Revisiting a Special Pastel Set

'Forest Reverie III'               12x9               pastel              ©Karen Margulis
available $165

 I really wanted to buy this set. It was either this set of Unison pastels selected by Albert Handell or a Heilman box. The Heilman box won but I never forget about this beautiful collection of pastels.  I was at my first workshop ever back in 2006 and it was with Albert Handell. I was so intimidated as I had only been painting for several months. But he was teaching in my state so I took advantage. I got many pearls of wisdom from the workshop though I wasn't ready to hear most of them!  I also saw my first Heilman box and bit the bullet and purchased it at the workshop (best thing I ever did)

Back to the Unison pastel set. The set was also available for purchase at the workshop. The colors were perfect for the very green landscape of Georgia. But sadly I had already exceeded my budget. Fast forward to a few years ago. A pastel artist I knew had to give up pastels and offered her collection. I gladly accepted. Part of her amazing collection was a pristine set of Albert Handell Unison pastels! I was so excited and even better I knew how to use them!  I broke them in half and integrated had into my big pastel box and saved the other half in a cigar box. I took the box out for today's painting. Wow! I love them! The box will not be going back on the shelf for awhile! I have a series in mind!


Here is the block in on 12 x 9 Wallis Warm Mist sanded paper. I rubbed in the first layer to get a soft and dreamy underpainting. I like the abstracted look of this underpainting.

Here is a look at the set.....it is heavy on greens and violets which is perfect for the Land of Green!

Just for fun here is the blog post I wrote after the first day of the workshop.

http://kemstudios.blogspot.com/2006/05/albert-handell-workshop-report-day-1.html

Here is Albert critiquing my workshop painting