NEWTON St Cyres Art Group members enjoyed a pastel demonstration by Michael Norman at a meeting held on June 26.

Michael is Exmouth-based but has an international reputation and has won many awards for his work, being a member of The Pastel Society, the South West Academy, and the French Pastel Society.

For this particular evening he chose a sunset scene, at the Turf Locks near Exeter. He worked on Clairefontaine pastel paper, which he prefers, as it is very smooth but holds pastel well.

First, he set down the tonal composition and a basic structure, which he said is essential, then filled in all areas quite roughly before smoothing everything down with the heel of his fist, so it became the underpainting.

He then went in with highlights, suggesting details such as moored boats and the pub in the distance rather than rendering them faithfully.

The colours he used were vibrant and complimentary. With very light touches he added blues, reds, yellows and oranges to the sky and the reflections in the river, which made the painting sing, while the trees and vegetation were mostly dark greens and blues, even black (a charcoal pencil, never a black pastel).

Lightly dragging one colour over another allowed the two to work together very effectively.

The mix of detailed and loose work and the strong colours was very pleasing to the eye.

Jenny Hallam