Pastel by Olga Abramova. Pastel plein air with Olga Abramova

True, they quickly turn into grimy sticks.))

For those who don't know, this is dry pastel Schmincke- one of my favorites.

Recently, such crayons for a test drawing came to me from the Wanderer for artists.

This pastel differs from all others with a rare palette of complex colors, softness, good adhesion to paper and color fastness.

It is not cheap, so a novice artist can solve this problem by buying individually only those colors that are needed in the work, and the main palette can be assembled from cheaper brands of pastels. Well, professionals will understand my preferences, I have enough of it in the box.))

This pastel is brought to us in Moscow by the Peredvizhnik store, where you can buy all this beauty by the piece, which for me is much more interesting than a set.


Having a large palette of different crayons, before starting work, I always choose in a separate box the scale with which I am going to work. This is about 20 - 30 crayons, primary and secondary colors.

When I really want to draw some color, I take on larger formats, and Schmincke soft crayons are very suitable for this. You can paint with sweeping strokes, mixing how many crayons together for unexpected transitions from one color to another.

In this article, I will show you several stages of work on a painting.

Iris, 65x50
Paper, pastel

First stage. Yes, it looks like this to me. I do not make preliminary drawings, but draw the form immediately in spots, adjust the details, add lines along the way.

With large spots I create an approximate composition of the picture. Of course, I have already thought out this composition in advance and keep it in my head.

Despite the large and varied palette of different brands of pastels, for the first layers I almost always mercilessly use Schmincke pastel, it is great for big works and creates complex color transitions of the first layer.
The initial stage of work sets both the rhythm and the color of the whole picture. If this stage is successful, then the work is drawn by itself.

Of course, I'm exaggerating, but the first layer is really important.))

I start adding details. And then, unexpectedly, - the sun!

I have a very sunny workshop, which shapes my work schedule. The sun often interferes with painting, changing contrast and color perception, so I appreciate overcast, foggy days when the light is ideal for working with pastel paintings. But for filming and mood, the sun is indispensable.))

There are such transformer paintings, they are not drawn the first time, but change in the course of work. Dynamics, color, mood are changing, and this time it is just such a story. I missed graphics so much that I didn’t think deeply about the work and wait for a response, but decided to immediately embark on a close relationship with color.
The format was very successful, large, just right for Schminke, but I would take even more to enjoy the complex grays and blues.

But something went wrong - the color appeared on the surface of the paper, then the sun appeared in the studio, then the light disappeared and the blue changed its hue all the time. I chased after him and, as a result, by the evening I received a finished work, which was drawn the way I myself wanted.))

Now we need to adjust the gamma after the bright sun and look at the details of the composition.

Primary colors in the picture.
098 - neutral gray 076, 078;
091 - gray blue;
090 - gray violet 077, 079;
095 - cold grey;
061 - phthalo blue deep 073, 077, 079;
062 - ultramarine light;
064 - cobalt blue tone;
066 - Prussian blue;
013 - ocher light 069, 079
The second part of the number indicates the lightness of the color: the higher the number, the lighter the tone.

And the final. Ready!

Drawing this work, I was not too lazy to shoot 32 stages of its transformation, a whole cartoon turned out. But I only showed you a few.
I work mainly on CANSON papers and cardboards. I drew this work on gray Mi-Teintes paper.

Everything, I went to draw.))

Olga Abramova, a pastel artist who creates incredible beauty and depth of work, answered our questions that we asked during the plein air week Oh, my PLAIN AIR!

Olga, please tell us how you decided on the material and technique?
Why pastel?
I've always liked graphic materials. But pastel - it was love at first try. I immediately realized that this material will allow me to do much more than any other.

How is your typical working day?
Morning, exercises, coffee, texts, then I work with my paintings and projects. During breaks I read something interesting or useful. In the evening I solve all sorts technical questions: answer letters, order materials, process photos of paintings. I like to walk in the woods, but every day I can't do it, although after walks ideas always come.

And what was the first plein air?
What mistakes have you made?
My first plein air was when I was a child.
I remember I was drawing Peter's wooden house in Kolomenskoye and I wanted to draw it so that it looked very much like myself. In my painting, the brown color of the wood came out so really brown, but it was not pretty at all. I'm still wary Brown in open air work.

Is there a difference in the principles of work in the workshop and on fresh air?
I really love working in the workshop - this is the most productive time.
Plein airs are always a challenge and a combination of circumstances for me. Lots of people around, fast light changes, slipping away.
But I have a rule for working in the studio, which is very suitable for plein airs:
"Paint like you're being chased."
It is better to gather for a long time, but draw at maximum speed.
There is no time to gather in the open air for a long time, you need to work quickly, intuitively, so you need to prepare in advance.
For plein air with students, I carefully select the place, light, forms, so that it is convenient to work.
It is very important what palette of crayons you bring with you - this is also part of the preparation. You need to know your palette, like notes.

Tell us about the most extreme and unusual plein air.
Probably more extreme than I didn't have plein air at the zoo. I am an introvert by nature, and the attention at the zoo to animals and to those who draw is the same.)
Well, the animals themselves are not static sitters at all.
There was one more case. I was painting at 6 am at Cape Fiolent, in the Crimea. Not a single person around, dawn, I sit with my legs dangling on a step under a cliff and draw. Suddenly, a young man comes up to me and sits next to me, starts talking to me about life from afar. And I sit and think about how I can get rid of him kindly. And then it turned out that he thought that he was saving my life.) We figured it out.

Do you prefer to work alone or do you like group plein airs?
Of course, one, then there is only me and the picture.

And what is the minimum set of materials you always take with you on field sketches?
Black album, about 15 pastel pencils and several crayons of different colors. But this is for more graphic options, for picturesque ones, I collect a mini box for myself from small pieces of pastel and take an album with pastel paper.

Are there places that have become "places of power"?
Where did you get the most successful, in your opinion, work.
In places of power, I usually don't draw. I sit and look, and then I draw in the studio. So I sat on the cool stones in Estonia, then drew a lot of sketches and big picture Undva Punk. I stood in the rain on the shore of the ocean with black sand and blue ice floes in Iceland, and then for half a year I collected a theme from this state in order to make a film where I draw the ocean. All the most serious work I do in the studio.
Plein air is an opportunity to catch some unusual combination of colors or light or mood. And working in the studio is a rethinking.

Can you show your favorite pages (or plein air works) in the sketchbook?

Give three tips for those who are going to the open air for the first time.
1. For pastels - take small pieces of crayons with you, it is better to take more flowers than less, collecting them in a lifting box.
2. Fall in love with nature, if what you draw does not cause you any feeling, then you can not draw at all.
3. Decide what is most important to you in what you are looking at and describe it in words for yourself. It will become clearer how to draw.

"Draw as if someone is chasing you"..... Artist Olga Abramova

"Life imitates Art much more
than Art is Life.
Oscar Wilde

"It all started a long time ago. And none of my friends remember the time when my fingers were the same color. It's all because of the magic box of pastel crayons, which I inherited from my dad. For many years I've been rubbing pastels on tinted sheets , leaving part of it on itself, and part of itself on paper ... "

Who am I?!..... Graphic artist, teacher. I draw pictures, participate in exhibitions, experiment with life and creativity. I do not like to leave the workshop for nothing, but I like to travel to distant lands with colored suitcases. Olga Abramova was born in 1976 in Moscow. In 1996 she graduated from the Moscow art school Applied Arts named after Kalinin (MHUPI), specialty - textile artist. In 2000 she graduated from the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University, graphic arts faculty. The diploma was made in the technique of pastel painting. Since then, pastel technique has been the main and favorite style of drawing. Participant of many solo and group exhibitions in Russia and abroad. Author of articles about painting in pastel technique. Since 2001 he has been a member of the International Art Fund (IHF).

sunny olives (pastel, charcoal, cardboard)

I paint mostly with dry pastels. I don't have any particular theme that I've been working on for years. Life is interesting in its impermanence.

You know, in drawing there is one technique - "Draw as if you are being chased." I often use this advice when I want to draw an intuitive and dynamic work full of improvisation and surprises. Such paintings seem to be filled with life and its variability.

Figueres

Cornflower field

When I think about paintings and the space in which I want to show them, I see the space as light, open, without additional information load. Each picture is an experienced event. This event passes through the artist, as if through a filter, and as a result, an image is obtained that can be far from reality and at the same time come into contact with it.

Living, very plastic art... A painting is like a dance that does not take long to prepare, but you can just listen to yourself, your body, your soul... Living beauty!

Ocean

Coast

Threads. Valley of the Seven Lakes

streams

The Magic of Randomness

I had a period when I was inspired by color - I saw the most complex shades and wanted to show them. I discovered that there are many unusual color combinations, for example, in flowers and began to explore them. Sometimes I painted just patches of color, adding a little shape, sometimes I increased the size a lot to observe some combination. I created a cloud of color in the picture and then sculpted a shape in it, it turned out very beautiful, immersed in the air work. These studies helped me a lot to understand what colors interact, what derivatives are obtained from them, and what emotions these colors evoke.

Evoke emotion with your painting. Which one?... In my case, it was: a feeling of space, softness, fullness and at the same time lightness. After some time of searching, this work turned out to be the final in this search.

porcelain orchid glade

Through the gardens of Tuscany

The red color rarely appears in my paintings, but when it does, the whole space in the studio pulsates. This color has an amazing feature to create vibrations, bright, earthy. Everything around starts to move and comes to life: the number of calls increases, friends want to communicate or come to visit. Magic!

Hawthorn

Kenozerye. pink meadow

stones

Illusions of emptiness. Between the sky

Illusions of emptiness

What is the difference between a lizard and a dragon? They say that one who is born to crawl cannot fly. Yes, but... Born with wings, let him not endure. There is a feeling when there is nothing again and the earth is gone, then what remains? So just take off. And may the sky be beautiful!

The Dragon

Myths of the North. Nikiya - Moon Maiden

Mielikki is the mistress of the forest, the wife of Tapio. The keeper of the "keys" from the pantries and forest barns. The name is formed from the words: thought, desire, mood. It translates into Russian as "desirable", "sweetheart"

"Draw as if someone is chasing you"..... Artist Olga Abramova

"Life imitates Art much more

Than Art is Life".

Oscar Wilde

It all started a long time ago. And none of my friends remember the time when my fingers were the same color. It's all because of the magic box of pastel crayons that I inherited from my dad. For many years I have been rubbing pastel on tinted sheets, leaving part of it on myself, and part of myself on paper ... "

Who am I?!..... Graphic artist, teacher. I draw pictures, participate in exhibitions, experiment with life and creativity. I do not like to leave the workshop for nothing, but I like to travel to distant lands with colored suitcases. Olga Abramova was born in 1976 in Moscow. In 1996 she graduated from the Moscow Art School of Applied Arts named after Kalinin (MKhUPI), specialty - textile artist. In 2000 she graduated from the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University, graphic arts department. The diploma was made in the technique of pastel painting. Since then, pastel technique has been the main and favorite style of drawing. Participant of many solo and group exhibitions in Russia and abroad. Author of articles about painting in pastel technique. Since 2001 he has been a member of the International Art Fund (IHF).

sunny olives (pastel, charcoal, cardboard)

I paint mostly with dry pastels. I don't have any particular theme that I've been working on for years. Life is interesting in its impermanence.

You know, in drawing there is one technique - "Draw as if you are being chased." I often use this advice when I want to draw an intuitive and dynamic work full of improvisation and surprises. Such paintings seem to be filled with life and its variability.

Figueres

Cornflower field

When I think about paintings and the space in which I want to show them, I see the space as light, open, without additional information load. Each picture is an experienced event. This event passes through the artist, as if through a filter, and as a result, an image is obtained that can be far from reality and at the same time come into contact with it.
Living, very plastic art... A painting is like a dance that does not take long to prepare, but you can just listen to yourself, your body, your soul... Living beauty!

Ocean

Coast

Threads. Valley of the Seven Lakes

streams

The Magic of Randomness

I had a period when I was inspired by color - I saw the most complex shades and wanted to show them. I discovered that there are many unusual color combinations, for example, in flowers and began to explore them. Sometimes I painted just patches of color, adding a little shape, sometimes I increased the size a lot to observe some combination. I created a cloud of color in the picture and then sculpted a shape in it, it turned out very beautiful, immersed in the air work. These studies helped me a lot to understand what colors interact, what derivatives are obtained from them, and what emotions these colors evoke.

Evoke emotion with your painting. Which one?... In my case, it was: a feeling of space, softness, fullness and at the same time lightness. After some time of searching, this work turned out to be the final in this search.

porcelain orchid

glade

Through the gardens of Tuscany

The red color rarely appears in my paintings, but when it does, the whole space in the studio pulsates. This color has an amazing feature to create vibrations, bright, earthy. Everything around starts to move and comes to life: the number of calls increases, friends want to communicate or come to visit. Magic!

Hawthorn

Kenozerye. pink meadow

stones

Illusions of emptiness. Between the sky

Illusions of emptiness

What is the difference between a lizard and a dragon? They say that one who is born to crawl cannot fly. Yes, but... Born with wings, let him not endure. There is a feeling when there is nothing again and the earth is gone, then what remains? So just take off. And may the sky be beautiful!

The Dragon

Myths of the North. Nikiya - Moon Maiden

Mielikki is the mistress of the forest, the wife of Tapio. The keeper of the "keys" from the pantries and forest barns. The name is formed from the words: thought, desire, mood. It translates into Russian as "desirable", "sweetheart"

In the pastels of Muscovite Olga Abramova, the dynamics of the motif, the tenderness of color and the artistry of the drawing are striking. The main thing is to reflect life through the interaction of light and color. Abramova works in series: be it panoramic landscapes, single flowers or still lifes with porcelain. This creative freedom is the result high professionalism and mastery of the material.

The artist's favorite technique is dry pastel. The material involves the work of colored crayons on rough paper. Delicate, translucent and glowing from the inside, the texture is obtained by applying multi-colored layers. The secret of Olga Abramova's technique is to work with large spots, without a sketch drawing. It is very difficult to create in this way, because you need to keep in mind the entire composition of the sheet at once. The first layer sets the whole rhythm of the future picture. The final look is greatly influenced by the lighting and color development of the remaining layers, which can change during the work. The final result also requires special attention, because the pastel is very fragile and crumbles a lot. Lacquer fixing and frame with glass - required attributes such a picture.

Olga Abramova was born and raised in Moscow. After graduating from the Department of Artistic Weaving at the Moscow School of Industrial Art, she realized that graphics and painting were closer to her. She graduated from the graphic arts department of the Moscow State Pedagogical Open University and became a real pastel master. Already in 1999, she began to successfully participate in exhibitions in Russia and abroad, actively conduct master classes in pastel and write articles about working in this technique.

The poetic fragility of her work and the tenderness of the depicted motif are the qualities that so attract the viewer.

Text: Maria Gerasimova, PhD in Art History

A rare case when the uniqueness of the artist's style arose at the junction of two techniques: soft watercolor painting and sophisticated contour graphics.