| Bio |

How I work in Pastel
Capturing the light and evoking the mood of a subject, whether it is a landscape or a figure, are essential to good painting.
My paintings are more impressionistic than photographic; it is my emotional response I strive to capture. I use a great variety of hard and soft pastels. Since pastel colors are not mixed together to create different shades, I must have hundreds of sticks on hand. Pastel is not chalk. It is made of pure dry pigment mixed with just enough neutral binder to hold it together as a stick. This is the same pigment that is used in making any other paint, but in pastel no ingredients are added that would dilute the color or cause it to fade or crack. Properly framed, a pastel painting will keep its brilliant color and last for centuries.

Observing and planning requires over half the time needed to create a painting. After determining the subject matter, making several small sketches, and feeling certain that the composition is sound, I begin with either a soft vine charcoal or a hard pastel sharpened to a point.

Making a careful drawing, I reconfirm my composition. This is when I make the most changes. I lightly spray the drawing with fixative before applying color, usually starting with hard pastel, blocking in the large masses, and working from dark to light. When the first application of color is complete, I blend it with my hand, a piece of styrofoam, or a soft paper towel. At this point, I again carefully examine the composition and shapes, and if satisfied, I will spray it once more with fixative. I do not usually use fixative again.

The fun part begins with the soft pastels. Applying them in many different ways, from large shapes using the sides of the stick, to delicate crosshatching, the painting begins to come to life. Optically blending, that is, placing carefully selected colors side by side, causes the colors to vibrate and find the mood I'm looking for. I save the most detail, brightest color, and greatest contrast for the end.

While painting, it is critical to step back and look at the work from a distance many, many times. I don't know why it is, but when I am teaching, that is one of the hardest things to get the students to do. It is easy to get lost in the process. It is a perfect form of meditation. The joy of working in pastel is being so intimately involved with the paint. It becomes an extension of your hand and mind. It is almost like sculpting on a one-dimensional surface.

B I O G R A P H Y
Angalee DeForest				A professional artist for over thirty years, Angalee DeForest studied fine art at the University of Texas in Austin, and independently with nationally known artists throughout the United States. Born in Louisiana, she grew up in Texas, Oklahoma and Venezuela. Raising her family while balancing the travel and change which marked her husband's Marine Corps career, created a life of rich texture and influences. Throughout, Angalee's devotion to her art and disciplined determination to advance her skills never wavered. She taught painting and figurative sculpture for four years at the Eastern Shore Art Association Academy in Fairhope, Alabama before moving to California in 1994. In the Bay Area and Northern California, she continued to study and teach, creating a large new body of work reflecting greater exploration of pastel, oil, and sculpture. After moving to New York in 2000, she continued to find new inspirations in the vast beauty and cultural diversity of the Empire State, the Hudson River Valley, and New England. Now living in Rockport, Texas, she is creating a new portfolio of work reflecting the exciting colors and compositions of the South and Southwest. Her work has received extensive awards and consistent acceptance in national juried exhibitions, and is included in numerous collections, among them the United States Marine Corps Security Guard Headquarters, Quantico, Virginia, and Lombardi, Loper & Conant, LLP, Oakland, California Her strong, impressionistic painting and insightful sculpture are firmly based on a foundation of sound classical training, excellent design and keen observation. Her meditative, yet enthusiastic approach reflects in both her work and her teaching. Angalee's work is currently represented by Felder Gallery in Rockport, TX, and offers workshops in oil, pastel, and color theory.


				Angalee DeForest is a member of the following Associations : Portrait Society of America Connecticut Pastel Society-Signature Member Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists Degas Pastel Society Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod-Signature Member Pastel Society of the Southwest Texas Society of Sculptors Rockport Art Association


How I work in Pastel Capturing the light and evoking the mood of a subject, whether it is a landscape or a figure, are essential to good painting. My paintings are more impressionistic than photographic; it is my emotional response I strive to capture. I use a great variety of hard and soft pastels. Since pastel colors are not mixed together to create different shades, I must have hundreds of sticks on hand. Pastel is not chalk. It is made of pure dry pigment mixed with just enough neutral binder to hold it together as a stick. This is the same pigment that is used in making any other paint, but in pastel no ingredients are added that would dilute the color or cause it to fade or crack. Properly framed, a pastel painting will keep its brilliant color and last for centuries. Observing and planning requires over half the time needed to create a painting. After determining the subject matter, making several small sketches, and feeling certain that the composition is sound, I begin with either a soft vine charcoal or a hard pastel sharpened to a point. Making a careful drawing, I reconfirm my composition. This is when I make the most changes. I lightly spray the drawing with fixative before applying color, usually starting with hard pastel, blocking in the large masses, and working from dark to light. When the first application of color is complete, I blend it with my hand, a piece of styrofoam, or a soft paper towel. At this point, I again carefully examine the composition and shapes, and if satisfied, I will spray it once more with fixative. I do not usually use fixative again. The fun part begins with the soft pastels. Applying them in many different ways, from large shapes using the sides of the stick, to delicate crosshatching, the painting begins to come to life. Optically blending, that is, placing carefully selected colors side by side, causes the colors to vibrate and find the mood I'm looking for. I save the most detail, brightest color, and greatest contrast for the end. While painting, it is critical to step back and look at the work from a distance many, many times. I don't know why it is, but when I am teaching, that is one of the hardest things to get the students to do. It is easy to get lost in the process. It is a perfect form of meditation. The joy of working in pastel is being so intimately involved with the paint. It becomes an extension of your hand and mind. It is almost like sculpting on a one-dimensional surface.
				Pastels
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