Sunny Sunday

Oh today is a beautiful Sunday here in the East of England. The sun is shining, the temperature is pleasantly warm and I have been sitting out on the deck all day playing with my latest art subscription box..

The latest box from UK Subscription company Artful has arrived. The box itself is always a work of art, I love how they really tease you right from the outset.

Artful Box September 2021

On opening I was super excited. Soft Pastels!!

Soft Pastels

I already have some soft pastels, hubby bought me some gorgeous Caran D’ache ones for my birthday, and some have come from a previous Scrawlrbox, I am just too scared to use them. I just have no clue how to use them successfully and so I don’t use them, and that annoys me because I know Hubby spent a lot of money on them. I am really really really hoping that this box which has 24 soft pastel sticks and 6 pencils is going to have a great set of tutorials to go with it.

On initial look at the magazine I saw a tutorial and my reaction was “yay even I might be able to to do” so here it is. First ever attempt…

Cat

Mr Cat does look a bit demented, or maybe scared. He is supposed to be looking cute and fluffy, but you know what I achieved, so yay go me!

With further looking at the book, i realised they have added quite a few tutorials this time, that makes me happy, they are reasonably straight forward and so I enjoyed the sunshine in the garden and have done them.

Then after that I thought.. oh why not have a go at this weeks college homework with the pastels, in for a penny, in for a pound and all that!

So there we go, a wonderful afternoon in the sunshine, listening to the nature, and podcasts by Shinjini and having some fun with Soft Pastels.

My perception of the pastels has changed. Artful have done a really good job with the booklet this time, I feel I can connect and learn from them. The pastels feel really quite nice. The paper was very textured as its mix media, not specifically pastel paper, so i want to try again with some more paper that’s right for pastels, but I really liked these, they went on well, blended well with my fingers or the paper stump that came with the box. Using the paint brush to brush away / blend them gave a subtler effect. Now I just need to practice a lot more, I think this could be a medium I get along with. its messy, chaotic, unpredictable, in a very methodical way (does that even make sense?). More importantly I need to get those pencils out hubby bought me and use them!


Disclaimer: 

All opinions expressed here are my own.
I paid for any products discussed.
I received no payment and I am not affiliated in any way with any brand mentioned herein.

12 Comments

  1. Cheryl says:

    Wow! You did really well with those pastels! I’ve got some, but never really used them. I can see they have possibilities! Really loving those lemons ?!

    1. Donna says:

      Thank you so much, I have to be honest and say I haven’t touched them since. You know the phrase “so many supplies so little time” 🙂

  2. I’ve got some pastels as well that haven’t made it out of the box… Inspiration! Thank you!

  3. Sue Blott says:

    Your day outside listening to Shinjini’s podcasts and trying out the pastels sounds lovely. Very relaxing. How exciting to get this in the mail through your subscription. Is it once a month you get something and you have no idea what it’ll be? The box is beautiful!

  4. that looks like such fun! i’ve thought about subscribing to an art box, and you may have just talked me into it. i love the creativity and inspiration it sparked in you!

  5. Oh I highly recommend playing with the Caran D’ache ones! They are yummy and water activated! It is fun when we can get out of our own way to play!

  6. Nice blog with really nice creations. Ah your box looked so nice. I’m glad you got some directions too. You are an inspiration.

  7. I have some idea in my head that soft pastels are like chalk, like when you put them against a page, they make that sound that sets your teeth on edge. I see such wonderful art made with it, and even your homework art looks so soft AND Vibrant, but I am afraid of spending cash on it, and then having felt like I ate a bag of lemons. Still guess I could just get single pc and try…get out of my own way and all that. Anywho! Loved the drawings and wish you some more Sun before the gloom sets in.

    1. Donna says:

      I have some cheap ones and they are, but the ones from artful and the expensive ones are a lot smoother. Still dusty and dirty but less so. I definitely want to play more with them.

    2. Donna says:

      I need to find a good fixative, im using cheap hairspray and thats not a good thing, but mostly works (for now on my play pieces!)

  8. I just bought an inexpensive set from Michaels a few weeks ago. I have wanted to try soft pastels for awhile now, but didn’t want to spend a lot if I ended up not liking them. Connie Solera has a free class called Smudge. It’s on using soft pastels. I’ve watched a couple of lessons, but still haven’t broken out the package. (I’d like to blame life, timing, etc but I think I’m just procrastinating and using those things as an excuse).
    I love what you created so far. You are inspiring me to perhaps stop my procrastinating and try them.
    I think what I have been afraid of is creating something I end up loving and then it getting ruined because of it being soft pastels. Looking forward to seeing more of your creations.

    1. Donna says:

      Oh thanks for the tutorial tip! I’ve had my pencils since January, that’s pretty good procrastination for me!

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment