Day 0: Introduction

Your host: Julie Skoda  www.julieskodafineart.com

I am honored and thrilled to lead you through Unison Colour’s Five Day Challenge. As an associate artist with Unison Colour, it has been a fun opportunity for me to develop a painting that is both challenging and exciting to paint for beginners and advanced painters. I hope you get something out of my approach to painting, but there really is no right or wrong way to develop your work.

The photo reference is from the Florida Keys where my family spends a bit of time during the winter months to escape the cold Chicago winters. The coincides with early Spring – a time of new life, light and balance. A sunny, light filled painting with a little glow was my inspiration as we approach the changing season. I love working with a variety of organic textures and marks that give us the opportunity to be creative in our own individual style. The only straight line is the horizon line between the sea and sky, so it gives you a lot flexibility in creating the painting.

I have selected a set of 30 Unison half sticks that I use on a regular basis and available through Unison. You do not need to use the exact same colors as myself, but I do list the colors and selection on the following page.

I will be demonstrating on LuxArchival sanded paper. I like the white surface and the ability to handle wet media for the underpainting. There is a wide variety of sanded papers, and you can work with any surface that you are comfortable using. Check to make sure your paper can handle wet media before beginning. If you aren’t able to start with watercolor, you can always use pastel sticks for the under painting and blend into the surface with a piece of foam or a blending stump.

Materials

Pastel Paper– An 11×14 piece of paper or similar proportions. I am using white sanded LuxArchival paper. I prefer the white paper with a watercolor under painting, but any light colored paper will work.

Backing Board- a support for your pastel paper. I use archival foam board.

Masking tape or Artist’s tape-to attach the paper to the backing board. You can also staple your paper to the board.

Small Sketchbook– I will be doing a small value study and setting up the composition before starting the painting. I like to use 3 grayscale markers (Tombow brand) but a pencil works well, too. I am also a fan of the View Catcher for getting the sketch proportion to match the proportion of my pastel paper.

Watercolor Set– Any inexpensive set of watercolors will work for the under painting. I have an old tin filled with various colors. Tube paints or an inexpensive pan set works great. No need to buy watercolors if you don’t have any. Hard pastel sticks rubbed in with a stump or piece of foam works great, too.

3/4-1 inch Flat Brush I use an inexpensive brush to work the watercolor paint into the pastel painting surface.

Ruler- I love a straight horizon line

Paper Towels for clean up

Latex or Nitrile Gloves (optional)- Although I did not wear gloves in the video demos, I do wear gloves on a regular basis x=while I paint to protect my hands from the constant use of pastel sticks.

Pastel Colors

I used the Unison Colour pastels listed below, but you can use anything similar. I have put together a set of 30 Unison Pastel half sticks available for purchase from Unison Colour and these are the colors I’ll be using for the painting.