Pastel en Plein Air---Spring Workshop

My painting demo for Day 2.
"Pine Ridge" 11x14 pastel, 2016

The first of my series of Pastel en Plein Air workshops went great this past weekend.  The workshop was held in St. Joseph at the beloved Krug Park.  With a private workshop of up to four spots, I had only one student sign up from the Kansas City area.  

Pastel painting workshops can be tough to fill.  Like watercolors, it's not as popular as the oil painting medium.  Probably why there are so many pastel and watercolor societies all over the country---to help promote and support interest.  Being en plein air makes it even tougher, getting people out of their comfort zone (studio).  Regardless,  Patricia Beagle of Liberty, MO was eager to get her hands messy again in the pure pigment medium.  While she had some experience with pastels in the far past, she wanted to get back into it as a hobby.  Searching for classes or a workshop in the KC area, she came across mine through facebook social media.  Quickly she signed up almost a week before it started.  We met, and began the lesson.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor painting event, or any outdoor activity.  A combination of sun and clouds, little wind, and comfortable temps in the 70's---all before a week of rain we are experiencing now.  We set up side-by-side, I did my demo painting as she followed with hers.  I showed her step-by-step in completing a plein air painting from start to finish as I did my lecture.  We worked on thumbnail sketches, preliminary under-paintings, composition, perspective, color choices, and pastel painting techniques.  I showed her tricks on how to use the surface (UArt paper) to create different effects like broken color, how to utilize the under-painting to create aerial perspective, and how to make things to appear more 3 dimensional.  Fixing, handling, and proper framing were also discussed.  In the end, we both came out with awesome paintings with use of a very limited palette.

With a student happy with results, who enjoyed the workshop, gained some knowledge about pastel painting, and interested in taking my next workshop---I left the park knowing I did a good job.

My next private workshop will be July 21-23 at English Landing in Parkville, MO.
For more information, go to www.brentseevers.com/Workshops.html. 
For those interested, reserve your spot TODAY!

Patricia Beagle

Patricia's work in progress, Day 2.

Patricia's finished work, Day 3.

My demo for Day 3.
"Passageway by the Crabapples" 9x12 pastel, 2016