The Pastel Journal

Pastel Journal covers topics of interest to working pastelists as well as those who work in pastel as an additional medium along with those who are just experimenting with the medium.

Color Confidence

The Pastel Journal

Mary Cassatt: The Choice of Independence • A century after her death, a new exhibition casts fresh light on Mary Cassatt’s greatest masterpiece: a life lived on her own terms.

A Breath of Fresh Air • EDWIN AUSTIN ABBEY revitalized the art of illustration in the 19th century.

Telling the Story • Tracey Maras reveals how to turn any object into a character to advance a creative narrative.

What Is That Smell? • A perceptual phenomenon—in which color is experienced as taste, scent and sensation—shapes a deeply personal creative experience.

Light, Color & the Overlooked • IN A MODEST STUDIO TUCKED BESIDE A GARAGE IN NEWFOUNDLAND, JONATHAN O’DEA TRANSFORMS OFTEN-UNNOTICED OBJECTS INTO LUMINOUS MEDITATIONS ON LIGHT, REFLECTIONS AND THE POETRY OF EVERYDAY LIFE.

ADVICE ON COLOR

CONVERSATIONS IN COLOR • OMMA MOON USES A KEEN EYE FOR COLOR TO DEPICT THE INTANGIBLE PERSONALITIES IN HER RADIANT AND LIFELIKE PORTRAITS.

TECHNIQUE TIP: EQUILUMINANCE

Where Nature Meets Nostalgia • DEANA GOLDSMITH COMBINES BIRDS, BOOKS, FLOWERS AND ANTIQUES INTO RICHLY DETAILED ARRANGEMENTS, BUILDING STILL LIFES THAT EVOKE A SENSE OF WHIMSY.

Colors That Whisper, Colors That Sing • FOR ALEXIS LE BORGNE, EVERY PAINTING IS AN INVITATION TO LOOK BEYOND APPEARANCES AND INTO THE INVISIBLE WORLDS OF MEMORY, EMOTION AND CONTEMPLATION.

demonstration Master Craftsman Katana

Sublime Splendor • USING SHIMMERING LUMINOSITY, VIBRANT IRIDESCENCE AND DRAMATIC CONTRASTS, PATTI ARBINO PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES OF COLOR TO BUILD COMPOSITIONS IN WHICH DESIGN, ART AND NATURE CONVERGE.

PASTEL Showstoppers • WE ASKED EIGHT ILLUSTRIOUS ARTISTS TO SELECT A STANDOUT PIECE FROM THE 2026 PASTEL WORLD EXHIBITION TO HIGHLIGHT THE MASTERY AND MAGIC ON DISPLAY.

CONSIDER THIS • In his Gallery Walk-Through at the Pastel World exhibition, artist Richard McKinley led a group of attendees on a guided journey through the show. While discussing the merits of 20 or so pastels that he found captivating, McKinley also offered some illuminating insights on the art of making art, including the following six reflections.

A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE

Designing With Depth • Use these seven principles as guidelines for creating landscape paintings that sing.

A Story of Re(vision) • A sojourn through past and present influences reveals the power of working in series for sustained creative inquiry.

Artists Marketplace

True Emotion