Carolyn Hancock, pastel portraits

I love painting people, getting just the right expression in their eyes, and leaving a little mystery, telling a story. Even when I’m painting a flower bloom, my thought is to give it personality. Sometimes just the curl of a petal does that, makes it flirty or serene. I paint with color, lots of color, colors you wouldn’t expect, unusual combinations. But when I reach the finish, the step-back, I’m done, all those strokes of pastel blend to believability, and they are beautiful.

Pastel is the only medium I work with; it’s too beautiful to try anything else. Its color choices go from subtle lights and intense darks to wild and vibrant. The way I paint with pastel I can achieve anything from a glowing luminosity to thick impasto that looks like an oil painting.

My travel to other countries influences me every time I’m at the easel. I’ve loved painting the people of the Maasai Mara and the Middle Eastern cultures and landscapes. Playing golf has helped me really look at the color green and find all its variety, yellow to blue. Hard to capture, but I’m using it in my golf course paintings.

I’ve studied with the great pastel artists Daniel Greene, Bob Rohm, Doug Dawson, Bob Gerbracht, and Anatoly Dverin. Some of their advice finds its way into each of my paintings.

Carolyn Hancock
Dec 13, 2013