From the 19–21 October 23, I joined the 4th symposium of the German Pastel Society (Deutsche Pastell Gesellschaft, DPG), in Leipzig, held at the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei (Leipzig Cotton Mill). Three days to immerse ourselves in a world of soft pastels, and contribute to the goals of the DPG, namely to promote the medium soft pastel in the art scene and in the community.
Meeting other pastel enthusiasts from Germany was a very warm experience, I enjoyed a lot. The first day, we started with an interesting exercise proposed by Andreas Royé. For this exercise, we had an hour to paint the same model from a photo. It was cool to see the different styles and interpretations of one motif, and how beautiful all they are. All the different results can be seen in this video:
The next hours and two days we engaged with other participants, observed two demos, exchanged views, tips, materials, techniques, we painted outside, inside, ate together… and, of course, bought more materials from the shop next to the room. There is a big range in motifs, techniques from all participants.
My works during these three days, some of them are still work in progress.
Overall, it was a very nice experience, fulled with the passion for soft pastels and the experience and talent of many engaged artists. A huge thank you to Martina Zingler and Andreas Royé for organizing it and making it possible.
More photos and information, including the biggest and the smallest painting of the symposium, on the website of the DPG Symposium 2023 – Deutsche Pastell Gesellschaft (deutsche-pastell-gesellschaft.de)
