Maggie Price Workshop Review

By Gregori Pai, Pastel Artists of Hawaii

Participants in the Maggie Price Workshop were both challenged and inspired by her rigorous and well-organized presentation of the fundamentals of pastel painting. Each day of the five-day workshop began with an hour and a half lecture and demonstration in the morning followed by individual instruction for the rest of the day. Participants were expected to produce one painting a day.

Maggie's lectures and demonstrations were based on several fundamental themes that ran consistently through the workshop. The most important was the use of various under painting techniques. She gave four demonstrations using four different under painting techniques. The second theme was the use of value and temperature as a way of giving paintings a richness of color and variety that can make an ordinary painting richer and fuller. The third theme was the use of photographs in paintings. While photographs are an important part of an artist's tool kit, she emphasized both their advantages and shortcomings and how to use them in a way that inspires creativity and not simply copies a photographic image. She also covered a number of topics of great value to many participants. One was the development of a 20-minute pastel sketch using a limited palette of colors. The objective was to do a quick painting that captured the essentials of a composition, but with enough information to convey the artists overall intention. For many of the participants it was an eye opening experience. She also did a separate demonstration on the practices and pitfalls of plein air painting, which ironically got rained out half-way through. Finally, in terms of more detailed technique, she gave a series of demonstrations on the painting of rocks, reflections on still water, and clouds. It was inspiring to see her amazing dexterity and skill in rapidly rendering images with such clarity and precision.

For all the participants it was an intense and challenging experience. Yet, all came away with a definite feeling that it was an experience of tremendous value and importance. Everyone felt they had truly advanced in their abilities as painters due to Maggie's insightful and masterful guidance. It was truly an inspiring and expanding experience for all.