Afterretiring
froma 35-year
careerinspecial
education,
GlenMaxion
(glenmaxion.
com)switched
hisfocusto
paintingfull-time.
He’sa self-taughtartistwhobeganwith
watercolorbutnowworksprimarilyin
softpastelandoil.Amonghismany
accolades,hehasearnedMaster’sCircle
statusintheInternationalAssociationof
PastelSocietiesandis a MasterPastelistin
thePastelSocietyofAmerica.Hecurrently
teachessoftpastelattheArtAcademyof
SanDiegoandworksinhisstudiofrom
fieldnotesandreferencephotos.TOOLKIT
MaxionlikestoworkonCanson
Mi-Teintespastelpaper,typically
moonstoneorflannelgray.“Theseare
warmerandcoolermid-valuegrays,”
hesays.“Iworkoneithersideofthe
paperdependingontheeffectI’m
tryingtoachieve.”
HispaletteincludesNupastel,
Girault,Rembrandt,Schmincke,
Unison,GreatAmerican,MountVision
andTerryLudwigpastels.Heuses
thehardersticksfortheinitialblock-in
toestablishvalueandtemperature
patternswithoutfillingtoomuchof
thetoothofthepaper.“Ialsoliketo
workwithharderpastelsinareasof
reflectedlightandinvaluetransitions
ofform,”hesays,“becausethey
createa weavewiththesofterpig-
mentswithoutdepositingontopof
themormixingwiththem.”
Maxiondoesn’tusefixative—“Ifind
thatit darkensandflattenscolor”—
andhealsodoesn’tblendwithhis
fingersora stump,exceptwhen
he’ssettingupanunderpaintingon
whitepaper.“Inexpensive,flatacrylic
paintbrushesandworn-downbristle
brushesworkwellforcontrolled
removalofpigmentandforpushing
anedgeoradjustingtheweightofa
line,”hesays.connections that strengthen the
composition and design. “As I move
a line across the paper, I’m always
aware of its relationship to the other
lines and marks I’ve made—and to
where I’m going,” he says. In Beach
Notes (opposite, bottom), for example,
his mark-making is free-flowing and
unedited. “I wanted the exploratory
process to show through in the fin-
ish,” Maxion says of the piece, which
was a demo painting.
He embraces his own method
of working with pastel, which can
sometimes involve more wiping
away of the medium than application
of it. Maxion doesn’t mind rework-
ing areas to get them right. “The
freshness comes in the marks placed
on top,” he says. “No matter what
layers are underneath, if the finish-
ing marks are fresh, spontaneous
and confident, then the painting will
come off that way.”Cincinnati-based writer Stefanie
Laufersweiler is a regular contributor
to Pastel Journal.Turn the page for a
figure demonstrationArtistsNetwork.com 47