The Biggie Pastels

[Sharon Knettell]

Hi,

I will try later to post a closup.

Ballet schools are great places to find gracefull models. However you can't just walk in as the good ones are very protective of their students. Call, ask permission, explain carefully what your purpose is and be prepared to bring your portfolio.

If the girl is underage, the mother will accompany her as a chaperone.

Model agencies are also a good resource, just be prepared to pay!

I have recruited models everywhere, malls, streets, Just keep your eyes peeled, there is beauty everywhere! However when you solicit in a public place it is very hard not to sound like a creep. If it is a child always talk to the mother first or with a teenager ask for her parents permission.

I found Jessica in a ballet school, her mother and I have remained friends to this day and she makes my ballet costumes.

Sincerely,

[Valerie Gudorf]

Sharon,

I am impressed beyond words. Your work is stunning! It just goes to show that great results do not occur by accident. I really admire your degree of forethought and planning, leaving nothing to chance. Dressing your mannequin in the actual costume to ensure accuracy of color and form is such a smart idea. Just obtaining such gigantic reference prints is a daunting task for most of use!

Elizabeth and I were both thinking the same thing: You must use tons of pastels in works so large. You confirmed that you order hundreds of dollars worth at a time. (Not a number for the faint of heart!) Do you ever purchase the giant sized sticks by Sennelier and Unison? What are your favorite brands of pastel? Do you work fat over lean (in the way pastellists use the term)? Lots of questions, I know. Sorry.

But there's one more. Please, if you would, tell us how you address the problem of framing such large pieces?

[Linda Brandon]

Oh Sharon, these just take my breath away. These are so very beautiful! And I really appreciate your generosity in sharing your creative process. Like everyone else, I'm wondering how you frame these terrific pieces.

[Sharon Knettell]

Hi,

These are done on the prepared MDF board as I have mentioned previously. This surface is so forgiving that a relative newcomer to pastel like myself can't screw up. You can wipe it off over and over again without wearing out the tooth. Also, as happened on my most recent oeuvre, I did manage to remove the tooth. I simply took a brush, removed the pastel and put some more of the pastel gesso on it and voila I was good to go. You cannot see the patch as pastel is so opaque.

I do a color study first. The only lean I use is to draw the darn thing. I have the colors I want to use and plunge right in. You have to know the colors you want, especially in the transparent skirt. I want the background to show through to make the tulle look transparent. Each stroke is important, each stroke has to be on the money, both in color and direction. If it is overworked, the quality of light is lost. It is very nerve-wracking and takes all the concentration powers I have!

I love the Unisons for their subltety of color. The really hold up to bold usage. If they had more of a complete color range I would mostly use them. I use the medium ones for the backgrounds. I love the brilliant colors and texture of the Schminkes.

I use the Senneliers because they have such an extensive line of colors, crucial when you are doing sensitive skin tones. Their tendency to crumble drives me nuts. Sometimes you cannot get them out of the wrapper before they fall apart.

These panels are 1" thick cradled in oak and weighing about 38 lbs. Traditional framing can be difficult and tres expensive. I simply have a Plexiglas cover made 4 1/2" deep and screw it onto the sides. It is quite modern, some people love it some don't. It gives the paintings the feeling of collectible dolls. My next panel will be aluminum. Im getting shoulders like a pro wrestler hauling these babies around.

Thank you all very much for you questions and interest.

[Mike McCarty]

Sharon,

I can definitely see these paintings hanging in the lobby of the Boston Ballet. Very nice, best of luck.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Beautiful job. My favorite part (see below). IMHO one of the best heads ever to appear on the forum. Well done!

[Sharon Knettell]

I am blushing through the streaks of green pastel on my cheek! I look a bit like Kermit with a rash.

Thanks, that means a lot.

[Mari DeRuntz]

Lovely, Sharon, I've just been sitting in the gallery admiring them.

My only question is, are these studio pieces? Commissions? Gallery pieces? Are they for a particular show or are you building towards one? Primarily my curiosity stems from their massive size; so much of what I handled at the Corcoran of course was on the same scale, but that was the abstract expressionists. These days, there's not a whole lot of realism happening on that scale.

If you have the time, I'm curious for you to elaborate along these lines, sort of "size matters" issues.

[Mari DeRuntz]

I can imagine how striking they are when viewed head on - all of that rich pastel, large enough to walk into.

I'm going to get back over to the Ringling Museum, where they have a similarly-large pastel full-figure portrait hanging in one of the galleries. I'll report back on the artist, just don't remember off the top of my head. The work is on paper, however, and has not held up well.

I'm wondering if there's a large East Coast juried show along the lines of the Prix de West that you could get them into.

[Margaret Port]

Thank goodness there are artists like you in the world, Sharon.

Work like this is the reason I check in to the Forum every day. Just to marvel at the sheer talent and to be inspired to try just that little more in my own work.

Thank you for sharing these with us.

Truly beautiful!!!!