PLein Air Pastel Workshop with Roberta Combs

April 24th-25th, 2021

10.00 AM - 4.00 PM (PST)

Location:  

Day 1, Saturday April 24th: 

UBC Botanical Garden, 

6804 SW Marine Dr, Vacouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Click here for a map.

Day 2, Sunday April 25th:

Federation Studio, 

1243 Cartwright Street, 

Vancouver, BC, V6H 4B7

Click here for a map. 

OPEN TO ALL LEVELS (Beginner to Advanced)! 

Limited to 8 students! 

FIND SUPPLY LIST AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE UNDER "DOWNLOADS"! 

Workshop Overview 

This is a wonderful opportunity to join the comradery of artists sharing the plein air experience in the beautiful UBC Botanical Garden. Discover why pastels are the ultimate plein air medium to work with. Learn how to compose the broad vistas of the UBC Gardens into a strong composition filled with light and interest from internationally acclaimed master  pastelist, Roberta Combs. 

You will be encouraged to see beyond the colors that are before you and learn how to make your greens sing. In this two-day workshop, you will get specific direction on planning, color visualization and technique. There will be emphasis on value and light. You will receive one-on-one instruction and consultation at your easel. One day of outdoor plein air  painting and one day indoors to focus on detail and design. Personal evaluation and next-level direction will inspire confidence to enjoy the excitement of plein air painting.

Discover why soft pastels are the ultimate plein air medium to work with. This pure pigment offers immediate vibrancy to help you capture sparkling light and vivid color as well as moody atmosphere. Whether you are a pastel artist or you would like to learn how to paint with the velvety jewel colors pastel has to offer, this is the perfect workshop to attend. You will learn how to choose your composition from the wide vistas of the UBC Gardens.  Roberta will demonstrate several approaches that will lend depth and texture to your painting while she discusses her initial approach, the  pastels and tools she chooses and how to employ the initial planning to ensure a positive outcome. From start to finish, Roberta will provide the knowledge, direction and information to help you improve your  painting skills and goals.

You will be able to test the best pastels available in the world from her own selection to become more familiar with brands you may like. We will talk about specific aspects that one faces in a plein air situation and how it will affect your choices of approach regarding weather and light influences. What can we do to insure we will have access to information  we need to finish our paintings if we run out of time, the light changes or the weather halts our progress?

Throughout the workshop, you will receive visual demonstrations, one-on-one  instruction and consultation at your easel that will challenge you to reach for a next level of achievement. 

Your paintings will be finished indoors on day two, where you will be able to employ the information, you gathered from the previous day to focus on detail and design. Personal evaluation and next-level direction will inspire confidence to enjoy the excitement of plein air painting. 

This workshop is suitable for every level of painting skill. All information will be useful for novices to advanced painters. The goal is to improve aspects of your current painting abilities and with Roberta’s personal attention, strengthen weaker areas and challenge yourself to reach a new level of achievement. 

About the instructor - Roberta Combs, SFCA 

Roberta Combs is a Spilsbury Medal award winner in the Federation of Canadian Artists. Her award-winning work has been seen in such publications as International Artists Magazine, Southwest Art Magazine, and the Pastel Journal Magazine. She has exhibited in the Butler Institute of American Art, The Federation Gallery, the American Art Company, The National Arts Club Gallery and the Salmagundi Club in New York City, The Vose Gallery in Boston, and locations that include Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto, and Albuquerque as well as France and Venice. Roberta Combs has been awarded Senior Signature Status in the Federation of Canadian Artists and the Northwest Pastel Society; is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Portrait Artists; and is a Master Pastelist of the Pastel Artists Canada. Roberta has also been awarded Master Status Pastelist in the Pastel Society of America. She is the only Canadian to hold this distinction.

She is one of only six Canadians to be a Gold Medal recipient from the International Association of Pastel Societies, recognizing her designation as an artist of the Master Circle. Combs is also a featured artist in the Northlight book, Pure Pastel: Contemporary Works by Today's Top Artists.