Pastels Unleashed
Pastels are an underrated art medium. Many artists regard them as just coloured chalks, messy and unstable suitable only for loose sketches.  Margaret Evans disagrees and in this book sets out to show just what can be done with pastels. She demonstrates a range of innovative techniques, such as dry glazing, scumbling and impasto which combined together in a painting can make a spectacular impact.  Advice and suggestions are made for creating mood, atmosphere, figures and animals within this medium.  Several step by step designs are provided: Atmospheric Mountains, Woods and Water, Tuscan Hillside, Evening in Venice, Coastal Scene, Garden Poppies.  Taken together, they demonstrate the full range of what pastel useage can create.  All her examples are backed up by clear instructions, drawings and paintings so that artists can see immediately what can be done, and how to do it.  A useful and creative book, which is guaranteed to stimulate any artist.-Monstersandcritics.com I'm always a bit wary of saying that something may be the best ever, because almost immediately something else comes along and I have to find a way of saying it's even better. I'm probably on safer ground with this, though, as pastels are definitely the Cinderella medium, with relatively few books written about them. The strange thing is, though, that there are almost no truly bad ones. It may be that the medium only really attracts the committed artist who's spent time developing their craft, or maybe publishers are more selective. Whatever it is, most pastels books are good and this is quite possibly the best ever. Let's start by saying what it's not: it's not a beginner's guide. Yes, there are step-by step -demonstrations, yes there are chapters on materials and techniques, but they all assume a degree of prior knowledge. This isn't a way of warning you off if you want to learn the medium, though there are enough basic guides available that you should maybe start with. Rather, it's a whoop of delight to find a book that treats you as a grown-up, that says, "Add highlights to the centre of the right hand poppy. Tidy up the edges of the main flowers and freshen the colours" and assumes you don't need any more detail than that. This is a book that sells itself. All you need to do is pick it up and flick through the pages and there's no chance you won't buy it. There's just so much variety, from people and animals to landscapes and seascapes, fine-detail and broad-stroke work. Techniques include the relatively new idea of adding water and spirit to free the pure colour the medium contains. I usually manage to come up with a list of things a book is packed with, but this is packed with everything. It's a celebration of the medium that's going to delight and enthuse any pastellist.-Artbookreview.net In her new book on pastel painting, experienced artist and tutor Margaret Evans hopes to dispel the myth that pastel isn't a serious medium and is only suited to loose sketches. Margaret feels it is the most spontaneous medium you can paint with, a pure and direct medium suited to many different styles. Here, she shows us just what it can do. Composition, perspective, mood and atmosphere, figures and animals are all dealt with separately, before Margaret moves on to her step-by-step demonstrations. These include atmospheric mountains, woods and water, a Tuscan hillside, evening in Venice, a coastal scene off the coast of Arran, and finally, garden poppies. Each demonstration is accompanied by up to 36 stages so they are very clearly explained and illustrated with Margaret's inspiring pastels.-The Leisure Painter If you have wanted to learn how to use pastels and discover what they are capable of, here is a book all about it.  Hard, soft and pan pastels are all used and you can find out what paper to buy, what else you will need and tips on working indoors and out.  You can use them wet to make washes and other effects, or dry of course and you can even mix them  -  all of this is covered in the early part of the book.  They are certainly more versatile than I ever realized (I didn't know you could use them wet for example) so expect the most up-to-date advice.  There are six projects to work through to help you get the most out of what you have learned (in here called demonstrations), and subjects range from flowers to landscapes, townscapes and seascapes.  Also included is plenty of information about composition, perspective, getting the mood right, working out of doors (in plein air sounds so much better!) and collecting subjects to paint.  Anybody like me who thought that pastels were a rather limited medium will find this book instructive.-Myshelf.com This is one of the best books I have seen on using pastels. Unleash the potential of this medium with the help of this fantastic book. Margaret shows you the techniques, both dry and wet. Great step by step projects and tuition are included. I particularly like the flowers, but the landscapes, buildings and figure work are all excellent. Beautiful colour is captured with excellent photography. Margaret has a keen sense of colour, an open mind to experimentation and the ability to produce stunning work. I admire Margaret's innovative techniques. The book contains the usual information in painting books on materials and so on. Tonal value, technique, subjects, composition, perspective, mood and atmosphere, figures and animals are all discussed. There are 6 demonstrations including scenes of mountains; woods and water, Tuscany; Venice; coast and poppies. These are easy to follow. The book is illustrated throughout with outstanding work. This book is certainly worth purchasing. It is a must-have for any pastel artist.-yarnsandfabrics.co.uk/crafts