Cyber Monday: Large for the price of small!

My Cyber Monday sale is on! Get a large portrait for the price of a small one by entering coupon code CyberMonday12 at my Etsy store. That's 18% off an 11x14 matted to 16x20 for child or pet portraits.

Custom Charcoal Portraits

Pastel: Painting or Drawing?

Concert deans le Jardin by Kate Sumners

What does the word "painting" mean to you? What's the difference between a painting and a drawing? Is pastel artwork a drawing or a painting? And will pastel artwork be only suitable color-wise for a baby shower? There seems to  be a lot of misconceptions about pastel artwork, so I've done a little research and here's what I have found.
  

Why the Confusion?

Well, the English language is a tricky thing.

The word "pastel" can mean:

• a noun, for an artwork whose medium is pastels
• a verb, meaning to produce an artwork with pastels
• an adjective, meaning pale in color

That last definition explains why when many people hear "pastel" they think baby shower colors. The pastel color palette is NOT what defines the pastel art medium. 

The art medium is what we are discussing here, and it is artwork of any color made from a pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media; they can include light, dark and mid tones. Pastel artwork can be vibrant, dark and dramatic. It can be anything the artist makes of it. Pastels are a unique medium in that the colors are mixed on the paper or board by overlaying or blending, rather than on a palette.

What is Pastel Artwork, Painting or Drawing?

Pastel paints are usually in the form of a stick or even a pencil made of pigment. This gives rise to a second misconception about whether it creates paintings or drawings. In the minds of many, "paint" equals wet and "drawing" equals dry. Pastels are usually dry, so does this make the artwork an artist makes from them a drawing? 

 

So What is Pastel Artwork, Drawing or Painting?

Short answer: it may be either! Here is one of the best explanations I have found about what the difference between a drawing and a painting is, from author Eric Hebborn (and it has nothing to do with dry vs. wet)

"In a drawing the contours of shapes or forms are made with a line, whereas in a painting contours are created by the meeting of two or more areas of different tone or color."

 

In other words, when fully covered with pastel, the work is called a pastel painting; when not, a pastel sketch or drawing. 

Pastel Painting

As a portrait artist I have often had to resort to asking my clients whether they prefer a black and white or color portrait just to avoid using the word pastel because so few people understand the medium, and I think that's a real shame. 

Pastel is a fantastic medium and also is one of the oldest media out there. It was loved by Leonardo da Vinci, Manet, Gaugin, Degas, and many others. It is formed using almost pure pigment which leaves a brilliance of color not found in other mediums. The result is visually stunning and very textural and diverse. Whether drawing or painting, pastel artwork is not to be missed!

Now offering prints and greeting cards on Fine Art America

Recently I have made the decision to open a new shop on Fine Art America selling prints of my work. This is a fantastic website because not only can you order prints on paper or canvas, you can also have the work framed and shipped directly from this website with a 30-day money back guarantee. 

I have taken an informal poll among some of my clients, asking how they would feel if I sold prints of the artwork they commissioned of their pets. For the most part, reactions have ranged from fine with it to super excited that their pet will be ‘famous’! They also like the idea of a new place to order greeting cards of their artwork or extra prints in different sizes. Copyright laws generally give the artist the copyright on their own work even if the original is sold unless otherwise negotiated. For the last few years just to be clear, I have been posting the notice on my listings that I retain full reproduction copyright on all of my work. 

But please, if you are unhappy that I may soon be offering your pet’s image for resale on prints or greeting cards, let me know. Making my clients happy is my top concern.

It's still under construction, but for a sneak peak take a moment to check out the new site here. I think you will like it: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kate-sumners.html

Dog Drawings

The Rescue Roundup is Coming Again!

It's that time of year and the Rescue Roundup is set to go for Saturday July 28th, 2012. This year it will again be held at Wheeler Park in beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona. This is the biggest animal adoption event in Northern Arizona and is designed to educate the public about adopting animals from shelters and rescue organizations. I am proud to support the Roundup by setting up as a vendor with my pet portrait booth. 

Come join us for this fantastic event from 9 am to 3 pm. Whether you are looking to expand your family by finding your new best friend, or you are just an animal lover and want to enjoy the fun demonstrations, this is the place to be. Come support RESCUE and have a blast enjoying the flyball, agility, carting and other events. And don't forget to stop by and say hello to me, Toby and Scout at our portrait booth.

Rescue Roundup Website

Direct Checkout

Love Etsy but not so crazy about Paypal? Starting today in my Etsy Store you can checkout directly using your Credit or Debit card without Paypal! I accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card and debit cards. Here's a link to a 1:11 video on how easy it is.  http://vimeo.com/36116479

New Profile Avatars

My internet presence has been sorely lacking in the last few months. I have been too busy out in the real world and neglecting all of this. Time to get back on the ball. Step one? New profile pictures for Twitter, Etsy, Facebook, Artfire and my redesigned blog.

Step two: get back to blogging. One of these days.