121. Kimono in Pastel

Schminke and Unison Soft Pastels on Sennelier Pastelcard, 12" x 15.75"

Last evening, I attended a great event at the Mall Galleries who hosted another  'Art Event Evening' - this time in conjunction with the Pastel Society. I met up with fellow artists whom I've met at workshops. It is always really constructive to paint alongside professional artists/tutors but the highlight for me was meeting up with Eiko Yoshmoto again. Her teaching style and delivery are unique and last night she was, as usual, champing at the bit, ready to impart some of it again with little one-to-one sessions for whoever wanted them.

Eiko giving instructions

What can I say…..? Amazing!

(Eiko used to be a hairdresser and she did this haircut.)

'Toolkit' (including bag of rice to clean pastels)

Breaking off a third of each pastel allowed me to travel with a light box but with over 80 different colours from which to choose.  :)

There was a musician playing various Spanish guitar pieces but I chose to paint 'Kimono'. After I had painted an impressionist version, Eiko got hold of my hand, put the pastel between my fingers, and worked my wrist leaving energetic strokes all over the pastel paper. Wherever she is, people swarm around watching with fascination! So, I cannot take all the credit for this image; after all, I was her puppet but I really love the outcome. We were covered head to toe in pastel but a great time was had by all!

Two others there were Anne from the Big Painting Challenge and Katherine Tyrrell, one of the founders of Urban Sketchers UK, who was promoting her new book. It was interesting talking with each of them. However, whenever I've come across Katherine, she's left me with a wealth of new sketching information; like most artists, she is super keen to share her extensive knowledge of locations, sketchbooks, pens, poses, etc, etc.

WIP images