'City of Lights' Abstract Pastel

Abstract art is the freedom to express without judgment. Abstract art offers the opportunity to improvise with various media and surfaces. Abstract art provides a playful approach to embracing bold design concepts.

City of Lights (Pastel)

Abstract art ignites my creative spirit, encouraging me to explore spontaneous ideas and dive into the creative abyss with a sense of freedom and joy!

I like to do abstract art after I finish with representational painting, such as my previous painting Sunflower Diptych. I was inspired to visit my older charcoal drawing 'City of Lights' and transform it into a new medium and new era. 'City of Lights' holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first pieces I created during my time at the East Vancouver Art Academy. One of my motivations to redo my favorite charcoal drawing was seeing it decay year after year because I used cheap drawing newsprint paper... I thought to remake 'City of Lights' in pastel on archival Canson Pastel paper.

Lesson Learned: ALWAYS buy acid-free paper. Artist-grade materials will be more expensive and promise longevity, but cheaper means it is not going to survive and will break down quickly, such as my 'City of Lights' drawing & collage. Silly me didn't think to buy acid-free paper, so now my favorite charcoal drawing is decaying and has turned yellow over the 10-year period.

You can see that back in 2005, the charcoal rubbing was light grey, and in 10 years, it has now aged to yellow and is decaying. There is no getting around it, so spend a few extra dollars and make the commitment that your work is worthy, even the experimental work. If the art doesn't turn out, don't throw it out; save it for collage and experimentation. 

City of Lights ORIGINAL Charcoal Rubbings by Minaz Jantz

'City of Lights' was made originally with charcoal rubbings on newsprint drawing paper. The rubbings were done for one of my art classes at the East Vancouver Art Academy. The building and outside area were the surfaces I used for the charcoal rubbings, so it's easy to say this is a portrait of the old Vancouver Art Academy. The collage rubbings tell a further story of the views I saw out my Vancouver loft windows. 

Listed is my growing collection of pastel brands. Each pastel brand is not only a unique color mix, but also each brand's mark-making abilities have their own specific way of expelling the pigments onto various toothy surfaces. 

You may think pastel is just a stick of color, but it's more than color, it's how it leaves texture thick and thin, and how it shows painterly marks. 

Three-drawer dresser converted into soft pastel storage.

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE PASTELS?
I found an OLD dresser in a snowbank a few years ago and dragged it home to fix it up and make it become my PERFECT pastel storage unit. I divided the drawers with cardboard to separate the pastels into their value ranges from light to dark. For some pastels, such as Schminke & Sennelier, I leave them in their original boxes, as they are too fragile to toss into a drawer. 

Pan Pastel in the plastic holder with Sofft tools.

Pan Pastels are self-contained, much like makeup, and can be placed in a convenient plastic holder with a protective lid, which I categorize by value range for fast identification. The plastic is very durable and not flimsy. These pastels will travel well. I love the Sofft palette tools for applying pastel, as they create a light, shimmering effect of pigment onto the surface. 

The Sofft foam applicators, as seen in the photo, can withstand a lot of abuse and can be rinsed out to dry. However, I bought enough of them to make each one a different color and use them until they are worn out. They do wear out, but it's not very expensive to buy a bag of sponge tips for the Sofft palette tool. There are also large sponges in various shapes for sweeping a larger amount of pigment onto the surface, and these are also awesome to use. However, for this abstract, I stuck with the Soft foam applicators. 

Pan Pastel is a lot of fun to use and also performs very differently from any other brand of pastel. In the photos, the circles of Pan Pastel pigment colors can be put into the holder, which comes with a lid. A genius way to keep pastels safe and handle them easily within their value ranges, just like a palette. 

I just bought some more pastel brands for my ever-expanding collection and thought to try out the new 14 favorite violet pastels from Terry Ludwig and the 12 Terrages Set from Diane Townsend pastels. I am going to give them a try for the first time with 'City of Lights'.

'The City of Lights' original charcoal collage is going to have a resurrection, and I decided to trace the original drawing first onto tracing paper so I can preserve the original and make any changes on the tracing paper. 

• outlined the major shapes of the original collage so I can make it free to be NEW and not just a copy. 
• traced with white tracing paper onto the smooth side of black Canson paper.

Vancouver at night sparkles, and I had front row seats at my 20-foot high loft windows and could even watch the fireworks display that outlined the city buildings with colorful flashes.

Vancouver skyline with Woodwards 'W' Neon sign and fireworks.

I could clearly view the Woodwards original 'W' sign (lower left side of photo) in 2005, but in 2006, new construction began, and it was taken down forever. The old 'W' neon sign is in the lobby of the new building. 

The Woodwards 1904 building has LOTS of history and controversial conversions, which created radical campouts surrounding the old building and lots of voices speaking out loud and in protest with what should be the future of this city site. The NEW building now exists and can READ more about the Woodwards building's history and what it is today. 

The Lofty Palace windows in East Vancouver.

My new version of my old charcoal rubbings collage, 'City of Lights', reflects the colorful skyline. I remember fondly when the Vancouver Art Academy was just down the street from my loft in East Vancouver, and it was a dream come true for me to walk to the school and learn from such talented master teachers. 

This painting is going to be fond memories of the nighttime views, from my 'lofty palace' looking out over the skyline of Vancouver, B.C.

This was the first time I got to see the uniqueness of Pan Pastels & its foam tools, and to find out that they performed sublimely on Canson's smooth side of the paper. 

The Sofft sponge tools applied the pastel across the surface in sheer sweeps, much like a glaze, shimmering under the color while blending with the top layer. 

Pan Pastel Sofft applicator tools.

I used the edges of the sponge palette tools to make straight edges and shape lines. The tools create an effect similar to a paintbrush, but only require a light touch that takes the Pan Pastel pigment a long way across the paper in one smooth stroke.

Pastel Choice for 'City of Lights'

Ziggy approves of my pastel selection for this painting. I have to keep cheese treats in the studio and hide them throughout, so he looks forward to cheese hunting! Got to keep the boss happy!

Close-up view of 'City of Lights'

The stick-shaped pastels were chosen not only for their color but also their ability to leave thicker marks, leaving a texture on the paper surface, building up from the sheer Pan Pastels, which work out fabulous for the undercoat, while leaving enough 'tooth' to the paper, to apply another thicker pastel over top.  

The texture of the paper relates to the smooth, soft, and rough feel of its surface. Pastel papers offer various tooth roughness, and this also has a lot to do with the final look of a pastel painting. Canson's paper has its limits in terms of how many layers of pastel can be applied on top of each other, as this paper has tiny 'tooth' on the smooth side of the black Canson Colorline pastel paper.

Starting from the center of the pastel, I continue to work out to the edges.
Still lots more to go from here!

LOVE IT...The black Canson paper makes the colors vibrant and GLOW like neon and night city lights. I am enjoying every step of this painting! I don't know where it will end up, and that is also exciting for me. I keep building outwards to the edges and will go back over it till it's DONE.

I totally enjoyed the WHOLE stage of creating this pastel and will look forward to it framed properly and UP ON MY WALL! This painting is going to be staying in my personal collection...keep it bright till next time, Minaz.