"Entourage" - 8-1/4" x 9-1/2" (21 x 24 cm) - Pastel on Wallis Paper

http://www.rickharder.blogspot.com

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Comment by Candi Hogan on March 17, 2015 at 10:22: LOVE this!

Comment by Þorgrímur Andri Einarsson on September 29, 2013 at 13:02: woah Rick. I really like this one :)

Comment by Manneherrin on August 29, 2013 at 8:40: Thank you Rick for you in depth response. I am just now getting into pastels and am finding it isnt as easy as what it seems. Great information. Thank you again I will practice your technique.

Comment by Kim Hayes on August 28, 2013 at 20:50: Rick...Great work.. Pastels are not easy but this has a lot of depth and great composition.

Comment by Michael J. Severin on August 28, 2013 at 18:37: Hey Rick, ............this is a pretty cool painting!!!

Comment by Rick Harder on August 27, 2013 at 19:11: Manneherrin, Thanks for clarifying............ Generally, the softer edges are pastel directly applied into or over a passage that is already there; kind of a blending, if you will, with the pastel stick as one applies pigment, but not necessarily making a continuous line. Vary the pressure and/or the physical surface of the stick from which the pigment comes. An example of this might be rotating the point of the pastel stick/piece as one draws a line. Another way is to make a series of marks where two colors/shapes come together. Again, rotate the stick so the marks are not all uniform. I call it the broken line method. Then as warranted, blend a little or a lot using a finger. One can also create a visually soft edge (the hand you reference) by placing a lot a very small marks in an area (some right on top of the other). Under a magnifying glass the marks would all have hard edges, but when "seen from afar" the eye blends the edges so they appear soft (because they're so small).

The harder edge you reference was done by laying in the color first to get a pretty hard edge already, then enhancing its hardness with a stroke of my finger.

When I first started with pastels, I was pretty heavy-handed with my application. Now I'm not so much, but still have to remind myself that less can be more as I'm painting. The bottom line to all this is I try to work the edges as a go, and make some modifications or changes at or near the finish after studying what I've done. I just work them 'til it they look right to me or are acceptable to me. I hope this answered your question.

Comment by Manneherrin on August 27, 2013 at 14:51: the soft and hard edges of the forms. Like her hands seem to be soft edges with her notebook but the highlighted ledge she has her foot next to is a hard edge. I dont know if I am just being more confusing.

Comment by Montalvo on August 27, 2013 at 8:14: I love this piece. Rick...nice very nice. Thank You for posting. Very powerful piece!

Comment by Rick Harder on August 27, 2013 at 4:02: Hello Manneherrin, I don't know exactly what you mean here about perfect edges. Can you describe a specific edge in the piece for me? Then I can answer your question.