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STAGE 3
BACKGROUND
The background is completed. However,
after the two bolducs will be painted
during stages 4 and 5, some final
retouches in the background might
become necessary.
The colors of the background are all
warm; the following step will consist
of adding much needed cool colors
to the spools of bolduc, such as blue,
violet, mauve, turquoise—that is to say
complementary colors of orange, pink,
brown and yellow.
I use my fingers to stump the
colors. Pastel enables me to do that
immediately without any intermediary
tool such as a brush or a stumping
pencil. I love this direct contact with the
pigments and the paper.
After this stage, I take a break.
I usually stop painting every 15 to 20
minutes or so. Working for too long
a period on a continuing basis entails
mistakes. Frequent pauses also allow
you to step back and to squint in order
to detect weaknesses.

STAGE 4
PAINTING THE
PINK RIBBON
The pink spool on the left is completed.
Most of the work was done with
pastel pencils due to the smallness
of the sections to paint. However,
sticks of very soft pastel were used on
comparatively larger parts for glazing.
Pigments of sticks are brighter than the
pigments of pencils. This is why I always
give priority to the sticks, with the ABOUT THE ARTIST
pencils being only used as a backup.
Adding the highlights allows me to
enhance the impression of depth but it
must not lead to an exaggerated “bling”
aspect. This is the icing on the cake, but
this must not hide the crust.

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