He uses Nupastels for underpaint-
ings and Blick and Schmincke soft
pastels for darks. To add visual
texture, he’ll wash off areas and
reapply the pastel, repeating as
often as necessary. “Most of my
techniques are derived from my
watercolor background,” says
Bloomfield, but he goes on to point
out, “Technique takes second place
to a well-designed composition.”
For all Bloomfield’s attention
to both technique and design, he
remains open to “happy accidents”
and changes in course. As a case
in point, he describes Autumn
Impressions as an “abstract begin-
ning” to one of his more typical
realistic landscapes. “I liked the
beginning,” he says, “and felt I
could only ruin it by adding further
refinement, so I stopped.”FIFTH PLACE
Marcia Holmes
Floral subjects, particularly
lilies, are a hallmark subject for
Mandeville, La., artist Marcia Holmes
(marciaholmes.com). For Fifth Avenue
Peonies, however, inspiration arose
from a different flower—and from
an unconventional form of the blos-
som. “I was in New York teaching
an abstract workshop for the Pastel
Society of America,” says Holmes,
“when I found these gorgeous orange
and pink peonies while strolling along
Fifth Avenue. I carefully carried them
on the airplane, photographing them
along the way. They survived, yet as
they wilted, the resulting dried mate-
rial was even more intriguing and
inspiring to paint.”
Holmes typically uses UART 400
pastel paper, which she buys in rolls
and has mounted in large sizes. She
underpaints with walnut ink, which
she claims is key, plus thinned oil,
gouache and watercolor.
When painting Fifth Avenue
Peonies, Holmes took care to place the
crown of the dried carpel at the top
left of the picture plane. The tones
around this focal point recede into
blue pastel and the pale color of the
painting’s surface, thus emphasizing
the vibrancy of the subject.
Incidentally, those original
peonies may be eligible for frequent-
flyer status. “I shared this painting
as a work-in-progress with the
Mississippi Pastel Society while
teaching a workshop in Jackson,
Miss.,” says Holmes, “so once again
the peonies traveled, but this time in
a dried, fragile state.” PJHolly Davis is senior editor of Artists
Magazine.TOP
Autumn Impressions
(16x21) by Stan Bloomfield
BOTTOM
Fifth Avenue Peonies
(36x36) by Marcia HolmesArtistsNetwork.com 85