Archive for the ‘Pastels’ Category
Television trivia is probably so popular now because the days of almost every home having a television are long gone, and now most homes have several. Before the onset of the internet, television was the primary distribution method for both entertainment and information, and it still remains the means by which most people receive both of those things. The television first became available to the general public in different parts of the world in the late nineteen thirties.
In the early days of television, broadcasts and sets only operated in black and white. There were early inventions that were capable of broadcasting in color even before the TV had become a household appliance, however none succeeded. RCA became the first company to make color TV sets widely available. The first color broadcast in North America took place in 1953. The color TV didn’t become the standard in most homes until the sixties however.
The advances in the technology behind television sets have continued to advance. The advent of the flat screen technology began the transition to televisions which could display in higher clarity, but LCD and Plasma screens are now the norm in most homes. The current advancements are in the changing of television broadcasts from an analog to digital format. Additionally, broadcasting in high definition signal is now offered by most major networks, and every satellite and cable provider offers hi-def channels.
Television trivia is often concerning the most popular viewing events. There are many different genres of television, news, sports, reality, dramatic programming and sitcoms, and certain categories consistently attract more viewers than other. The hand down most viewed television broadcast of all time is the first appearance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. This broadcast, which took place in 1964 when the population of the country was only a fraction of what it is today, attracted over 73 million viewers. The next most watched event was Elvis Presley’s first appearance on that same show, which only attracted 60 million viewers.
If you’re a determined pastel artist with some experience, isn’t it time you stepped up and produced a pastel artwork that’s truly great? There’s nothing wrong with ambition! Here are some tips on using pastels to create a masterpiece:
1. It all begins with a thumbnail
Thumbnail sketching is simply one of the best ways to begin a pastel masterpiece. And what is a thumbnail sketch? It’s a tiny sketch, on a separate piece of paper, of the main features of your composition. Thumbnail sketches are usually about one inch square or a little larger (say around the size of a credit card). You should vary the size depending on how big the full-size painting is going to be. You should spend no more than five minutes on your thumbnail sketch.
The big, big benefit of thumbnail sketches is that they force you to simplify something that might seem overwhelmingly complex into just its main components. Without any room for details, your brain won’t get sidetracked. This is invaluable, as it reveals the fundamental nature of what you’re trying to do, and you can carry this through into working on your main surface.
Note that you can (and should) also sketch out your composition on your main surface after you’ve completed your thumbnail sketch.
2. Shadows
Shadows and highlights are two key areas of any artwork, as they are the bookends of the tonal range. Of the two, it’s shadows that are the harder to get right, but as they give the impression of volume (’3-Dness’), they’re also the more important.
In a pastel painting, you’re likely to have shadowed sides of elements in your composition, and shadows cast by those elements as well. Mark these areas when you’re sketching out your composition, and delineate the two.