Preface

Beginning when we were toddlers, almost daily our parents would give my brothers (Bruce L. & Brent M.) and me, reams of paper upon which to draw. The three of us are stair-steps, so, of course, we would simultaneously teach each other our meager skills as they developed. Whether that constitutes us as being self-taught artists is up for debate, but, because of our daily practice sessions, drawing was never really that much of a problem for us way back then. Now, may be a different story, though.

However, at the time, our parents (Earl K. Jones & Lonnette T. Jones) supplied us with a steady stream of drawing materials. Being so early in our lives, our art-based attention was focused so much so that when coloring tools were later introduced, our drawing skills had a great head start. As a result, knowing what to confidently color people, places and things began to be challenging for us.

Like most of you who are reading this eBook, my teenage years included self-imposed art projects. This caused me to become more skilled merely by practicing regularly. After I grew into adulthood, I abandoned even the thought of art and got settled on a career with a “real job.” Then it happened, the art bug bit me and my attention was turned to art again. Art is not like riding a bicycle, for once you stop and let too much time lapse, you will notice that your so-called talent no longer comes naturally for now you have to work at it. When that happened to me, I picked pastel portrait painting as a discipline, and treated this "hobby" as a curiosity. That is, I began to wonder how things were accomplished, much like someone would want to know how magic tricks are performed and executed, despite the fact that they have no interest in becoming magicians. The drawing part for me was still relatively easy, but the coloring magic trick still haunted me.

I scratched my curiosity itch with book readings, watching "how-to" TV shows & viewing "how-to" videos, talking to shopping mall and street artists, and having "happy accidents" with my painting experiments. These all jelled and formed the knowledge database out of which these pages were crafted just for you.


I Wish I Had Known This When I Was A Teenager


All in all, it took me in the neighborhood of thirty years to piece together just the little bit of information I reveal to you, here. Obviously, going to art school would have reduced that learning curve time considerably, but since I did not take that route, then finding out the hard way was just about my only option. During my youth, I had never heard of such things as art workshops, local art leagues or art magazines, and my parents did not wish for me to waste money on any correspondence art courses. So, what I wound up doing many, many years later was visiting libraries and art stores, and the like. Even so, and even with all the material there, nowhere had I seen flesh tone information all in one place. I could not even find any mention as to any sort of flesh tone formula, despite the fact that I knew there must be such a thing.


So that other curiosity seekers will not have to labor so hard for solutions, I present the following pages. On these pages, I reveal some fascinating methods I have run across, from simple quickies to more complex and elaborate routines. Like I said, I wish I had known this when I was a teenager.


I subtitled this eBook, Book I – A Thousand Words: Your Definitive Source of Answers because it is an art book with no pictures. And, since “a picture is worth a thousand words” and this eBook has no pictures, then “a thousand words” will have to be substituted for the non-picture aspect of the eBook. Hopefully, this art book with no pictures will be referred to again and again by its readers. With this work there is sufficient information the reader can utilize to master the craft of pastel portrait painting. However, realizing that there may be those readers who require more, I created a website, which may showcase step-by-step artistic examples from its subscribers/readers --- in other words, an art book/website with pictures. But, this sister eBook/website will be unique because it will showcase pictures and step-by-step actual pastel paintings by YOU, the interactive reader. Hopefully, my future eBook, Book II – Your Definitive Source of Answers Fully Illustrated, or my website ...

https://www.pastelportraitsecrets.com

will be likewise referred to again and again by YOU its loyal audience.


My motive for writing it is not entirely altruistic, for I started writing it mainly after I learned about an online program that shows one how to earn a living online by creating a website where you explain what it is you know, for everybody knows something about something. For years I had made many meager attempts at writing an art book on my discoveries, however, my being introduced to this program was exactly the motivation I needed to get started in earnest.


I wrote the eBook you are now reading, lightning fast, writing one section at a time, because I already knew the material well. To discover how I did it, and for you to do the same, yourself, in what you know how to do, just review my webpage called Smiling Feels Good .

"Why am I not selling this eBook to you instead of giving it away online," you wonder? Well, originally, that was indeed my intention when I wrote this eBook in August, 2002. However, when I recalled how hard it was for me to gather all of this information, I felt heartache at the thought of others going through the same trouble. So, I decided that anyone who desires the information should have it for free.


If, however, you feel the information freely given has value and merit, and that it saves you time and energy (and of course, all that would-be "trial and error"), then I would not object to free-will donations from you. Towards that end, I created a donations page for that purpose.

Voluntary Gift Donations

The information in this lo-n-n-g preface is all fine, well and good, however, I am sure you are anxious to get to the real reason you came to this website; for you want to get to what you feel is the good stuff.

NEXT: Introduction to Pastel Portrait Secrets eBook