At the First Friday Liberty in September at Liberty Station, members of the San Diego Pastel Society met to show their created works in the second Dusty Finger Challenge. The challenge had been for members to create portraits.
Recording secretary Margaret Larlham, who has many years of experience in working with pastels, encouraged the artists to talk about their work. Carol McClure presented her portrait of a young girl with a big smile, sporting a cowboy hat. “This is my granddaughter. I don’t normally do portraits, so I was really excited to try a painting of her,” she said, “Great job,” Larlham said. Artist Terri McMurray also received lots of encouragement for the portrait of her baby granddaughter. “Wonderful skin tones,” remarked Julianne Ricksecker. Next up was Linda Reyes who put on the easel her finished painting of a girl walking a dog. “Now I really was afraid to do portraits, so I thought this would be my version of one,” Reyes said, laughing.
“Nice work,” everyone said.
Larlham agreed. “This is a good example of a painting that incorporates the surrounding scene as part of the portrait. It works very well.” Many of San Diego Pastel Society’s members have worked with pastels for a number of years. Some of them switched entirely to pastels after having worked with watercolor or oils, such as what Monique Straub experienced. “My in-laws gifted me with a wonderful, vintage set of Grumbacher pastels. Once I took a test drive with all those beautiful colors, I’ve never looked back. “The learning curve was difficult, and I’m mostly self-taught in pastel, with the exception of a week-long plein air pastel class with a master pastellist that I was awarded by the Pastel Society of America through their scholarship program,” Straub said.
Pastel painting is good for plein-air work, according to Larlham. “I love the vitality and freshness of the mark. Also I find the pastels easy to take on my travels. “Whether painting outdoors in San Diego or overseas, I have my box of pastels, paper and a light board to press on,” she said.
Most artists use a dry medium like charcoal to sketch, Larlham explained. The pigment sticks in a box of pastel allow both sketching, in which much of the paper ground is seen, and painting, which coverers almost entirely the paper. “It is a very direct medium–linking to ancient cave paintings. There is no need for brushes – one simply uses fingers. The pastel can be applied generously on its side or more tightly controlled on the tip. Either way the energy of the hand translates directly into the mark of the pastel. “I think this dance of the hand on the paper is one of the key things that makes pastels such a delight for me,” Larlham said. 
Tamara Stautland agreed. “You have to be willing to get your hands dusty from the pastels. Some people like it, others don’t,” said Stautland, who used to paint primarily with other media but now prefers working with pastels.
The San Diego Pastel Society welcomes visitors to their next meeting at 2 p.m. on the first Sunday of October at the Point Loma Library, 3701 Voltaire St. At the meeting, there will be a demonstration by a pastel artist. For more information about the San Diego Pastel Society, go to www.zhibit.org/pssd.