Interview With Soft Pastel Artist - Adrian Frankel Giuliani

American artist Adrian Frankel Giuliani

1. Tell us a bit about yourself – who are you, where are you from? 
Originally from Queens, New York, I always knew that I wanted to be an artist. I drew from the time I was a very young child.  
Today I am a pastel artist, and primarily do children’s pastel portraits. I have recently done my first dog commission, Scooby, and I absolutely loved it! 
I have been happily married for 19 years, (although my husband and I have known each other for 26 years!), with two boys, ages 12 and 15.

"I always knew that I wanted to be an artist."

2. What got you interested in soft pastels? Have you taken any art classes?
I was first introduced to soft pastels by Flora Giffuni, the founder of the Pastel Society of America. When I was a teen, I had the very good fortune of taking a pastel class with her, in her home in Jamaica Estates, Queens.  
I had no idea what an honor that was, at the time! I proceeded to study at the Rhode Island School of Design, where I majored in Illustration. My favorite parts of RISD were painting from life, figure drawing and working in soft pastels. I worked in many different mediums, including watercolor, oils, charcoal, acrylics and pastel.  My favorites were pastel, charcoal and oils. 

During my junior and senior years I did a great deal of pastel work. I took a class with Richard Merkin, who was a fabulous teacher and really inspired me to embrace this medium.
In fact, pastel became “my medium!”  Back then I used Rembrandt pastels and Canson MiTientes paper, and they were a great introduction. During my senior year, I started taking photographs of the kids in Providence, playing outside. I began doing portraits of them, thus finding my passion for children’s pastel portraiture. I graduated from RISD with a BFA in Illustration in 1987.

"I was first introduced to soft pastels by Flora Giffuni... I had no idea what an honor that was, at the time!"

3. You have a plane ticket to go anywhere in the world to paint - where will you go?
If I had a plane ticket to go to any part of the world, that would be a difficult decision. Engaged in Paris, France in 1994 and honeymooned in Italy in 1995. Would I want to go back? Absolutely! There is a plethora of rich beauty and inspiration in the landscapes of those countries.  
However, beauty is all around us, everywhere we go. We just need to open our eyes and experience it.  

If I could choose one place to visit now, it might have to be Australia.  Taking in and exploring the beauty of the country would be remarkable.  However, I would be most excited to meet and visit with my wonderful friend, Barb Heidi Burns, who I have met via Facebook and who has become a very dear friend to me. 
Oh, to meet her in person... That would be thrilling!

"...Beauty is all around us, everywhere we go. We just need to open our eyes and experience it."

4. What is the tool that you just cannot live without?
The tools that I could not live without are my Terry Ludwig pastels! They are buttery soft, creamy and a complete joy to use! Using these pastels has made doing my pastel work truly a wonderful experience.

5. How do you deal with “pastel messes”?
Yes, soft pastels do create dust! Often I will notice a coating of pastel dust on multiple surfaces in my studio. I periodically spray them down and clean them, mopping my floor. 
While working in pastel, I wear a surgical mask and have an air purifier doing its job!

6. Do you have a favorite artist/s? If yes, what draws you to that person’s work?
I revere so many different artists, some contemporary and others who are old masters. A couple of the old masters whose work I am particularly drawn to are Vincent Van Gogh and Berthe Morisot. I love their work, because of its freedom and movement and celebration of color. 

I believe Vincent said that as he became deeper in despair, his colors became more and more vibrant. I saw an exhibition of his work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and it was an amazing experience. It was one of my favorite exhibitions that I have seen to date.  
I love Berthe Morisot’s strokes. Her freedom was so extraordinary, yet still very precise. That is something I embrace as well. I want my work to be loose and free, yet accurate.

7. Ever had a commission that was really memorable or special to you?
One commission that was quite memorable to me was my piece, Childhood. I was inspired by the light cast on this little girl’s face and her wonderful, blissful, childlike expression. Commissioned by this girl’s grandma, I set off on my journey, which always begins with a black and white sketch. 
After that, I embark on the pastel.  In the process of working on the pastel, I captured something good and posted it.  Everyone loved it. 
However, I knew that the piece had some drawing problems that, once rectified, would make the piece much stronger.  I ended up overworking that version, at which point I had a good cry. Then I pulled myself together, knowing that I would eventually achieve something much better. I started anew, and I was right. I loved the results. How incredibly honored I was to have that piece, Childhood, juried into the IAPS 24th Annual Exhibition, which was held at Vose Galleries in Boston last year.

"I was inspired by the light cast on this little girl’s face and her wonderful, blissful, childlike expression."

- Adrian, about her favorite pastel piece

8. Is there a ritual that gets you "in the zone" for painting/drawing?
Most mornings I go for a run, with my dog. That was part of my daily routine before we adopted loving Sedona, but now I have incorporated her into my run. 
When the weather is nicer, I go out after our run, for a longer power walk. I also go through daily gratitude every day, saying thank you for everything and everyone who blesses my life. 

Listening to music energizes me when I run and while I do my artwork.  That typically gets me in "the zone" to do my art.

9. Where else can we find you in Social Medias?
I am only on Facebook, in terms of social media I am also one of the administrators of the Pastel Society of America FB page, which is a large commitment, but a truly rewarding job. 

I have an art page on Facebook, www.facebook.com/adrianpastelportraits , where I share my work, the beautiful work of my talented peers and the brilliant work of the old masters. 
More work and news can also be found on my website, which sadly, has not been updated in quite awhile *winks*  www.adrianpastelportraits.com

10. Last and final – this is a great opportunity to share your 3+ most special pieces and tell a bit more about them.

Jami Swimming II, pastel.

Childhood, pastel on Wallis White sanded

The Life of an Artist, pastel on Wallis Belgian Mist

Scooby, pastel on UART 400 grit.

Interview With Color Pencil Artist - Barbie Spitzmüller

Hungarian artist Barbie Spitzmüller

1. Tell us a bit about yourself – who are you, where are you from?
Hi I'm Barbie Spitzmüller, an artist from Hungary. 
I love to draw realistic pics, I want to become better and better. This year I'd like to start tattooing, hoping I'll be good at it.

"This year I'd like to start tattooing..."

2. What got you interested in color pencils? Have you taken any art classes?

I always used colored pencils, easy to use and you can make great drawings with them. 

I never studied art in school, I just drew at home and had fun. I can't draw when there are many people around me and there is noise - everything gets disturbing. It's much better to draw at home, you can stop if you are tired or whatever. 

3. You have a plane ticket to go anywhere in the world to paint - where will you go?

Well my dream is America, to live there but also to continue my art and also tattooing. 

So I'd like to go to Florida, or somewhere else but it'd have to be a hot place because I hate the cold! 

"I'd like to go to Florida..."

4. What are the tool that you just cannot live without?

It's hard to draw what I like beside school, it's sad but true, I couldn't live without my pencils and every other tool I got over the years. 

5. Where/How do you gather inspiration for your works?

Most of the times I see good pictures on the Internet, and I just want to draw them. I have a lot of pictures saved on my computer. 

6. Do you have a favorite artist/s? If yes, what draws you to that person’s work?

I have a lot of favorites: Pixie Cold, Marcello Barenghi and Heather Rooney. 

I like a lot of tattoo artists too, but my favorite is Zsófia Bélteczky, a Hungarian tattoo artist and one day I want a tattoo by her, um... a lot of tattoos. 

"...my favorite is Zsófia Bélteczky, a Hungarian tattoo artist."

7. Ever had a commission that was really memorable or special to you?

I have commissions, but they aren't special, I just draw what people want and it's not a big thing to me. I hope one day people will buy my drawings. 

What I actually like to draw is sweets, animals and some portraits. 

"I hope one day people will buy my drawings."

8. Is there a ritual that gets you "in the zone" for painting/drawing?

No there isn't any, if I have time and energy I draw. I listen to music and that's it, nothing special. 

9. Where else can we find you in Social Medias?

Well I have a Facebook fan-page which I actually use the most. I'm on DeviantArt too and I have a YouTube channel, but I can't edit my videos so I don't really upload tutorials:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/barbieartwork

YouTube: Barbie Spitzmüller
DeviantArt: www.barbiespitzmuller.deviantart.com

Instagram: @BARBIESPITZMULLER

10. Last and final – this is a great opportunity to share your 3 most special pieces.

Interview With Watercolor Artist - Annemette Falck Fleron

Danish artist Annemette Falck Fleron

1. Tell us a bit about yourself – who are you, where are you from?

My name is Annemette Falck Fleron. I am 24 years of age, born in 1990, in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

In real life I'm a registered nurse working with leukemia patients. I love my job as it gives me something special – something I can't define. But more than being a nurse, I'm an artist. 

I've always been a creative kid but it wasn't until I was 18 that I truly began to draw and paint. I am the kind of person who dances to the music in my headphones at the bus stop, who speaks before really thinking it through and who believes there’s something good in everybody. 

2. What got you interested in watercolors? Have you taken any art classes?

I have never taking any lessons in drawing or gone to art school. Not beside the very basic classes in primary school anyway. 

I am a very varied artist as in so far as what media I use, but it is true that I do have a certain weakness when it comes to watercolors. I don't really know why. They are fun to work with. I love sitting there and trying to manipulate the colors with water and with each other. And they are happy – in my eyes. 

I had a depression once, a quite severe one, and in that period all I ever did was in pencil. And I enjoy using pencil. But when I got out on the other side of my depression I needed to see some colors. So I began using watercolors.

" I do have a certain weakness when it comes to watercolors."

3. You have a plane ticket to go anywhere in the world to paint—where will you go?

Okay... Phew. Anywhere in the world? I have three places I'd go. 

The mountains in Nepal, in a village. The colors, the life, the culture. Oh I SO want to do that one day. 

Central Park in New York, USA. The city life, the people, the modern life in one big hurried stream.

Or the beach in Bali. Just because that is somewhere I'd always wanted to go.

4. What’s the one thing you can't live without, and why?

If the first - my family. There is no question about it. 

I have grown up in what essentially becomes the picture perfect family. My family is a lot of things but perfect is not one of them. But I have never questioned if they loved me or not, I've always known they did. I wouldn't ever want to be without them.

If we are talking material things, I'm not as sure. My art things are high on the list of things I'd find it difficult to live without. 
But then again, so is my books (I am quite the avid reader). Or my Mac because it keeps me connected to the outside world. So I don't know. But it would kill me slowly to go without my things to be creative, that’s for sure.

5. Where/How do you gather inspiration for your works?
Everywhere. In the things people say, the things they do. 
But mostly I get my inspiration by spending stupidly many hours on the Internet. Looking at pictures of ANYTHING, EVERYTHING. 
People, houses, flowers, colors, cats, other people’s art work, you name it.

6. Do you have a favorite artist/s? If yes, what draws you to that person’s work?
Confession time - I don't know. I love the way Claude Monet uses his colors. That has always awed me. And I love the Danish Skagen Painters. But that might be because those paintings reminds me of home. Of love. 
As far as modern or current artists go, I don't know. Gosh... kind of makes me a sucky fellow artist, huh?  I have some huge respect for Ester Roi, how she can draw with her color pencils. And if we are talking pencil portraits I'm a big fan of Ileana Hunter and her minimalism impression. But I'm not sure I really and truly have a favorite artist.

"I have some huge respect for Ester Roi... I'm a big fan of Ileana Hunter..."

7. Ever had a commission that was really memorable or special to you?
No. I don't do that many commissions because I've always found it extremely difficult to put a pricetag on my work, and also my insecurities about my work goes through the roof every time I do one. 
What is too much? What is too little? Do they even like it? Oh my God, what if they don't like it? Does it have to hang in their living room? Thoughts like that. But the older I get, the more confident I get in myself and my art, so who knows? 

Maybe someday I will have a really memorable one. My sister asked me for an eye drawing, but we never came around to discussing the colors she wanted. But that evening I did the one called ‘Purple rain’, in the image of what I know she likes. So that one is special to me, but it wasn't a commission. 

"But the older I get, the more confident I get in myself and my art..."

 8. Where else can we find you in Social Medias?

Instagram: @Art_FalckFleron

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArtbyFalckFleron

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/afalckfleron

9. Is there a ritual that gets you "in the zone" for painting/drawing?
Not really no. I just plunk my ass down and start drawing. 
BUT while I am drawing I usually listen to audio books. My favorite to listen to is my Harry Potter books. They always get me in the mood to draw. Is that a ritual? I guess it is.


10. Last and final – this is a great opportunity to share your 3 most special pieces and tell a bit more about them.
Phew, okay here goes. My three personal favorite drawings I've ever made:

PURPLE RAIN - Made this in the image of my sister and her favorite colors. It’s made from love and it means something special to me.

BEAUTY FROM PAIN - This is a portrait I spend quite some time on and ended up spilling coca cola all over just after finishing. So then I had to think quickly and in a panic I added the color splashes. However it ended up being one of my favorite drawings because even from chaos comes beauty.

ODDITIES - I got hooked on using markers as well, and for some reasons I cannot put into words, this portrait is my favorite I've done with them. It just speaks to me.