Priming and Sorting

I finally finished my pastel sort.  I don't have a Heilman box (a great wooden carrier for pastels)..but I am saving my pennies to get one.  I have used SOOO many other things to organize my pastels. What works for now are these great plastic drawer organizers I found at IKEA (I have used wooden trays, boxes that I cut apart and compartmentalized, trays, etc.)  Since I have always left the wrappers on my pastels, I needed to catalog what colors I had and make a color chart with name, manufacturers and sample - first, then (ooo, this slays me) break them into half or less in some cases. Here is a photo of all that I have been up to along with priming the gatorboard with Golden acrylic Quinacradone Azo Yellow Gold mixed into Golden's  Fine Pumice Gel.

Next a close-up of my pastels by value and then temperature.

This was a daunting task, but I learned alot by looking more closely at the

pigments, getting to know each brand better, since I would no longer

have their label to go by...

While I am at it - I would like to share 2 of the 4 works that I did at Rita's workshop

two weekends ago.

This is Danni's cat in Oregon. He is no longer with us, and his photo

I have had for some time, I could no longer resist.

"George"

6" x 8"

pastel on primed Gatorboard

This is my cat, Meeka.

"Meeka"

6" x 6"

pastel on primed Gatorboard

And lastly - I always hope to collect paintings 

from those I learn from. I LOVE this painting

that Rita demo'd on the first day of class.

I named him "BOSCO"

"Bosco"

5" x 7"

pastel on primed Gatorboard

by RITA KIRKMAN

Honestly, I never thought I would ever meet

Rita, much less take a class with her.

It was quite a boost for me, I hope to see

it after much practice on her technique.

P.S. Several people have asked where I purchase the Gatorboard.

FoamboardSource.com