Featured artist
J. Howard

J. Howard’ s artistic journey began as a child in Houston, Texas, with an early talent for drawing. A love for authenticity inspires her to make organic based soft pastels from food dyes and earth pigments to apply on natural canvas. She is acclaimed for her vitality of colors, strength of composition, and variety of subject matter. Creating vivid animated characteristics in hyperrealism, her drawings reveal an amazing understanding of storytelling; and often incorporate an image within an image.

I believe that as an artist, I must delve beyond just recognizing the colors present for their inherent qualities but, also incorporate them in such a way that each drawing goes beyond the natural depth of field for a photographic quality. Drawing is the most basic, and perhaps the most instinctive, of all two-dimensional art forms in the process of articulating an idea. I describe drawing as the most unrestrained of all medium and the most direct way of bringing what is in my mind on to the canvas. I can enjoy the sheer spontaneity of drawing. When a pencil drags across a piece of paper or a pastel moves over a piece of canvas, it captures my thoughts and records the slightest movement of my hand. My goal is sensual and rhythmic pastel drawings that possess intricate details through Hyperrealism.

Art is often perceived as a way of detachment from reality, a key to unlocking some hidden meaning in the environment. This is not completely true for art genres like Hyperrealism, where the line between reality and art is practically erased. As a Hyperrealist, the goal is to be a purist in the technique. I strive to take the technique further, developing ways to include a narrative, charm, and emotion into a drawing. I never want to leave it void of personality.

Drawing with organic soft pastels made from natural pigments provides me with such a vast wealth of colorful inspiration. Color is all around us and deep within us. We are inseparable from it and its evidence of God’s character expressed through the talent He has given me. Hyper-realism presents the viewer with visual attention to details. By adding an image-in-image aspect, I strive to tell a story that captures the viewer’s attention in a way that holds their attention to those details.

more. www.organicpastels.com