IAPS-MC, MPAC, PSEC, IAF, SPF, SCA

What I love of landscape painting is the unlimited freedom to interpret a scene. When I play with the composition, the drawing, the colour or the atmosphere, I make choices that connect with my personality, my mood, my visual memory and my feeling. It’s an endless challenge and a lifetime pursuit.

Painting with pastels for 30 years, I’ve been in many international exhibitions from America to Korea and was awarded many prizes. I have been teaching pastel for the last 17 years and was an instructor for Pastel Live in 2022 and 2024. Featured several times in magazines - Pratique des Arts and Pastel World. I have developed strategies to pass on the guidelines and art principles that helped me make progress in my own art.

Value vs Colour

ICAN 2025 - Studio D
Thursday, May 29, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Demo

Painting is an art of decision making; decisions made with the ‘sciences’ of composition and colour in mind.

I will be working over a monochromatic value underpainting of a landscape, an imprimatur. I’ll be introducing the colours while taking into account the value, the chroma, the temperature and the hue for each of the different elements of the composition.

Before starting, I will be explaining the steps I took to create a colour harmony plan for that specific subject. What triggered my choices for the colour scheme and how I went about to complete my plan.

Colour Bootcamp

ICAN 2025 - Studio A West
Friday, May 30, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Full-Day Workshop

Having trouble finding the ‘right colour’ when you look in your boxes? Do you know what your painting needs, colour wise? When you see a colour that isn’t working well, can you correct it?

As much as we like to think that buying more sticks is the solution, there are always alternatives. But you won’t see them until you really understand what you are looking for.

Colour is one of the biggest challenges for any artist and harmony of the whole is certainly the ultimate goal. But first you must master the 4 parameters of colour. The ability to choose the right stick implies that you understand the difference between hue, value, chroma and temperature.

Understanding with your head is a good start, then putting it into practice with your own supplies will definitely reveal your skill level. That is what we will be doing – lots of exercises! I will show you some tools for comparing value, temperature, chroma and hue. And most important, you’ll get to test your colour skills with a simple 4 value landscape photo reference the second part of the day.

Pre-order your supplies from Studio Six or Wyndham Art Supplies at a discounted rate* and have them delivered to the conference! See Studio Six offer details. See Wyndham Art Supplies offer details.

Workshop Material List

If not available in the studio – a small 12×16 drawing board, a standing or table easel.

DRILL EXERCISES in the morning

• Drawing paper pad (aprox 11×14) or a few sheets for testing colours
• Canson paper (white): we will be doing many colour exercices on this paper. You’ll need 6 to 8 pieces of 9×12 (2 full sheets cut in 4 = 8 pieces)
• Indispensable Tools: a good Colour Wheel, a Grey Scale, a Red Filter for gauging value.
  • The best colour wheel available – Creative Color Wheel (10 to 15$)
  • Red Filter Glasses
  • *** I can supply Grey Scale and Red Filter squares for a few dollars – let me know in advance

LANDSCAPE – trying out new skills in the afternoon (I’ll supply the photo reference)

• 1 sheet (aprox 9 x 12) of light paper that can take liquid underpainting: Uart (buff, any grade), Art Spectrum (white, clear), Pastel Premier (white), PastelMat (white, light grey), etc. —— Any brand that will support liquid and that you are used to working with.
• Pastel sticks: you will need some variety in colour. If you have a good plein air kit, that should do. You should be able to cover the colour wheel with all colour families, different values, chroma and temperature (some coloured greys!)
• Charcoal stick for monochrome under-painting (no charcoal pencil)
• Paint brush for alcohol – I’ll bring the alcohol. Bring a small container or grab one on the premises before the class.
• Miscellaneous: masking tape (no blue or green) / kneaded eraser / 1 small Flat Brush with cheap synthetic bristles (¼ in) for removing pigment / an e-tablet would be very useful!
• Towels: to avoid airborn dust in the class, bring 2 white hand towels (Dollarama): 1 on the table to put your pastels in use and another for you hands. Working flat can get messy!

Capturing Clouds

ICAN 2025 - Studio B
Sunday, June 1, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Half-Day Workshop

Don’t we all love blue skies? Of course, but sometimes an interesting cloud pattern can add so much excitement to an ordinary scene. And it’s a great opportunity for you to explore your creativity.

These droplets of condensation can form an opaque mass like the cotton ball clouds that we so often paint. But they can also be randomly gathered in small puffs or thin veils, at different altitudes, all in the same sky!

Starting out with a reference photo that I will bring, we will be exploring techniques for creating happy accidents. The most difficult part of this process is letting go, being attentive to what’s happening on the paper that wasn’t planned but seems to get our skies dancing with joy!

Pre-order your supplies from Studio Six or Wyndham Art Supplies at a discounted rate* and have them delivered to the conference! See Studio Six offer details. See Wyndham Art Supplies offer details.

Workshop Material List

If not available in the studio – drawing board and standing easel, much preferred.

• Pastel Paper: 2 sheet (aprox 12 x16 or 14×18) of light paper that can take liquid underpainting: Uart (buff, 500 grade or less), Art Spectrum (white, clear), Pastel Premier (white), etc. Any brand that will support liquid and that you are used to working with. Sanded paper will provide a good grip for layering; it brings depth and texture.
• Pastel sticks: we are going to invent a sunny day sky with some clouds. So you will need sky colours ! Light and medium values, some pure, some lightly greyed, some hard and some soft. PanPastels are ok too. A variety of yellow, orange, red, magenta, purple, violet, blue, and turquoise. The only colours not so nice in the sky is true greens – but then again…
  The focus is in the sky so the foreground will occupy a small portion of the composition and can be left simply blocked in (to finish at home). So you don’t need to bring a whole lot of earth colours for the ground.
• Useful Tools: a good Colour Wheel, a Grey Scale, a Red Filter for gauging value.
  • The best colour wheel available – Creative Color Wheel (10 to 15$)
  • Red Filter Glasses
  • *** I can supply Grey Scale and Red Filter squares for a few dollars – let me know in advance
• Paint brush for alcohol – I’ll bring the alcohol. Bring a small container or grab one on the premises before the class.
• Miscellaneous : masking tape (no blue or green) / kneaded eraser / 1 small Flat Brush with cheap synthetic bristles (¼ in) for removing pigment / an e-tablet would be very useful!
• Towels: to avoid airborn dust in the class, bring 2 white hand towels (Dollarama): 1 on the table to put your pastels in use and another for you hands. Working flat can get messy!