Archive for June, 2011

Jean-François Le Saint "Le poisson"

Jean-François Le Saint is french pastelist and The Société des Pastellistes de France named him the Master Pastel Artist. I was lucky enough to get a short interview with Jean-François.
Can you tell us something about your art background?
“I guess I am self taught. I did go to art school, but it was a graphic arts school, we were not actually taught painting techniques. They had us try different media and that is how I first came into contact with pastels and instantly adopted them as my favorite technique.”
I find the portraits of the kids to be extra challenging and yet you make it look so easy. Is there any secret to a good kid portrait?
“Probably painting hundreds of them helps . I can’t say it is easy, but I know that for the result to be good it has to be done without strain. If I encounter difficulties I leave the portrait aside and sometimes pick it up again after some weeks or months have passed. Whatever the subject, if you struggle, it shows in the result and usually it is no good, I think.”
Do you have any favorite old pastelist?
“One of my favorite old pastel artist is Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer. I also often look at the works of Edgar Degas, but I can’t say he is a favorite of mine, although I do like to inspect how he worked.”
Please check the Jean-François Flicker photostream and prepare for the long hours of the pure pastel delight . His work was presented in the french art magazine Pratique des Arts in two separate articles and you can find the soft copy versions on the Flicker as well.