Free your Mind, Body, and Soul with Yoga

Yoga, as we all know, is aimed to unite the mind, the body, and the spirit. Yoga therefore is considered therapeutic. It helps you become more aware of your body’s posture, alignment and patterns of movement. It makes the body more flexible and helps you relax even in the midst of a stress stricken environment. This is one of the foremost reasons why people want to start Practicing Yoga – to feel fitter, be more energetic, be happier and peaceful.
I myself enjoy yoga a couple of times a week. I also practice other exercises on opposite days of my scheduled yoga days. Yoga is the most beneficial to me.
As an artist, writer, and teacher my mind needs to be alert and ready at all times. Free to express myself and in a professional manner is one advantages to yoga that I find. If I am able to clear my mind in the morning I am able to open it to the opportunity for successful thinking with yoga.
Yoga tones the body and keeps it fit as well. A more toned and flexible body prevents less health complications as well as injuries to the body. These are just a few of the many advantages.
One disadvantage can be that if you only have 20 minutes a day to spend on your body and your foremost goal is to burn lots of calories, yoga will disappoint you. Although yoga is a sound adjunct to any weight–loss program and has even been shown to promote gradual weight loss, it is not primarily a fat–burning enterprise.
Take the time for your mind, body, and soul and experience some yoga. Start with a few days a week. Drink glass in the morning before you begin your yoga practice. Below is a diagram with a few of the yoga stretches.

© 2011, parichumroo. All rights reserved.

Idioms ~Funny English Phrases~

What is an Idiom you may ask?

1. A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on.
2. The specific grammatical, syntactic, and structural character of a given language.
3. Regional speech or dialect.
4. A specialized vocabulary used by a group of people; jargon. Can also be a style or manner of expression peculiar to a given people.
5. A style of artistic expression characteristic of a particular individual, school, period, or medium

To sum the definition up it is a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language.

Often there are variations in the definitions of these phrases. One phrase may have two definitions either business or personal or one of the other.


Enjoy these funny English phrases :)




Phrase:"Hit the Sack" or "Hit the Hay" (personal)

Definition:"To go to Bed"


Phrase:"Let the Cat out of the Bag" (business and personal)

Definition:"To tell people secret information, often without intending to"


Phrase:"Late Bloomer" (business and personal)

Definition:"When someone does not obtain success with their interests, talents, or personality until later in their lives, we say they are a late bloomer."


Phrase:"It's Been a Slice" (personal)

Definition:"When someone leaves and you have said your goodbyes it is usually the last thing you may say..........It's been a slice. I use it after a visit where we have had a good time."


Phrase:"The ayes have it" (business and personal)

Definition:"If the ayes have it, those who voted in favour of something have won."



Phrase:"Stir the Pot" (business and personal)

Definition:"To stir the pot is to agitate a situation to cause a reaction or trouble."


Phrase:"Chomping at the Bit" (business and personal)

Definition:"If you are chomping at the bit, you are eager to start on a task immediately."


Phrase: "Add Fuel To The Fire" (business and personal)

Definition: "Whenever something is done to make a bad situation even worse than it is."



Phrase:"Post Haste" (business and personal)

Definition:"Post-haste means as quickly as possible."


Phrase:"Fair Game" (business and personal)

Definition:"If something or someone is fair game, then it is acceptable to target, criticise or attack them."


Phrase:"Believe you me" (business and personal)

Definition:"This is an emphatic way of saying 'believe me'."


Phrase:"Fool's Paradise" (business and personal)

Definition:"A fool's paradise is a false sense of happiness or success."


Phrase:"On the Table" (business)
Definition: "If a plan or proposal is on the table, it is being discussed."


Phrase:"Dry as dust" (business and personal)

Definition:"Very dry. Often used metaphorically: a boring, literal person or an unexciting speech. "She knows her stuff but she's dry as dust."


Phrase:"Have something up your sleeve" (business and personal)

Definition: "If you have something up your sleeve, you have some hidden or secret plan, idea, etc, to use to your advantage when the time is right."


Phrase:"Talk the talk to be able to walk the walk" (business)

Definition: "If one is in a business and they have another who would like to be in on that business or work for that business they must be able to talk the talk before they can walk the walk. In other words, they must be able to know all the lingo and aspects of that business in order to walk within that business.


Phrase:" Talk the talk to be able to walk the walk" (personal)

Definition: Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk. It means: talk is cheap, but can you follow through with action? It is similar to: Don't let your mouth write a check that you can't cash". Another way to think of it is "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time".



Phrase: "When the cat's away the mice shall play" (business and personal)

Definition: "People whose behaviour is strictly controlled go over the top when the authority is not around" In other words, when the boss or the parent are not around the workers or child will not be as well behaved.



Phrase: "Against The Clock" (business)

Definition: "Rushed and short on time."



Phrase: "All In The Same Boat" (business and personal)

Definition: "When everyone is facing the same challenges"



Phrase: "An Arm And A Leg" (business and personal)

Definition: "Very expensive. A large amount of money."


Phrase: "At The Drop Of A Hat"

Definition: "Willing to do something immediately."

Inspiration and Eagerness

Life can be tough when a mind is young struggling to figure out what interest a young mind at the time. Children's mind change at a fast rate and are very curious.

Inspiring a child a young age to learn a new task is a must in today's world. A child must learn at an early age to be versatile and eager.

Little did I know when I first came to Mauritius of how many children I would inspire to draw. Each time my husband and I go to visit his Nanny and his cousins are there they pull out the sketch pads and papers. The boy is ten years and the girl is nine. The boy just gifted me an excellent set of colored pencils that came from Italy. Here is my first piece I drew from that set of pencils.

Then there is little Acheetah my niece and her brother Sahil. Acheetah is two years of age and Sahil is 10. Every time they come to visit me they come collect a sketch paper and a box of art supplies. Eager to draw me a picture I am left with a series of pieces from Sahil and Acheetah's visits. Acheetah is one of favorite people to paint and draw. I use her very often in many pieces of my art. Sahil is getting better each time he draws and colors a new piece of art.

Be eager to inspire someone in life. Even an adult needs some kind of inspiration especially in the business world. My quote I will make for today "Write a page or two you will inspire a mind to be eager to read your novel"(c)2011 Angela Pari Dominic Chumroo

An Oldie but a Goodie

On Saturday my husband took me out to lunch and to enjoy a few hours on the Harbour Front. It is always so interesting to visit the Harbour Front. The different nationalities and generations of people, the minute food courts with a variety of spicy foods, the attractive sea side waters lined with boats along the port coming from different countries usually displaying the country's flag from which it came. At times we will see a man playing a saxophone and a beautiful woman singing along to his delightful tunes. Other times we listen to a full band echoing their notes across the Indian Ocean along the Harbour Front.

This day we first enjoyed some spicy food from a restaurant in the food court. This was my first meal of the next day after breaking my fast so I had to eat something with fish. I enjoyed a spicy fish banquette with some chips and a coke. My husband on the other hand was not fasting the previous day so he chose at this time to eat a lamb banquette with a salad, chips, and a juice drink. While waiting for him to bring the food over to the table I had this cute little bird land on the chair next to me as if he were ready to talk.

We finished our meal then walked about the harbour front and took photos of the ocean and the boats. My husband thought I was a bit crazy taking photos of this old boat. As I told him though this to me is the most interesting boat here. "An Oldie but a Goodie" to me.

Then there she was flying in the wind off the side of a boat with the glorious red, white, and blue the American Flag. Again "An Oldie but a Goodie" to myself the flag is to my eye well known but always a goodie in my heart. All the way from the "Land of the Free" a fellow American lay there reading her book and catching some sun. When she ended reading her book I went over and introduced myself and began a conversation. She had been traveling at sea for five years with her husband. She came from Portland. Oregon in the USA. They had been to several countries one including Australia. She asked a bit about the country of Mauritius and we spoke a while before the rain put a damper on our conversation.

It was very nice meeting with a fellow American here in Mauritius. My husband was shy to even allow me to go over and speak with her. I reassured him it is alright as Americans have a great connection with one another and enjoy seeing one another in a foreign country.

To conclude the day my husband was able to learn a bit of my cultural ways which was very nice.

"Portriats in Pastels" Lessons

In this lesson I will teach you techniques and useful tips for creating beautiful portraits with hard and oil pastels.

I am working on a series of portraits for an Indian Actor who plays in a series Indian show on Zee Tv. The series show has now ended but I have done a few of the actresses from the show and one of the actors would like a portrait also. The show is called "Jhansi Ki Rani". The actor plays in the show as the guru Amit Pachori {as Tatya TOPE in JKR}. I will be doing a series of portraits for Amit. I will not be offering none of these portraits for sale but I will be using my techniques in painting them in my lessons here. In conclusion to these lessons I will make a film out of the making of my Amit Series.

In the first one I do I will be using the technique of drawing with a grid. It is not often I use this technique. I mostly freehand drawn then paint with pastels when doing a portrait. This technique is of great value though as it exacts measurements, broadens an artist abilities, and displays professionalism in portraiture. An added bonus of using a grid as a drawing aid, is that you must judge relative distances and reproduce them, so it will help your overall drawing skills by training visual memory. I used to use a grid I purchase from the art supply store when I was in America to place over my photo to determine my grid squares. Now I use the program that is free called photoscape. To use this feature on photoscape first load the photo to the program. Now just under the photo on the left side next to where it says "Photo (then your measurements)" there is a right curved down arrow tab. Move your cursor on this an it should say "Rotate Arbitrary". Now click on that tab. It will then open up your photo with grid squares appearing over it.

Lesson 1: How to Draw using a Grid

-Choose a large, clear image. You may need to scan and print out a small photograph.

-Decide on your grid size - small enough that there is a line close to major points of the drawing (eg. each pupil and the mouth, for a portrait image) but not so small that it becomes confusing. For an 8 x 10 portrait a grid size of around half an inch up to one inch would be fine.

-Draw the grid, making sure your lines are fine, straight and clear. Fine black marker works for lighter key images, but a dark tone may need a white gel pen. A valuable photo can be placed in a plastic sleeve or wrapped in cling film, with the grid drawn in OHP marker.

-Mark the center intersection on the grid as a reference point.

Gridding the Paper:

-Using a sharp, medium pencil, lightly draw a grid on your paper. A same-sized grid is the easiest, as no adjustments need to be made. You can enlarge or reduce the size, but don't do it mathematically. You are judging rough proportions by eye, not measuring distances.

-Darken the intersection of the center lines on the grid as a reference point.

To draw the image, you may wish to work methodically from one side of the image, or just begin with the most obvious features.

-Edges and strong changes of tone make clear shapes in the photograph. Where one of these shapes crosses a grid-line, count how many grid-lines from your reference point the grid-line is.

-Judge how far the shape is along the square, then count across and mark this at the same point on the grid-line in your drawing.

-Do the same again, further along the same shape - for example, the line of the chin in this drawing. Mark the point where the shape meets another grid-line, then join the two, following any bumps or curves in the shape in the photograph.

-Where a key point is away from a grid-line, such as the mouth in this example, you will need to judge the relative distance from the nearest grid-lines. In the detail image, you can see that it is estimated to be two-thirds from the lower line, and about halfway across.

-Make sure you have drawn outlines for all the key parts of your drawing. Less defined areas, such as a patch of shade or highlight, may be roughly indicated too.

-Carefully erase your grid lines, repairing outlines as you go.

I am using a #2 lead pencil for my grid on Strathmore Canvas Paper.

Here is my beginning sketch of my "Tatya TOPE 1".



Take your time with a portrait and do not rush by any means. Portraits can be easily damaged by rushing. Facial feature such as eyes and facial expressions are highly essential in perfecting when painting a portrait. Fleshy skin tones are a definite feature that must be of closeness. These techniques will be taught in my lessons.

In conclusion this ends today's lesson. Please visit me in the next lesson I will talk of laying layers of flesh tones.

I will leave you with this clip of the "Jhansi Ki Rani" show. Amit is the actor at the 1:54 second timing of this film clip who comes in to talk to the Queen who is in white when she is praying.

**Note: The following film is not owned by or produced by Angela Pari Dominic Chumroo the artist.

Jhansi Ki Rani June 16 \'11



Lesson 2: Developing your Own Flesh Tones

Developing your own flesh tones is my suggestion. They do sell flesh colored pastels but I tend to enjoy mixing and developing my own. As each individual has different skin tones and highlights creating my own makes it much more to the exact of the human I am doing a portraiture of. In this lesson I will take you step by step for creating your own flesh tones by mixing pastel colors.

I would like to begin by introducing you to my portrait pastel kit. This kit includes the basic colors of what is needed to mix your own skin tones.


Step 1: Building Layers by Mixing Colors

I begin by applying a heavy layer of white pastel. This is my base layer. Being sure to lay it heavier in the highlighted areas of the face/skin. It is alright to go over the pencil sketch as they will be translucent thru the white. I also fill in the white area of the eye. Be sure to leave the dust from the pastels on as you can use these to rub them into the grooves.



I then with my finger strongly blend in the white to be sure that it gets in the grooves of the paper. I often lay two to three layers of white.



Now it's time to begin placing in some colors. I begin with brown. The brown I choose goes according to the dark or light tones of the face I am doing the portrait of. Some skin tones are darker than others. If it is a lighter skin tone person I suggest using light browns. For Indian skin I use a medium to dark brown. Go over your pencil lines in the features with the brown.



Now with the brown begin slightly placing a bit in the areas in which there are darker tones in the face/skin. Also along the lines of the face, nose, eyes, ears, and mouth.



With a red (I am using a darker Indian toned red) do the same as you did with the brown. Give the it all a slight blend with the finger.



Then again the same as the red and brown with the a blue pastel. I am using a softer toned blue.



Now its time to blend well. You will begin to see the colors of the flesh form.



Now with a creme colored pastel go over some mid-tone areas. then with some white in the highlighted areas and blend. Continue working the colors and process from beginning up until this point until you feel you have obtained the liking to your standards.





This is all I have time for this evening. I will continue with this lesson soon and I will be showing you my steps for using pastel pencils next.


This blog is written and created by the artist Angela Pari Dominic Chumroo. The copyrights to this blog are shared between the artist Angela Pari Dominic Chumroo and the actor Amit Pachori.

©Amit Pachori and Angela Pari Dominic Chumroo ALL RIGHTS RESERVED! All INTERNATIONAL LAWS APPLY! All paintings, images, and quotes are copyright © Angela Pari Dominic Chumroo of Do'minic Designs and Amit Pachori. No Materials contained herein may be reproduced, copied, edited, published or downloaded in any manner or form. Any copying,tagging, altering, displaying or redistribution of any of the images without written permission from the Artist or Actor is strictly prohibited.

What Happens in your Brain...Test and Fnd out!!

Today I took a test to find out what happens in my brain. I received the following results.



Left Brain Right Brain
54% 46%

"You are more left-brained than right-brained. Your left brain controls the right side of your body. In addition to being known as left-brained, you are also known as a critical thinker who uses logic and sense to collect information. You are able to retain this information through the use of numbers, words, and symbols. You usually only see parts of the "whole" picture, but this is what guides you step-by-step in a logical manner to your conclusion. Concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems are often forms of expression for you. Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge."




Very interesting test!

I am a left handed person. Most interesting enough I am also an ambidextrous. I can paint in real with both hands. I draw and write with my left hand in real but on the pc I can't with my left hand only with my right. I also can't sign a painting digitally with my left only my right. I can't use scissors,throw a ball or bat with my left only my right. I can shoot a weapon with both hands and score a 40 out of 40 hawk eye.

So to me my mind is a bit confused I think at times :)

This test was proof it is almost evenly half confused....lol

The test can be taken at the following site:
http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm

Day 15 of the 50 Day Art Challenge

Day 15 of the Challenge

I haven't drawn a horse since I was in high school. I remember then getting in trouble a lot for drawing them often when I was suppose to be doing my school work. Today I challenged myself to paint one in pastels.




Day 16 of the Challenge




Day 17 of the Challenge

My Day 17

Well here it is as much as I could do and the best I could. My husband decided today was supposed to be my "Day Off" he don't quit know me yet. There is no day off for me I am a born workaholic! When I commit to something I do it! He took me away from the home for the day and we went to the Harbour Front here. We ate a delicious lunch, took many photos ,and even met an American woman who was docked at the Harbour reading a book. The woman was from Oregon, USA. She had been at sea and traveling for 5 years. Been to many countries. I will post some photos of that event tomorrow at my site in a blog and more of the woman's experience at sea on my blog here: http://1stangel.co.uk/fulltimeartist/

When we finally made it home I only had time to start a painting and it was raining and getting dark so photographing a painting was out of question at the time. So my husband sneaked upon me and took a photo of me painting my challenge. I then turned it into a digital piece of art for today's challenge. Here it is:




Day 18



Day 19




Day 20




Day 21 "Cold Stare" Series










Day 22 "Water Princess" Series






Day 23 "Amy Under the Sea" Series

I drew this 19 years ago in my good friend Amy's yearbook at the end of our freshman year in high school. Today August 20,2011 Amy scanned it and sent me the file. In my next piece of art you will see where I digi painted it and restored it. This is the only yearbook that survived a house fire Amy had. What a treasure to have old high school art I drew that many years ago!









Day 24




Day 25




Day 26

The puppy I rescued :)




Day 27






Day 28







Day 29







Day 30







Day 31







Day 32








Day 33

Day 14 of the 50 Day Art Challenge

Day 14 of the Challenge

One media use again. Liking the one media use of hard pastels. Challenge for the day was my husband telling me there is no way I can paint a sugar cane field with the mountains in the background. He is well satisfied with the outcome of this piece.

Day 13 of the 50 Day Art Challenge

Day 13 of the Challenge

Another day of challenging myself to use only one media. Also something in which is a usual challenge which is correct light and shade. Especially when blending pastels with using my "Fingering out Lighting" technique and being careful not to blend with the wrong finger.

Day 12 of the 50 Day Art Challenge

Day 12 of the Challenge

Definitely a huge challenge for me as an artist due to the fact that I am a "Mixed Media Queen" and in this piece I challenged myself to use only one media. Yep I finally did it I used only one media. I used only dry pastels for this piece.

Day 11 of the 50 Day Art Challenge

This is Day 11 of the challenge.

It began as a watercolor painting. Then my Bristol paper wrinkled a bit and it was too visible when I photographed it. Later when I have it flattened I will post it with this one. For now it is on this day it must be completed and posted. So I came up with a real cool way to digitally manipulate it so that it has a very interesting look.

Enjoy these "Fruity Extracts"

Day 10 of the Art Challenge

Day 10

I chose to paint today with watercolors. I love painting with watercolors and have been wanting to do a sailboat for quit sometime now. Watercolors can have a habit of testing the patience of an artist. Rushing to much to apply in one area can result in disaster. I made it through this one and am satisfied with the outcome.

Lessons with Oil Pastels and Hard Pastels

Lesson 1: Basic Introduction

I learned to use oil pastels then blend them then go over with a hard pastel. I am a HUGE rule breaker cause I never use a blending stick or brush. With all pastels I paint with only my fingers. Every pastel painting I have is all by fingers. Once you get used to them you will enjoy them. They are my favorite to work with and thy go very far. I use the Reeves name brand the bigger pastels for oil and have a set of cheaper as well in case I need. For hard pastels I have a set of Blick Square Big Hard Pastels set of 48, Create A Color smaller pastels stick hard pastels, A smaller set of create a color stick for portraits set of 12, and Conte a Paris Pencil pastels set of 24. You would be surprised how long these supplies will last.

Don't get discouraged in any way with them. I did at first but then I started experimenting with them a bit. Lots of useful tricks and tips on youtube also and along the entire internet. One cool technique that I use a lot to get them to take better is first to lay on a layer of watercolor for the back ground. This helps the oil pastels to apply better. But dont just put on plain watercolor mix some beach sand in your watercolor and water then apply first. It also gives great texture. Here you can see one in which I did this. Note the only acrylic on this one is the lighthouse :

Here is another example:



Here are a few pieces with no sand in it and no under layer of watercolor:





Generally I sue regular white sketch paper, white bristol card paper, yellow bristol paper, or blue bristol paper.



Lesson 2: Quick Tips

Key factors in capturing a personality when doing a pastel portrait of either a human or an animal are the eyes. As an artist it is good to add that extra little detail to make the eyes pop out.

At the point of finer details it is best to use pastel pencils. Especially when doing hair,fur,grasses,etc...

Keep your hands moist with creme to prevent your hands from drying out when using pastels.

Keep a dry cloth available for wiping your hands and pastels. Be sure to wipe your hands after using a color and to also wipe the pastel.

Using your fingers to blend pastels because of the oil in your fingers helps to prevent as much dust. When using sponges,cloth,sticks, etc... it causes more dust. Often times using these can also wipe away the pastel from the paper instead of making it stay.

Be sure not to overwork an area. Do not blend to roughly. Blend lightly then apply another layer of pastel.

Pastels are best and most effective when they are layered.

Here is one of my example of a Self Portrait in Pastels:




Lesson 3: Blending and Painting with Chalk and Oil Pastels

There are several different ways of blending and painting with chalk and oil pastels. I have fun experimenting with these ways. Much to the same with watercolors though it can be tricky and test your patience.

With chalk pastels you can use one of two things for a blended painting effect. You can use water in which you first will apply your pastel to your paper, board,etc... After applied to the area which you would like it lightly dip the tip of the brush in water then softly wipe with a clean cloth. Be careful the brush is not to wet. Now gently apply the brush and paint over areas you wish to blend in. Be careful also not to overwork and area at one time as you will cause wrinkle in the surface and/or loose the grip of the surface. Let each blended painting applications of an area dry well before going over that are area again.

This technique can also be done much the same with mineral spirits. I myself enjoy using the mineral spirits instead of water. The mineral spirits does not wrinkle the surface and dried quicker. Use the same techniques as above for blend painting with mineral spirits as I explained with water. Be sure to use in a well ventilated area and wear a mask is advised.

Now comes the fun part where I had a great time experimenting. I am what is known as a Mixed Media Queen. I love to mix medias and experiment. If I don't then my mind don't understand where the fun in being an artist is. Being an artist is much like a scientist. Artist love to experiment and try out new things as well as create them. I love to mix medias.

I took a photo of my husband when he was small and riding his first tricycle. One of those little cute ones with the horn on it. I decided to do a portrait of it. I began by painting him in chalk pastels. Then along the way I need to make a few things pop so I add some oil pastels to the hair area and eyes then went back over with chalk pastels.

Now satisfied with the portrait of him I need to paint a background. I decided to do all of the background in oil pastels .Here is where the Mixed Media Scientist came out in me. I work with acrylic palettes. I took my small acrylic palette and applied a thick layer of the color blue to the palette. I then used a brush to dip in mineral spirits then rubbed my brush around the blue oil pastel that I had on the palette. By doing this I was able to create an oil pastel paint on my brush. I then began painting the sky and followed through to finish the sky. I then moved onto the grass. This was painted on canvas paper. This technique must be done fast as the mineral spirits dries fast. I also had to be very careful around the edges of the portrait of the boy (my husband) as not to disturb the chalk pastel while painting the background with oil pastels.

Here is my finished piece:



That he was the proud peddler of that little tricycle going about tooting his horn. Now he is the proud peddler of a motorcycle and every time we are on on our way home and go under this underpass he beeps the motorcycle horn.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and stayed tuned for the next lesson soon :)




Lesson 4 Fingering out the Lighting Technique Interactive Lesson

Today's lesson is an interactive lesson. In this lesson you will be asked to create a piece using the following techniques explained to the best of your ability. You will then be asked to place your link to your piece in the comment area so that we can interact with one another.

You may ask why I call it the "Fingering out the Lighting Technique". I call it this technique because I have taught myself this technique when painting in pastels with my fingers. I trained myself to use both had to create light and dark in a painting. If the light side of the painting is on the left side then I use only the left hand to blend light colors with my fingers.If the dark lighting is on the right side of the painting then I use my right hand to paint the dark colors. This works visa-versa. One hand for light and one hand for dark depending on which side the light or dark is.

You may ask, "What is the importance of light and value in painting?"

Correct lighting is what gives a painting depth. I like it when a painting creates the illusion of depth. Without lighting the picture will have a flat appearance.You can bring life to your painting by introducing light in just the right area. Without lighting in a painting the painting is almost lifeless. Light and dark contrast has in making a painting or drawing visually believable. Light and dark is one of the most expressive and important means of art.

When working with pastels and the skies. It is always best to first work on the upper sky background first. Laying a layer of white when using chalk pastels then blending them strongly with the finger can be of a great advantage when painting the skies in pastels. After layering my first layer and blending with white then blending it. I then decide which side right or left for dark or light. I then start applying my colors according to dark or light. For the lighter side I apply thin lines of lighter colors. For the darker side there are darker colors and laid a bit heavier. In the following painting I used my right hand for the lighter side and left for the darker side. Using the "Fingering out Lighting Technique" I blended very lightly. I continued working on the sky until I felt satisfied.

After the sky I moved on to the land, water, and tree. Still using the same technique. The objects such as the trees also need to be correct lighting and shade. Using a finer pastel pencil helped me to place in these objects.

Again I am challenging and training my mind to use only one media. In this piece I used only chalk pastels. Myself I don't like to do and under sketch or drawing. I just go with it and start painting away. There are times I do use a sketch (under drawing) but not often in landscapes.

In conclusion I see where I could still put in some more lighting and shading if I choose. This is something that can be done later. For now I am just touching on the basics of the importance of light and shade. Remember the more you work at it and practice these techniques the more you develop the habits and improve.





See you in the next lesson and remember to post your link to your piece in the comments area please.




Lesson 5: Cleaning your Hands

I first wipe my hands with a cloth very well. Then I wash them thoroughly with warm water and dish soap. I also use a scrub brush to clean my nails and creases of hands. After finished I use a real heavy cream on my hands to restore moisture as the pastels are known for drying out hands and causing them to crack and hang nails.


Lesson 6: Allow to Be Challenged

Today I allowed my husband to challenge me. He chose a subject for me to paint and told me he thought it was impossible for me to do. Allowing another to challenge you also broadens your horizons. Not only allow them to challenge you but after you are finished ask them for their opinion on how well you did. This opens your mind to seeing through another persons ideas and opinions. He was very pleased with the outcome. This is the piece I created from my husband challenging me: