Judy Drew, Soft Pastel Artist
I feel really blessed to get in contact with so many wonderful people through the passion for pastel and art that we all share! In my personal quest looking for soft pastel art and pastel artists I found the work of an Australian painter, which captivated me immediately…
I contacted Judy Drew and asked her to try Mamut soft pastels in a free pastel painting work… And her response was so fast as kind. Glad to share with you the result and, what is very dear to me, her personal impressions about the Mamut pastels. You can see more of her work and follow her on her Instagram; @judyldrew
“Portrait in Autumn tones”, 55x44cm, Soft Pastel ©photo by Judy Drew.
“Some time ago I was very kindly sent a beautiful set of handmade pastels made by Alain who established Mamut Pastels. I was very impressed by not only the beautifully crafted wooden box they came in but also the quality of the pastel. The pastels are quite broad and felt nice and heavy in the hand. I liked the subtle variations in colour. The pale yellow/green colour of dried hay through to a deep rich tan and dark rich brown have obviously been very sensitively considered.
The pastels create great opaque coverage and have a luscious quality. Their broad shape would allow for excellent coverage when doing a large work. I noticed too that when sprayed with fixative (and I used a black sandpaper) that the colour did not dim much at all. This is a real bonus.
When I read about Alains philosophy of always searching for the beauty found in the work/craft of the artisan, I was very moved and it shows a passion for maintaining and supporting those skills which are sadly fading.
This work below, “Portrait in Autumn tones” (55 x 44 cm) is done on black colourfix paper (sandpaper). For fine detail and where necessary I used a hard pastel.
Thank you Alain for the opportunity of trying your beautifully crafted pastels. “
Judy Drew
Mamut Pastel set used by Judy on her Pastel painting, “Portrait in Autumn tones”
Judy Drew Bio
JUDY DREW WAS BORN IN 1951 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA. AFTER STUDYING GRAPHIC ART IN MELBOURNE, SHE WORKED IN GRAPHIC DESIGN BEFORE MOVING TO BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND, THE NORTH SOLOMONS WHERE SHE LIVED FOR NINE YEARS. HER OIL PAINTINGS, PASTELS, SKETCHES AND WATERCOLOURS OF THE LOCAL PEOPLE ESTABLISHED HER REPUTATION AS A FINE ARTIST.
HER EXPERIMENTATION WITH PASTEL CONTINUED ON HER RETURN TO AUSTRALIA AND OVER THE PAST THIRTY YEARS SHE HAS PRODUCED BOTH FIGURATIVE AND STILL LIFE WORKS. ALTHOUGH A TRADITIONAL ARTIST, HER GROWING INTEREST IN THE INFLUENCE OF JAPANESE ART ON THE POST IMPRESSIONISTS LEAD TO A GRADUAL CHANGE IN STYLE. HER PASTELS SHOWED A MORE SIMPLIFIED USE OF COLOUR AND SHAPE - CREATING WORKS WITH A MORE CONTEMPORARY EDGE.
DREWS WORKS GLOW WITH AN INTENSITY OF COLOUR RARELY SEEN IN PASTELS.
