that focused on value, and for years
she drew children’s portraits from
photos using Conté pencil and sepia
chalk. Yet without the time to build on
this drawing foundation, she wasn’t
confident about composition or color.
It was by luck that Crimmin met
pastel artist Jeanne Rosier Smith,
who introduced her to pastel. “Most
of what I know about pastel comes
from Jeanne’s teaching,” she says.
Crimmin liked pastel because it was
an approachable way for her to learn
about color. She also appreciated that
pastel went down fast—a plus for
someone short on painting time and
who admits to being impatient.
Once Crimmin started painting,
she discovered that she knew a little
more than she thought she did. Years
of “looking” at art had given her an
instinct for composition. “If you
like art, you’ve probably looked at
it a great deal, and if you’ve looked
at it a great deal, you’ve already got
some instinct about how things work
together,” the artist says. “Now you
just have to think it through. Once
you’ve put some words on it, you’ve
got better control of it.”
For Crimmin, putting words on it
means talking aloud about the process
and decision-making. Artists refer to
this as critique, but she uses a term
from her education days: metacogni-
tion. “It makes all the difference if
you can try to articulate what you’re
doing,” she says. “Even if there’s no
one there, it helps it stick in your head
and clarifies what you’re thinking.”
When teaching a small group of
students, she uses this concept by
asking the students to participate in
the critique of their work. “It helps
them be more decisive.”
WORKING
WITH WATER
When Crimmin begins a painting, she
selects its orientation based on what
she wants to showcase. In Provence
CLOCKWISE
FROM OPPOSITE
Roll of Thunder
(18x24)
Source Waters
(12x9)
Natural Hopscotch
(8x10)ArtistsNetwork.com 25