Richard McKinley, Pastel Laureate of the Pastel Society of the West Coast

Yesterday the Pastel Society of the West Coast honored Richard McKinley, a celebrated pastel artist, teacher and author as a Pastel Laureate at the Placer Arts Gallery on Lincoln Way in Auburn.  As an added attraction and backdrop, the Society’s fall membership show was on display.  The opportunity to see hear and possibly speak with Richard McKinley was an event I did not want to miss. I have bought Richard’s DVD’s and one of his books, Pastel Pointers and learned so much from this positive, good-humored soft spoken man.  

When I walked into the gallery, I recognized Richard as he was speaking with a couple he obviously knew, sharing stories and conversation with easy comfortableness one has with long-time friends.  I did not know what time the presentation would begin so I put my things on a chair to claim a spot.  I just took some time to enjoy the many high quality pastel paintings from the 59 artists represented in the gallery.  As a member of PSWC, I was proud that one of my paintings was among that group. 

I noticed Richard was on his own as I came back around the gallery and so I took the opportunity to speak with him. I commented that I had read his blog on the new Blue Pastels, and noticed he had purchased a set and arranged them by value in a small Dakota pastel carrying case.

 

Richard was pleased to talk about them and said, “I have quite a collection of pastels, and just have to try out new ones when I see them.” I found the Blue Pastels to be very soft, they are meticulously made, each is numbered and they are a perfect size to paint with. They have a good edge and are easy to hold and there is no need to break them. He mentioned that the only short coming is there were no mixed color sticks in the set, they are raw colors designed just like the old oil system by value.  He said, “I prefer to mix in a few colors I like that are not there.  I will probably add some hard pastels to the set.” I recalled, you have a preference for Cretacolor hard pastels don’t you?  “Yes” he said, “Unfortunately Nu-Pastels have out-sourced  their manufacturing  to Mexico and there has been quite a buzz in the art community that their quality is not as good as it was and some of the colors do not hold and fade. “

Richard carried on a conversation with me for some time, about pastels and art, and I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to speak with this genuine man.

Shortly after the meeting was called to order and Richard was presented a plaque by PSWC President Tina Moore, recognizing him as the seventh Pastel Laureate to be honored by the PSWC. This honor is equivalent to being a member of the Pastel USA Hall of Fame. It is given to artists who win ten awards in Pastels USA competitions.  This award recognizes Richard’s tremendous contribution to the advancement of the pastel medium through his teaching, his blogs, and articles and his books on pastel painting. 

Pastel Laureate Margo Schultzke was asked to make some comments about Richard and she was very generous in extolling his contributions in the Pastel Art medium. She recalled a painting Richard submitted to a show so many years ago, that was just prefect without unnecessary detail. She said he has mastered the ability to refrain from unnecessary detail in his paintings. She said also said how important his contribution was for encouraging other painters and bolstering their confidence.     

After the presentation, we all had the opportunity to ask questions of Richard and get his viewpoint on many different subjects from pastels he likes versus those he is not too fond of. The likes list was very long and included Rembrandt’s, Sennelier, Girault, Schminke, Unison, Great American, Terry Ludwig, and the New Blue Pastels, and the dislike list was very short with Yarka being the only one he mentioned that were inconsistent in their manufacture and color stability.

Richard said, "I know that I am known for preaching about, simultaneous contrast, more luminosity, a higher value scale that comes from the personality of the pastel set.”  Richard said the gratuitous use, of dark pastels in a landscape painting are to be avoided because it is about light! When someone asked him how long it took to select his choices for a set of Terry Ludwig pastels, he said it took him a whole day to narrow his choices down and make his selections from Terry’s pastels to make a set. And yes, he made sure to put that eggplant stick in the set.  

Richard gave some wonderful quotes he has heard, for example, Albert Handel said,” I learned to paint in therapy when I learned to trust myself. Albert says he has this crazy friend Richard that doesn’t know when he is done.”  Richard said, it is always difficult to determine when we are finished.  “The conscious mind says you can’t be done, and yet there is this other voice one hears that says, I like it fine the way it is.  Then there is this evil voice on the other side that says, you aren’t going to leave it like that are you?  Those are the kinds of battles all artists go through when determining when a painting is done.”

Many different topics were discussed from under painting to framing decisions and the use of fixatives and Richard provided tremendous insight to the assembled group of artists that had gathered to honor him and to hear him address their questions on his take on things.  Most importantly, Richard said that our job as artists is to tell people who are looking at our paintings our vision so they can see what we see. He closed his talk with the words find the technological ability to make it work and follow your heart.  

There were so many excellent artists present at the gallery and so it was a pleasure to speak with different people I have come to know and also to meet and speak with some new ones I just met in person. One such person was Margot Schultzke another celebrated pastel artist and also a Pastel Laureate. Margot is the founder of the Pastel Society of the West Coast. Margot has traveled the world painting and has also given workshops and written an excellent book on pastel painting entitled, “A Painters Guide to Design and Composition.”  I had an opportunity to also speak with Margo and compliment her on the value of her book that my chiropractor friend Gary Robinson had loaned me.  Margot has written many articles for the Pastel Journal and is also the editor of the Pastel Society of the West Coast’s newsletter. 

Later, I had an opportunity to talk some more with Richard as he circulated around the gallery. I told him how much his book Pastel Pointers had provided me with valuable information and thanked him for sharing his technique and knowledge so freely with many artists and students.  He thanked me for the feedback and asked to see the painting I had in the show and I showed him where it was.  He was very complimentary and said he had told some friends that it was a beautiful well done landscape. I was flattered to hear that from a man that I respect and look up to and have learned so much from.  This was a special day among many artists I have had the pleasure to meet and get to know, but made even more special with the opportunity to dialog with Richard McKinley, one on one.