Jessica Crabtree

It’s finished! This is my first half-length portrait; normally I opt for a closer head and shoulders view. The original photo, as I mentioned earlier, was an old black and white taken around 1870 (public domain). As far as I can determine no one has been able to identify the photographer. However it is known that the subject’s name was Rabbit Tail and he was one of the Shoshone scouts serving in the US army under Captain Patrick Ray.

Incidentally, there is an oil painting by Joseph Henry Sharp of a Shoshone of that name, leaving many to speculate whether it is actually the same individual. The painting dates to a period when the young Rabbit Tail would have been a middle-aged man. Based on the comparison, I see some similarities, maybe even enough to make the two relatives, but I’m not convinced they’re one and the same.

Shoshone, 14×24 original pastel on suede. (click for larger view)

About the Shoshone

The Shoshone people were originally part of a very large extended family of nomadic peoples in what is today the American West. Their traditional territories centered in the arid Great Basin region, where they migrated seasonally hunting wild game and harvesting wild foods. Each of their main bands identified themselves after the staple food they followed.

Migratory bands of Shoshone were among the first Native Americans encountered by European fur traders and adventurers who ventured West in the early 1800s. Perhaps the most famous Shoshone individual of all is Sacagawea, the young woman who worked as a guide and translator for the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1804-1806.

(Click for larger view)

My latest pastel is about halfway finished. Next I’ll be working on the armbands and hands, and finishing his leather vest. After that, some detail work and a few finishing touches and I’ll consider it done.

A quick trick I learned for imitating metallic objects, like the silver-studded border on his vest:
use a plain white colored pencil.

Colored pencils are terrible on suede, but they come in very handy for this one purpose. I use them wherever I need to indicate points of light or very small areas of brilliant white. It’s so much easier than trying to achieve this with chalks. The best part is that the combination of textures works very well – the pencil won’t smear on the suede, so I can cover it with chalk and it still shows up well. Besides, I like the effect.

More to come…

Here’s the first look at my newest portrait, Shoshone, 14×24 pastel on suede. Click to enlarge.

My reference photo is an old black and white of a young Shoshone scout, taken in the 1870′s. More on that later…

Q: How do I put a signature on a pastel on suede painting?

A: When I first started with pastel on suede, there were a lot of small details I found I had to work out, where traditional painting methods didn’t apply. One of these was the seemingly simple matter of how to sign my pieces. It was really a process of trial and error to find out what would work and what wouldn’t. The main issue was finding a medium that would stick to the suede, would show up well, and if possible could be applied over top of the chalk.

Here are a few tips.

WHAT NOT TO TRY:

Ballpoint pens: It’s absolutely impossible to get an ink flow trying to write on suede, or over the chalk for that matter. At best you will only scratch your name into the pile.

Fountain pens: These have two main problems – too much flow, or not enough. The chalk will usually clog standard metal nibs, leaving you with no flow at all, or worse, with ink blotting.

Markers: If you try signing with any kind of felt-tip markers, the most likely result is that the chalk will cover the soft felt tip and stop the flow. As with a fountain pen, a marker with a high flow will bleed out into the suede.

Paint: Any kind of liquid that is not extremely viscous will bleed out when you try to apply it. You will not end up with a nice clean line that looks like a signature. I would strongly advise against using paint, unless your signature is a really, really simple logo, like a symbol or initials.

Chalk: I’ve tried a few different kinds of chalk for signing and none of them work really well, including pastel pencils and hard pastels which I would normally use for hard, clean edges. The problem with these is that you just can’t write with a fluid hand, so the signature looks choppy; if you try using certain chalks on top of the finished painting, you risk it not showing up at all, or ending up with half a signature that you can’t finish.

THE SOLUTION:

After trying all of the above (and considering the alternative of not signing at all) I finally found an acceptable solution. The best results came from a signing pen that I swear by, made by Pilot.

Dick Blick: Pilot Metallic Marking Pens

This marking pen will supply an even ink flow over almost any thickness of chalk (or almost any surface for that matter) so I can sign on the suede effortlessly. It is also ideal for signing pastels done on paper. To prime it, just shake and press down briefly on a scrap piece to test, and you’re ready to sign your masterpiece. Each pen is good for a couple of hundred uses, and I haven’t had any trouble with blotting except when the pen runs empty.

I generally use the silver with the extra-fine tip, which shows up beautifully on all but the lightest backgrounds. It’s also available in gold. For only a couple of dollars, it’s a welcome solution to a frustrating conundrum.

Tip: If you want the metallic ink to show up on a white background, for instance, first make sure the ink is dry after signing, then dust the signature with some darker chalk and brush it away. It will leave a nice subtle outline that makes the signature stand out.

I’ve just released the 2010 edition of my digital portfolio. It’s powered by the Issuu publishing module, an incredibly sophisticated script that converts standard media documents into digital magazines. The function and appearance are similar to Flash, but the load time is minimal.

Click here to view it as a magazine in full-screen mode.

Click for screenshots:

Please check it out and leave your feedback!

My latest finished painting (click for larger image), now available on my Gallery.

Acoma, 18×24 pastel on suede matboard.
The original photo was taken in 1905 by Edward Curtis.

About the Acoma

The Acoma people, who call themselves “Haaku,” are one of nearly two dozen Pueblo communities in northern New Mexico. Their pueblo, known as “Sky City,” is built on top of a mesa where for centuries the only access was a single staircase carved by hand out of the sheer sandstone walls. Thanks in part to this defensive position, Acoma is possibly the oldest continuously inhabited constructed settlement in North America.

From its remote perch on the steep white plateau, the Acoma pueblo has witnessed the rise and fall of the Aztec and Maya empires (its trading partners in ancient times), the incursions of Spanish conquistadors, and the American conquest of the Southwest. Today, the Acoma still live in their ancestral fortress, where they continue to practice traditional arts, ceremonies, and farming.

More on Acoma history:

Acoma Sky City

Pueblo of Acoma

Top Chalks for Portraits

Over time I’ve worked out my favorite combination of chalks to use for portraits (see examples below) in order to achieve a rich skin tone with some highlighting and dark, dramatic shadows. Here’s my list of must-have chalks:

Black
I always apply black first. It helps outline the portrait and gives a boundary to work with, and still shows up even after several layers of blending. I use my Prismacolor Nupastel black for this (I always keep two boxes just of this black on hand, since I go through them so fast) because they are semi-hard and you get a firm clean edge, good for outlining. But you can use really any texture of black for the under coat.

Sennelier #004 (“Red Ochre”)
I use this as a wash over the entire flesh area. You don’t see this in the final product, but it serves two important purposes – 1) it keeps the matboard from showing through (especially important if you use dark suede) and 2) it acts as a base coat when blending the chalks, to keep the tone from looking washed-out. I’m told this typical of the oil painting process – which I wouldn’t know, not being an authority on oils, but it makes complete sense for any medium that uses heavy layering. The bright red wash looks bizarre in the beginning, but it’s well worth it.

Art Spectrum V552 (“Burnt Umber”)
This is the other under-layer or chalk. I apply this very light color wherever I want to show areas of strong highlight or reflection. If you are layering your chalks, DO NOT PUT THE HIGHLIGHT COLOR ON TOP; using white or light-colored pastel over the skin tone to add brightness only makes it look dull and pasty. Apply it as an undercoat and blend the flesh tone over it. This way it shows up very smooth and gives a nice subtle glow, rather than looking chalky. The stronger or brighter you want the light, the thicker you apply the umber, so it doesn’t blend away when you apply flesh tone.

Sennelier #3712 (“Gamboge”)
This is my second choice for highlighting, but I use it sparingly because Sennelier’s soft pastels are so thick and clay-like. Too much and you risk filling up the suede pile and not being able to layer. I use it only where I need some very dense highlighting.

Nupastel #353-P (“Cordovan”)
This is one of my favorite colors for dark flesh tone. It is semi-hard but extremely smooth so I can blend over several layers of chalk with it. A good coat of this really starts to bring the face to life. It is especially useful for shadows where you don’t want the black chalk to make the skin lose its color (skin under a shadow looks redder, not grayer).

Nupastel #273-P (“Tuscan Red”)
A second shade of flesh tone that’s little lighter, a bit closer to pink. I layer this over much of the face and use it to transition between the darker areas and the bright highlights. Because these chalks don’t go on very thick, the pigments are not as intense as they appear in color swatches, making them much more flexible. They can be as solid or as subtle as you want, so at this stage I start working with the texture in much more detail.

Of course you’ll need a few other colors to finish your portrait, but these are a pretty good starting combination. My Sneak Peek: In Progress category shows portraits in various stages of completion, so you can get a good idea of the process.

Both of these finished portraits, Lummi (16×20) and Crow (24×30) were made with the same assortment of pastels (click to see full-size images.)

I’ve started a new portrait, Acoma, on 18″ x 24″ black suede board, from an Edward Curtis photo of a Pueblo man. Below is the same portrait one day earlier. It’s still in the first stages (face first, then hair, clothing/accessories, and final touch-ups), but I’ll be updating with photos as I go along.

Check out my Latest page to see them all step-by-step.

The Eyes Have It

When painting a portrait, don’t put in the eyes until the rest of the face is more or less complete. As tempting as it may be to show the whites of the eyes early on, or the bright reflection that really makes them “pop,” you’ll just end up having to touch them up or even do them over when the white is dulled by chalk debris. Bright whites (including teeth) and the twinkle in the eye really should be last-minute touches.

And just to be clear, remember that “white” areas are rarely pure white; diffused light gives them a colored cast, often blue or pink, and subtle coloring helps to give shape and depth to an otherwise cartoonish white surface.

Close-up of “Lummi,” 16×20 pastel on suede

Meet Bandit, 15×18 pastel on suede – the latest addition to my Gallery.

(Click to enlarge)

My reference photo was from the Fish and Wildlife Service database (which are all public domain). I used mostly Nupastel chalks for the fur and birch trees, and a white pencil for the accent hairs, whiskers, and other fine details. You can click one of the tags below to see the step-by-step photos of this project.

See more of my wildlife portraits and pastel paintings here.

(Click the picture for full-sized view)
Bandit, 15×18 pastel on suede. A little closer to being finished (still needs some work though).

Portrait Sizes

If you’re working in pastels, the size of your matboard canvas is especially important. Too small, and you won’t be able to achieve as much detail in your painting; too big and you have a huge amount of area to cover and often some wasted canvas space. 16×20 is my favorite size to work with. It’s just right for a life-sized head and shoulders view. For a portrait I don’t use anything smaller than 12×16, which is best for smaller, close-up facial portraits.

Comanche Boy, 12×16

24×30 or 24×36 on the large end is perfect for a bust or three-quarter length portrait, and it can accommodate plenty of detail without being completely unmanageable (at this size they can be awkward to transport before they’re framed!)

Blackfoot, 24×30

Almost any canvas – including very small or odd-sized pieces – will suit wildlife paintings, since animals come in so many shapes and sizes. If I have a project that requires a special size, so that when I cut my matboard the result is several odd-shaped scrap pieces, I can always use them for my animal portraits.