Sandrine Pelissier is an artist, art educator, and the author of the latest mixed media book, Painting Imaginary Flowers: Beautiful Blooms and Abstract Patterns. In this article, Sandrine delves into the lovely and forgiving world of pan pastels and what it is like to paint with them.If you feel inspired to explore pastels further, check out our latest art classes on Network TV: Ballet Dancer Pastel Workshop and Paris Street Scene in Pastel.

So, you’re an artist.CONGRATULATIONS! We love you already!Artists Magazine’s Annual Art Competition is a pretty big deal, and I can probably read your mind. Watch me. You’re probably thinking…why should I care about entering the Annual Art Competition? What chance do I have at winning? How can this help motivate me?

Painting Across ContinentsIn the sometimes overwhelming, detached world of social media, making a real connection can — perhaps ironically — seem difficult. And yet, Pinterest and Facebook were the vehicles through which David Lobenberg (of Sacramento, California) was connected with Ibe Ananaba (Lagos, Nigeria), and a genuine, international friendship was born.

Photographing finished paintings can be one of the most frustrating aspects of painting, but still one of the most necessary. Since most artists either sell or gift their works, it’s paramount to keep a high quality photographic record for future reference.Create a Routine for Photographing Paintings: Artists spend most of their time in an intuitive state and have to break out of that mind-set when it comes to accurately positioning artwork to a camera, illuminating the artwork evenly, fiddling with a camera’s settings, and processing the images into usable files.

The drama of this charcoal and pencil drawing by LilianWescott Hale is in the bold contrast of value of thefigures skin, dress, and hair.I love all kinds of art: super complicated installations, amazing marble sculptures, and virtuosic canvases filled with color and form. But when it comes down to it, I’m a simple woman at heart, and the art that moves me the most is a pure and simple pencil drawing on paper.

This artist has used tint in art to create light shades of blue appropriate for the sky.Tinting colorTo tint art is is the process of adding white pigment to a color to lighten it. It is the opposite of shading, or adding black pigment to a color to darken it.How to create shades and tintsNever begin color mixing without knowing the tinting strength of the hues with which youre working.