I got here throughout the work of Tim Reilly whereas I used to be working as Editor for Pastel In the present day (I retired in February). His piece Legacy gained an Honourable Point out within the PleinAirSalon October 2022 competitors. I cherished the simplicity of the piece and the way in which he elevated this abnormal object – a home portray brush – to pedestal standing. Together with the way in which he offers us the feeling of bristle hairs, worn metallic, a chipped picket deal with, I used to be mesmerised by the way in which he created the sensation of the stone wall behind the comb. How had he performed that utilizing mushy pastels??
My curiosity led me to ask the artist if he’d be keen to share his secret with HowToPastel readers. And ohhhhh, yay, he stated sure!! I’m delighted to introduce you to Tim Reilly!
Earlier than I do this, take a look at his profitable portray:
And now, a wee bit in regards to the artist.
Tim Reilly Bio
B.F.A. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Lessons with Milton Glazer, James McMullan at The Faculty of Visible Arts, New York, NY
Retired Artistic Director and Graphic Designer (ABC Tv, Educational Tv, Promoting Businesses, Company Design Departments)
You’ll be able to observe Tim Reilly on Instagram and Facebook.
Okay, let’s get on with the present!! Right here’s Tim to share his information and artwork journey with you.
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My curiosity in drawing began at a really early age. I used to be given a number of bins of crayons as a baby and wasted no time colouring the animals and parade wagons of the circus-patterned wallpaper which lined the partitions of my room.
Upon commencement from Pratt Institute, I started my profession in promoting, company design, and freelance illustration in New York. Quickly after, I bought a ebook on working with pastels written by Daniel Greene, PASTEL- A Comprehensive Guide to Pastel Painting. I used to be hooked! I’ve admired Mr. Greene’s work for a few years and realized a lot from his assortment of DVDs and printed books. Along with his unimaginable expertise, Daniel Greene was a really articulate, beneficiant, and efficient communicator whose contribution to the apply of the pastel medium is immeasurable.
I started studying and researching all I may to study extra about pastel portray strategies from books and articles printed on Albert Handell, Harvey Dinnerstein, Joe Singer, Edgar Degas, and illustrators Gary Kelley and Robert Heindel.
Different influences embody: Andrew Hemmingway, Claudio Bravo, and Robert Vickrey. I’ve been fascinated by Vickrey’s approach for creating stone textures in egg tempera which I’ve tailored for the pastel medium and use in my very own work right now.
I make use of a number of forms of assist for my pastel work. Normally, the selection is determined by the picture that I intend to create. Pastelmat paper, La Carte and Crescent chilly press 310 professional-grade illustration board are among the many choices accessible and readily available in studio inventory. Though Pastelmat paper accepts moist media, I favor to make use of a heavy illustration board when rendering the stone texture seen in my work. I discover that the heavy board is suited effectively to simply accept the a number of layers of pastel color spattered on the floor with alcohol, pastel pigment, and bristle brushes.
The method begins by stapling the sides of illustration board, round all sides, to a bit of quarter-inch or eighth-inch plywood. I then scrub a really skinny wash of watercolour into the illustration board which raises the tooth of the highest layer of board and gives a greater floor upon which the layers of pastel are utilized. The added watercolour paint ensures that all the reside space to be lined is seen whereas making use of water to the floor. Scrubbing too vigorously will elevate the highest layer of paper from the board, so care ought to be taken throughout this step to not apply an excessive amount of strain on the comb.
When the wash dries, blue tape marks the boundaries of the reside space to be painted including an additional one-eighth or one-quarter inch to all 4 borders of the illustration board. This can compensate for any miscalculated overlap of the ultimate image mat and insures that no uncovered areas stay after framing. The board is now ready for the preliminary drawing.
I make common pilgrimages to the grocery retailer for produce and to the native Flea Marketplace for fascinating gadgets to incorporate in his work. After a means of trial and error is full, an association of chosen objects is about up and photographed below a wide range of lighting circumstances.
Floral inexperienced styrofoam is painted a impartial gray and serves as a platform for the weather to be included within the composition or as a background to symbolize the areas of stone or concrete within the nonetheless life set-up.
I take dozens of images so I’ve many from which to decide on. Usually these photos are tweaked on the pc to reinforce saturation and lightweight and shadows or manipulated in Photoshop to reach at a satisfying composition. The ultimate reference picture is then uploaded to my iPad.
Subsequent, the preliminary drawing is completed on the board with a uncooked umber or burnt sienna pastel pencil. I work with Derwent, Carbothello, Faber-Castell and pencils from a wide range of different producers. Some passages of the composition could also be underpainted with acrylic washes or left fully untouched to be lined solely with the alcohol pastel combination.
Sections of the piece not supposed to indicate texture are masked off with tracing paper, vellum, newsprint or liquid frisket. Liquitex affords a rubbery product known as liquid masking fluid which is used to cowl the extra detailed or intricate areas of the drawing which can be too tough to chop round or cowl with masking tape or paper.
My “workhorse” pastel manufacturers are from Rembrandt and Nupastel units. I subscribe to the process of working softer sticks over more durable ones, working darkish areas to mild. Different pastel units and particular person sticks complement these which make colors accessible that aren’t current within the two units I exploit most often. Diane Townsend sticks are nice for the sandpaper grinding course of due to their dimension and form. Additionally, Townsend offers colours in the darkest of values which might’t be discovered in lots of different manufacturers.
To arrange and “liquify” the pastel for the spattering technique, I grind the suitable pastel color sticks on very coarse 60 grit sandpaper. Usually colors are blended to create heat and funky complementary greys which approximate the color of concrete or a specific color of stone. The pastel “mud” is then poured right into a small paper cup. Isopropyl alcohol is added to the pigment with an eye fixed dropper and blended with a picket craft stick with create a skinny wash. There appears to be sufficient gum arabic binder remaining within the combination to completely adhere the alcohol/ pastel wash to the board.
Utilizing outdated bristle oil portray brushes or very cheap “throw away” stiff bristle brushes discovered at any craft retailer, I then rigorously apply the combination in layers on the board. I layer heat and funky greys of comparable values, one over one other, within the preliminary utility. This creates a basis for the ultimate desired stone-like impact.
Darker and lighter values and color are then added to the bottom layers after a basis of gray undercolour has been accomplished.
Brushes of various sizes and the gap a brush is held from the portray floor decide the dimensions of the spatter on the painted space. When bigger spattered spots are wanted I would use a big brush with longer bristles held additional away from the illustration board. If a finer spatter sample is desired, I exploit a brush with a a lot smaller bristle held nearer to the art work.
Pulling again on one small part of the comb’s bristles ends in a finer spray of texture on the board. This course of is repeated again and again.
Often I’ll dip a sponge into the combination and faucet a texture onto the board. Generally “glad accidents” happen and a drip or splash of color which isn’t in a typical “speckled” form will land on the board. This can create a little bit of selection on bigger areas, breaking apart the house and including visible curiosity to the feel. These splashes can simply be lined up with one other layer of spatter or left as is. As many as ten to fifteen very skinny layers of liquid pastel, alternating heat and funky, very mild to very darkish functions of color, are utilized until the right amount of contrasting values is prepared for the following step within the course of.
The ultimate stage of rendering a stone texture utilizing my pastel technique is working into the spattered space. For me, that is essentially the most fulfilling but in addition essentially the most tedious a part of the whole train. This stage of the method may take extra time than all the remainder relying on simply how detailed I would love this texture to be.
The final step within the course of requires the power to have a look at the painted space and visualize/think about the non-existent dings, crevices, and natural imperfections within the stone floor. I emphasize what’s there or invent cracks in sure areas of the portray to make the rendered texture plausible and as actual as doable to the viewers. I discover it useful to aim to “unfocus” my eyes to the diploma that sure sections current themselves as locations to work into and improve.
It’s vital to pay attention to the route the sunshine is falling on the nonetheless life arrange so as to add corresponding darkish pitted areas or holes with highlighted edges and cracks in keeping with the remainder of the opposite parts within the piece.
Distressing the floral styrofoam by pushing nail holes or dents or dropping the styrofoam on the ground provides dings and put on to realize the specified finish results of a stone-like texture. Doing this earlier than capturing the reference images creates curiosity in an in any other case flat subject of spattered color.
I proceed to seek for artistic methods so as to add a wide range of textures to the rendering course of.
Clearly, as with most creative actions, expertise, practise, and a bit perseverance experimenting with any medium or approach will ultimately yield the specified impact.
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Soooooo, are you as impressed by Tim’s skill to create texture, particularly stone and concrete texture, as I’m?? And, are you going to offer it a strive? I’d like to know!
When you have questions and responses for Tim, please do go away them as a remark.
Till subsequent time,
~ Gail
PS. Tim Reilly additionally gained the December PleinAir Salon Award for Artist over 65 for “Wanda the Marvel Rooster” (love that piece!) and I wrote in regards to the piece and extra on Pastel Today.