Jody Depew McLeane

My pastel drawings are derived from actual as well as created situations in which I try to interpret my response to the events I witness. Whether the subject matter is interior scenes, theater or architecture, each drawing has an exquisite sense of light with a heightened color palette. I work from sketches and slides for reference. This body of work features elaborate still life settings in the Old Master tradition as well as fabricated interiors. The pastel I use is comprised of pure powdered pigment combined with a small amount of binder. They are not oil. Crumbling the pastel in my left palm, I use my hand as a palette, scooping the pigment with my right thumb to apply it to the pastel paper. This technique gives the work a painterly quality. Because the pigment is airborne due to its crumbling, I wear a respirator while working in the studio. When the drawing is completed I steam it to fix the pastel, rather than spraying it with a fixative.

Jody dePew McLeanes' pastels are derived from actual situations. Whether the subject matter is interior scenes, theater, travel, or architecture, each drawing has an exquisite sense of light with a heightened color palette. She works from sketches and slides for reference. This body of work features elaborate still life settings in the Old Master tradition. Pure powdered pigment combined with a small amount of binder is pushed with her right thumb directly to the pastel paper for a painterly quality. Each piece is affixed with steam, rather than fixative. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the Pastel Painters Solution Book as well as The Best of Pastel II. Jody dePew McLeane was elected as a Master Pastelist in 1984 by the Pastel Society of America.

My pastel drawings are figurative works from actual situations. They are drawings in which I try to interpret my response to the events I witness. The subject matter for the majority of my work is derived from many visits to tech rehearsals as well as back stage areas of the theater. The final drawings are executed by me in the studio from sketches, as well as slides I take for referencing the gesture of the figure. I do not use models. The color palette and lighting are often heightened to a theatrical level, illuminating the mood of the figure. The pastel I use is comprised of pure powered pigment combined with a small amount of binder. They are not oil. Crumbling the pastel in my left palm, I use my hand as a palette scooping the pigment with my right thumb to apply it to the pastel paper. This technique gives the work a painterly quality. Because the pigment is airborne, due to its crumbling, I wear a respirator while working in the studio. When the drawing is completed I steam it to fix the pastel as opposed to spraying it with fixative.