Nanci King Mertz

Painting Structures
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November 2 - 4, 2022
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Nancie King Mertz, a master pastelist, conducted our workshop from Nov. 2-4.  Twelve participants were mostly from the Tucson area, but a few came from New Mexico and Delaware.  Nancie has awards, honors, and recognition all over the United States as well as Europe, and we were honored to have her share some of her expertise with us.  Each day she completed a demonstration painting in under three hours that was radiantly gorgeous. 
 
Urban settings are her specialty, and she shared tips on how to paint city scenes, buildings, and steps.  She talked about sight line and how that makes a scene readable using vanishing points.  She used Richeson pastels and mounted UArt paper.   Her underpainting consisted of dark values, and she set those values with denatured alcohol and a fan brush using vertical strokes.  Next, she painted lights over darks and did not fuss over any details.  Also, she used the side of her pastel stick like a brush.  When she neared the completion of a painting, then the details were made with hard pastels.
 
A big thank you goes to Donna Lynch for bringing us this fascinating and gifted artist from Chicago.  Many beautiful paintings were produced by all.

                                                                                    by Ellen Cholski