ArtistsNetwork.com 85I feel it’s important to have pastels within easy reach,
especially when painting on site, so I have my two, 80-piece
Signature Richeson sets (Atmospheric Landscape and Urban)
at waist height so that I can see and grab what I need. The
pastels I use for each piece are tipped up in the box or placed
to the side so I can locate them without searching. This
speeds up the process and keeps the colors cohesive.
Students often have boxes scattered all around them on
the ground. They spend valuable time searching in each
box for just the right color. I encourage all pastelists to
combine their sets and brands into one convenient palette
box—and remove the paper labels.
KP: What decisions do you make about color before you begin
a painting? Do you paint the colors you see or do you have
a separate color plan in mind?
NKM: I always say that I paint what I see, but I do push
the color and make value decisions to push structures
and elements into the distance. When painting an
urban scene, I often determine the warm sunlit side and
balance it with a complementary cool side (see Chicago
Down Low, above).
KP: Where and how does color mixing happen in pastel paint-
ing? If an artist comes from a watercolor background, how does
his or her thinking about color need to adjust?
NKM: Mixing color in pastel happens as the pigment is
layered, one hue over another, much like drybrushing
over an underlying color in oil. When out painting, I’m
always giving my “pastel lecture” when viewers walk up
and say, “Ohhh, chalk!” I explain that the medium is,
RIGHT
Chicago Down Low
pastel on mounted
board, 12x16
BOTTOM
Divergent (pastel
on mounted board,
31x19½ ) appears
to have quite a bit of
detail, but a closer
look reveals that much
of the detail is only
suggested—and a
great deal is omitted.