these principals so masterfully, her painting are on our website.)

PAINTING CHALLENGE #2 has been designed and we have our talented Margaret Ferraro, Ottawa Valley, to do the assessment. Thank you Margaret.

Fall 2011 Painting Challenge #1

Announcing a new online opportunity to showcase your work and be inspired! Starting this fall, the PAC will post a painting challenge four times a year, inviting all PAC members to paint a work incorporating a specific subject or theme or pastel technique. Your digital submissions will be reviewed by a PAC Master Pastelist with experience in the relevant area, who will choose the "top three" works and provide comments about what painting principles/techniques they illustrate that make them stand out (NOT a critique, just a summary of the strengths of the works). All the submissions will be posted to the PAC website, and the top three (with the reviewers' comments) highlighted. There is no submission fee, and no prizes--this is a PAC community event.

Here's the first challenge, a still life with a fall theme:

Paint a pastel painting that includes all of (and only) the following items:
1) One or more pumpkins
2) One or more apples
3) One or more flowers
4) One bunch of grapes
5) One inorganic item of your choice (e.g. a basket, bowl, pitcher, candlestick etc.)
6) One textile ( a tablecloth/napkin etc.)

Submit your digital image (.jpeg, minimum 300 dpi, 900 pixels on the longest side) to Maureen Dorinda, MPAC co-ordinator at maureen.dorinda@sympatico.ca by midnight on October 31, 2011 (or risk having your pumpkin turn into a jack-o-lantern!).

Submissions will be reviewed by Master Pastelist Karin Richter and the results posted by November 20th. Thanks, Karin, for contributing to the PAC community!

Comments from Karin Richter, PAC, MPAC

Thank you for asking me to comment on the entries made for this challenge and to choose 3 works of art that I believe deserve special recognition. When I evaluate a painting including my own, I try to be objective; I adhere to certain criteria to make sure that I am not influenced by my own emotional response:

- What is the painting about? Is the message clear?
- Has the medium of pastel been handled competently and are drawing skills accurate?
- Does the painting have interesting design and composition?
- Does the painting have good values (light, medium and dark)
- Does the work have a focus?
- Does the artist have a good understanding of colour?

The paintings I have chosen are:

The Perfect Red Apple 11- by Kebbie Gibb

Island Harvest - by Glenda Krusberg

Harvest - by Margaret Tough

This is a harvest still life with the pumpkin as its focus and biggest shape, surrounded by other interesting items of varying sizes, shapes and textures. Good drawing skills are displayed here evident of the artist's knowledge of her subject matter and observational skills. Values are more subtle in this painting but there is enough contrast to keep my eye moving around, harder edges were employed successfully near the focal point and softer edges near the periphery of the work. The primary triad was used here: blue, yellow and red, a pleasant combination.

Below are the remaining mages that were submitted for the challenge:

   
 Harvest Pleasures by Ruth Rodgers