'What is it that makes me want to paint when standing in a busy street or market place?' asks John Patchett.

'There may be large vans obscuring the view; adverse weather conditions; an ever-changing scene and interruptions by people who are not content with watching in silence.

'On the positive side there is the hustle and bustle of the place, colour, movement and a scene alive with people – all the ingredients that make for an exciting composition. Counterchange, perspective, texture, tone and contrast interplay and create dynamics.

'A comment often made by those wishing to engage on such a task is: “I wouldn’t know where to start?” Well, as with all painting, it starts by using the head, the heart and the eyes. For me, capturing the spirit or feeling of a scene is essential. I love to be out there, looking, experiencing and being part of the live performance.'

Sunlit Market, pastel, 18¾” x 24¼

The dappled light, which filtered through the foliage of the Sunlit Market, above, made it quite difficult to see the tonal values on my board. I needed to take my painting out into the daylight every so often, to assess my progress.

For this painting I used a dark toned board, which I knew would emphasise the bright highlights.

Because I was standing close to my subject matter, the biggest problem was to gauge just how much detail to give to the figures.

Fortunately, a Chinese lady, who had been watching the work develop for some considerable time, volunteered to model for 15 minutes whilst I included her in the centre of the painting.

Now, how to convey this? In this case of a market scene, I like to spend some time initially just looking and noticing all the things happening around me. I pay close attention to the light source and how it creates shadows, form and highlights, and alters the colours within the composition.

Usually a thumbnail or small sketch helps me to see and organise my thoughts – what is essential; what might be omitted; what, in particular, might present problems and how might I resolve these problems?

After the Rain, pastel, 19¾” x 16½”

Believe it or not, I started this street scene above when the sun was out and the conditions were dry.

I wanted to capture the contrast of the sunlit distant façade against the dark buildings in the foreground.

Despite having the interior lights on in the shop windows and some people wearing white clothing, the overall tone of the painting remained quite dark.

Then, lo and behold, I found myself running for cover whilst a shower passed over.

Half an hour later, feeling thoroughly miserable and uncomfortable, I looked up the street to find the wet surface was full of lovely light reflections, bringing the whole scene to life.


Working methods

Once I have established the composition in simple terms, I use natural charcoal to put in the dark areas as quickly as possible.

Then, working loosely without applying very much pressure, I try to create an all-over effect of dark masses, a suggestion of recession where it occurs, a mere indication of architectural form.

I also put in constructional lines, which will start to hold the composition together.

After an hour of working quickly, freely and with a light touch, using the side of the pastel to avoid hard-edged marks, I hope to have created a general feeling of the subject. This will allow me to work into it with stronger colour, tone and texture, and also carry out any alterations easily and naturally as the painting evolves.

It is important to avoid steaming ahead with any one part of a painting, leaving other areas with lots of work left to do. To me, it’s a little like bringing all the sheep in together, working on all areas at the same time, slowly letting the painting take shape and allowing it to have a life of its own.

The biggest problem for me is knowing when a painting is finished. If I ever win the lottery, I will employ someone to stand behind me with a large rubber mallet ready to say: “That’s it, stop.” The mallet will hit me firmly on top of my head if I don’t stop to consider what I have done at that stage.

Strawberries for Tea, pastel, 15½” x 22½”

On a warm, bright summer’s day it was suitable to use a peach coloured pastel board for painting Strawberries for Tea, above. This allowed me to capture the sunshine by building up delicate transparent layers of colour letting the surface show through.

Note how the intensity of the shadows diminishes as they recede.


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Including figures

Pastels to do not lend themselves easily to drawing and painting details. However, they are particularly effective at suggesting details. Putting people into your painting can be traumatic, but two and five minute drawings of figures in your sketchbook, practising over and over again, will help you to gain the necessary confidence.

People walk, talk, turn around, stop, sit down and rarely keep still. I find this movement stimulating and I need to observe carefully how a person’s weight is distributed. Is it mainly on the left leg or the right? Are people leaning, stooping, turning their heads, lifting their shopping bags or gesturing as they talk? Once I have absorbed this information, I try to capture it with as few strokes as possible.


The Flower Seller, Ipswich, pastel, 17” x 21¾”

The flower stall and its floral contents were like a bright beacon against a fairly drab setting. The damp conditions allowed for muted reflections to appear over the surface of the ground and the two principal figures agreed to pose for me. The dog, however, had to be finished in the studio, as it had no understanding of the problems facing the plein air painter!


Autumn Days, Norwich Market, pastel 16¼ x 23½

When the sun came out, this autumn scene was bathed in glorious light and the local colour was completely transformed. I was looking into the light, so the painting had strong contrasts which emphasised the composition. The two trees created an archway to look through and the diagonal bands of sunlight take the eyes into the middle distance and beyond.

Sometimes, someone will sit on a bench, as in Autumn Days, Norwich Marke, I’ll grab the essential colours, but by the time I have drawn the top half the person has jumped up and left. Usually, I then go to work on another part of the painting. If I really need a model to finish off the figure, I wait for someone else to sit down. Quite a few of the figures in the paintings illustrated are made up of more than one person.

On closer inspection of some of my original paintings, you might see one-armed, one-legged, even no-headed people, but unless it really looks out of place it’s better to leave someone, or something, half-finished than over-worked. It is important to treat all areas of the painting in a similar fashion. To try carefully to include a person’s features, when you have treated a tree’s foliage loosely, would cause your work to look disjointed.


Direct experiences

Sunlight and Shadows, pastel, 10¼” x 17¾”

The strong sunlight created wonderful shadow patterns across the picture and made the red kiosk glow against its muted surroundings. I used a mid-tone gold ochre board, so both the light highlights and the dark accents were given equal importance. The woman and her dog were drawn in about 90 seconds flat, although I did see them coming and got a selection of colours and tones at the ready!


When the sun is shining!

I do like to paint when the sun is shining.

Light can cause a scene to go into unpredictable dimensions. Colour immediately loses local hue, shadows mute and carve out deep tonal areas and highlights can create that “it’s good to be alive” feeling, allowing the viewer to travel around and through the picture with fresh eyes.

It may be because I have been living and painting in Australia on and off for the best part of 19 years that I come alive when the sun shines, which in turn makes me receptive to the effects of sunlight.

England’s Glory, pastel, 16” x 20½”

For the pastellist, the mid-grey pastel board is by far the easiest to use. It does not distort the colour, or tonal values, the other boards of different colours and tones do.

Using the side of the pastel, a soft edged approach is achieved giving the finished piece of work a more painterly effect. By using the tip of the pastel and applying it with greater vigour, the texture of the flower heads appears to be more three dimensional.

For me, painting en plein air is essential to obtain that light, rapid, delicacy of touch that the pastel medium affords the artists so readily.

To quote the great French painter Eugene Boudin: “Three brushstrokes made in the open air, on location, are worth more than two days’ work at the easel in the studio”.


Top tips

Here are some top tips which you may find useful when working with pastels on location:

  1. Choose a coloured sheet of pastel paper, or card, to suit your subject.
  2. Start lean and loose.
  3. Try to work as quickly as possible.
  4. Don’t press too heavily and allow for a build-up of layers.
  5. Use a hogs’ hair brush, or stencil brush, to clear away mistakes.
  6. Keep your initial concept clearly in your head.
  7. Be receptive to accidents and incidents if they contribute to what you are trying to achieve.
  8. Use fixative for a good reason – creating a barrier, darkening an area, holding a heavy build-up of pastel in place, etc.
  9. Tap the back of your work with your fingers for at least a minute to remove any loose particles.
  10. Turn your work face down against your support board with masking tape or bulldog clips to avoid lateral movement.

Originally published in the August 1999 issue of Leisure Painter


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