Our Current Issue

December 2005 ISSUE
Available on Newsstands November 1!

Feature artists include: Sydney McGinley, Margaret Dyer, Reinhardt Søbye, Foster Caddell, Donna Martell, Urania Christy Tarbet, Joyce Amlick, Albert Handell and Richard McKinley.

Columns in the December issue include: Special Report: Our Biggest-Ever Gift Guide, Art Matters (Pastels Girault celebrates 225 years and more), Beyond the Basics (All that Glitters is Gold) Pastel Pointers (Natural Selection), Artist's Viewpoint (What's in a Name?) and Professional Practices (Artist and Mother).

Plus you'll find The Pastel Journal regulars: Letters, Contributors, Q&A, Products Page, Exhibitions, Workshops, Afterword.

These classic portraits seem beautifully offhand but in fact derive from a system. Discover how an artist plans her compositions by consulting the golden section.

By Maggie Price

MARGARET DYER

Shadowy interiors and figures absorbed in their own worlds are the inspiration for an artist who casts a spell with light and shadow.

By Maureen Bloomfield

REINHARDT SØBYE

Confronting what most of us shy away from, this Norwegian artist finds heroism in subjects who are imperilled by disease.

By Maureen Bloomfield

FROM THE MASTER'S HAND

Master painters Albert Handell, Foster Caddell and Urania Christy Tarbet and their favorite students talk about what it means to be a mentor and how to find the right one.

By Loraine Crouch

Twenty-four fabulous gifts in all price ranges—find something for everyone on your list.

By Katherine Mesch

Pastels Girault celebrates 225 years and more.

By Katherine Mesch

The secret of stunning portraits in pastel? Simplify your palette.

By Dan Slapo

Paint pastel on gold leaf to create luminous landscapes.

By Anne Heywood

Balancing an art career and motherhood is tricky but rewarding. Three artists—and the author—share their stories.

By Deborah Christensen Secor

Are oil pastels pastels? What's behind the controversy and whether or not it matters.

By Margot Schulzke