Capture the magic of nature in pastel!

From the first ferns unfurling in spring to the flaming red foliage of fall and the snow-blanketed quiet of winter, master pastel artist and teacher Elizabeth Mowry offers both beginners and seasoned artists alike a fresh approach to creating light-filled landscape paintings. Using her decades of experience and gift for observation, Mowry infuses every page with time-tested pastel techniques to convey the distinctive mood, color and majesty of the natural world. You'll learn to translate the magic of what you see into what you paint through palette selection, use of materials, value and composition, blending your emotional response to nature's beauty with an ever-growing mastery of a pastelist's skill.

Inside you'll find:

• The fundamentals of pastel. Detailed information about selecting materials, plus exercises and explanations of basic techniques for beginners. Additional master tips and secrets will push intermediate to advanced readers in their art.
• 20 step-by-step demonstrations. Capture the exciting ways nature changes and achieve the painterly effects that light up spring, summer, fall and winter landscapes. Plus learn how to artfully render difficult subjects like fog, bodies of water, reflections and clouds.
• How to keep a nature journal. Track the vivid impact of the seasons to add depth to your work and translate seasonal impressions into personal expressions. Learn how Mowry selects subject, color and mood, with additional information on field studies and reference photographs.
• The basics of composition. Learn how to establish a focal point, simplify your subject, portray distance and more to create a beautiful, balanced painting.
• A five-step method for critiquing your own work. Develop your personal style and achieve successful results with this time-proven exercise.