Just today on the Pastel Pointers blog, artist Richard McKinley talked about those images that are almost too dazzling to work as a painting. Fall foliage was one example, and sunsets another. "These spectacular subjects, unless finessed properly, become a postcard," McKinley writes. "To make them work, we need to step back from the high drama of the moment and allow the viewer a little more to anticipate, engaging their imagination in how beautiful the subject matter might become."

It was funny that, minutes after reading this, I came upon this new video demonstration on the PanPastel website with pastel artist (and Pastel Journal contributing writer) Deborah Secor, in which she walks viewers step by step through the painting of a dramatic sunset sky. Not only will you see how Secor uses the pan-format pastels and applicators, but you'll also see a good example of a sunset painting that does work—for exactly the reasons described by McKinley. Secor avoids the danger of an overdone result by carefully composing the painting to offer just a hint of the spectacular color—and leaving some of the drama to our own memories of blazing skies.

There's really no better time of year to turn to the macabre and mystery of Edgar Allan Poe—and even better, some master art works to go along with it.

For those oil pastelists among us who might be looking for a way to earn recognition (and cash!) for their work, check out the All-Media Online Competition, sponsored by our sister title, The Artist's Magazine. Here are the pertinent specs:

PRIZES:
Grand Prize Award: $500
7 First Place Awards: $100 each
The Grand Prize winner and all 7 First Place Winners will receive complimentary subscriptions to The Artist's Magazine and $100 worth of North Light Books.
Honorable Mentions receive complimentary subscriptions to The Artist's Magazine and $50 worth of North Light Books.
Winners will be featured on The Artist's Magazine website along with a list of Honorable Mentions.
All Winners and Honorable Mentions will receive a certificate suitable for framing.

7 CATEGORIES:
Acrylic, Digital Art, Graphite/Charcoal/Colored Pencil, Mixed Media/Collage, Oil/Oil Pastel, Pastel, Watercolor.

DEADLINE:
All entries must be postmarked no later than November 2, 2009.

Find out how you can enter your work by clicking here.

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MORE RESOURCES FOR ARTISTS

* Online Seminars for Fine Artists
* Instantly download fine art magazines, books & video workshops
* Sign up for your Artist's Network email newsletter & receive free fine art tips & demos

If you're a fan of F+W's fine art magazines and books (and I know, already, you're a fan of The Pastel Journal, of course), you're going to want to hear about a new program that just launched. The Very Important Painter (VIP) program is a new membership program that supplies—for an annual fee—access to free content and gifts, as well as regular savings on all the art-inspiring books, magazines and digital materials you might need to support your passion. Here's how it works:

With a one-year paid membership of $49.99, you get your choice of either a one-year subscription to The Artist's Magazine (a newsstand value of $51.90) or any one pick of a North Light art book (a retail value of $32.99)! You'll also receive three months of unlimited access to all the online workshops at artistsnetwork.tv. Finally, as a VIP member, you'll receive 10% off every purchase you make at www.northlightshop.com. This is the online store where you can find, among other things, The Pastel Journal's back issues, annual issue CDs and digital downloads; 144-page books by pastel artists such as Maggie Price, Margot Schulzke and Bob Rohm; and DVDs with pastel artists Deborah Secor and M. Katherine Hurley.

Click here to see the complete program details.

In 2007 they modeled Needs for Sale, a site that offers paintings of specific items that others need—for example, a painting of a fish to benefit City Harvest, a New York organization that "rescues" excess provisions from the food industry and distributes it to community programs.

Now they're back with a new batch of acrylic-on-canvas works, the "As Seen on TV" series. This series includes the—you guessed it—infomercial-influenced ShamWow, the Chia Pet, Snuggie (pictured below), and so on. The set goes up for sale today at noon (EST); check out the site for details.