New Pastel Demo From Jill Stefani Wagner

“As a contemporary impressionist painter, I’m obsessed with capturing light,” says Jill Stefani Wagner. “Plein air painting is my passion, but during the colder months I work on larger pieces in my studio. I paint in both pastel and oil, two mediums which complement each other nicely.”

Here, Wagner shares her step-by-step in a pastel landscape painting demo of “Mill Creek Glimmer,” which she created en plein air.

Free Pastel Landscape Painting Demo

View of Scene: Wagner spotted her subject at a plein air festival last year:

Step 1

Choosing a square format on UArt 400 board, Wagner paints a loose watercolor wash of cadmium red (to complement the view’s predominant greens) that will show beneath the pastel, “to create a bit of vibration,” she says. Next, she divides the board into thirds with vine charcoal and lightly sketches outlines of the big shapes.

Step 2

After the wash dries, she builds the structure of the painting using her darkest darks and places the focal point — the purple loosestrife against the lightest part of the water — at the lower-right intersection of dividing lines. “Pastel is like oil, in that you build from dark to light,” she says. “I’m constantly stepping back to review my strokes and consider the next move.”

Step 3

More colors and values begin to emerge. “I remind myself not to get caught up in the details or specific elements of the view,” Wagner says. “I can add or eliminate items as I choose and even move them to different positions.”

Step 4

Several “lead lines” point toward the focal point to guide the viewer’s eye. “All of the elements are in place, but I need to eliminate some of the underpainting showing through,” says the artist. She pushes back the values in the distance and brightens up the foliage and focal point in the foreground.

Final Step

Wagner adds a little warmth in the sky among her finishing touches to “Mill Creek Glimmer.”

Connect with the artist at jillwagnerart.com.

Don’t miss your opportunity to create lifetime memories at the Plein Air Convention & Expo! All training sessions are indoors on giant, high-def screens, with plein air paint-outs in the afternoons. Beginners and pros feel right at home, so register at PleinAirConvention.com to join us.

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Demo written by Stefanie Laufersweiler; Blog post prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Plein Air Today