Aggie Lim

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Beginner’s Art Class Week 2/4 | Playing with Pastels

May 13, 2013 By: Aggiecomment

I was a excitedly apprehensive today, only because of my experience with pastels at my non-drawers workshop and my dismal attempt with pastels.

I absolutely love colours and life that colour can bring but to draw with them was just something else.

Pastels are messy and tactile I just love it!

Getting my hands dirty and messy, covered in a multitude of colours. It’s like being a kid again.  In fact the lady next to me an accountant grandmother said exactly that!  “I feel like I’m in kindergarten again”.  I think we as adults have forgotten how to play. Playing is so much fun!

Can you remember as a child how present you were and in the moment when you were playing whether you were outdoors or playing indoors, and there was no concept of time or time passing? You only knew that it was dinner time and time to come home.

I think that’s why I am enjoying my art so much.  Learning, playing and being in the moment.

I digress…..

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Tips with Pastels

A few handy little tips that Donna taught us today with pastels (and I’m sure some of these also apply to other media)

  • work from the top down (because if you work from the bottom up you will end up smudging or ruining your drawing)
  • start with darks first and the background
  • make sure you keep your pastel clean otherwise you could end up with unwanted colours in the wrong place
  • wear an apron because it does get messy!
  • choose paper with a texture (not butcher’s paper that’s too smooth and wont hold the coloured pastel)

This was the  pocket sized book she recommended and copied the pictures from for us to draw :

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 A Touch of Europe

We were given a selection of pictures to copy or to do our own version.  Like I mentioned earlier I was very apprehensive but excited that I could actually end up with something that I would like to frame, which is exactly what happened.  I am truly proud of this drawing.

I originally chose a flower to do but thought that that would be too easy and wanted to move out of my comfort zone to draw pictures and scenery that has always caught my attention and I’ve admired the beauty of.

This quaint little cottage or part of, appealed to me because it depicted a place of freshness, serenity and simplicity in life.

I sent my finished work to my niece over east who is far more advanced with her art than I am, and I got the thumps up.  Li-Sa said that it looked like something from a European countryside.

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I think I’ll frame this one 🙂

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Hi I’m Aggie

I'm a writer, artist and blogger. In my previous life I was a psychologist. Exploring life and happiness through writing, sketching, food, travel, and people has taught me to seek joy in everything I do and be grateful for what I have. I have a playful curiosity. I like to rock climb for fun, write to tell stories, share my thoughts and insights, and sketch from daily life embracing everyday-ness .
My mission is to live authentically and mindfully everyday, and to live on purpose with passion.
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