I did some research to learn about pastel drawing. I came across the great names of classical artists, especially Degas with his beautiful ballet dancers. I will look at them at a later time. I also looked for inexpensive study pastels at an art supplier, who had also listed some books on pastel techniques. There was one which looked interesting, by Bill Creevy. The book reviews at Amazon were very positive, and a look inside the book was promising – explaining basic techniques, rather than showing “how to draw your favourite pet as realistically as possible from a photograph”. I decided to buy the book for my art library, and did a web search for the artist.
Bill Creevy is a contemporary, academically trained painter from the United States. He shows pastels and oil pictures on his website. Personally I prefer the pastels, and chose two still lives and a landscape as examples for his style. He combines soft blending of colours with visible pastel strokes, this creates nice effects. Viewing these pastel drawings is encouraging, where I was between intimidation from Degas’ masterpieces and dislike of typical contemporary pastel drawings.
In his book on pastel drawing, I found another beautiful still life.
Sources
Bill Creevy (1991): The Pastel Book, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York
Bill Creevy pastels on the artist’s website: http://www.billcreevy.com/billcreevy-pastels.html