The Artist - UK (2021-04)

24 artistApril 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

PASTELS

Create a dramatic

landscape in pastel

Cheryl Culver demonstrates how she captures the

beauty of big skies and open spaces using pastel

and includes her top ten tips for pastellists

A

t the start of the first lockdown

of 2020 I really wanted to

paint open spaces, the sea

and rolling countryside with

big skies. But there were the travel

restrictions, so I began searching

through old sketchbooks to find

drawings I could work with, that could

be regenerated. Fortunately I was able

to patch together three drawings, made

over the last two or three years, to

create Ever Changing.

The process

I always work from drawings made on

the spot and which are very precious to

me, as painting reference, but also as

a memory of a particular moment and

place. Photos don’t help me one little

bit.

My drawing is the structure on which

I can hang the colours; it is the catalyst

for the painting and has to make sense

in terms of normal logic and realism.

Perspective, scale and a sense of place

are really important to me but hyper-

realism is not. It is a matter of being

aware of the light, how it changes the

Cheryl Culver

studied fine art at Leicester College of Art

and Design. She is a past president of the

Pastel Society and a member of the Royal

Society of British Artists. She has exhibited

throughout the UK and France and won

awards for her work.

landscape/seascape, alters the mood

and the colour, making each day alive

and different. Every walk or drive

through the countryside adds imagery

to the memory bank.

I work on Arqadia Conservation

Mountboard, putty 8009. For stability

I glue two pieces together with neutral

pH glue, pile weights on top and leave

it overnight. Next the board is primed

with Golden Acrylic Pastel Primer using

a 2in house painter’s brush. This gives

loads of texture, sometimes in very

inconvenient places, but overall the

effect is in keeping with my work. After

drying overnight it is ready to work on.

The initial drawing is made on the

board using a Derwent Pastel Pencil;

errors can be removed with a wet cloth

and dried with a hairdryer if necessary.

I like to walk away from the completed

drawing before the next stage as any

mistakes seem to jump out when

looked at with a fresh eye. If all is well

I then underpaint with acrylic paint,

diluted like watercolour. This helps to

seal the drawing and hold the structure.

It also sets the direction of light. The

t My composition drawings,

made using black marker pens

DEMONSTRATION Ever Changing

THE LOCATION

Samphire Hoe is a favourite spot of mine, a

spit of land created from the spoil from the

Channel Tunnel. At low tide it is possible to

walk to the Warren at Folkestone and from

there to Folkestone itself, but it is important

to check the tide timetable!

pastel will cover this completely.

I like to start painting a sky in the

morning, perhaps I feel it has to be

a fresh day, I’m fully alert and have

no interruptions. I try to let the sky

paint itself and keep the marks free

and flowing. Recently I have started

to rub some of the initial colour into

the board. Later layers of colour are

allowed to do their own thing and

benefit from showing the mark making

of the pastel. If it goes well, that

tingle of excitement is there and it’s

worth getting up early to crack on the

following day.

Woe-betide those who demand my

attention for the next few days. The

world has to wait! TA