A Review of Mungyo Gallery Handmade Soft Pastels

The Mungyo Gallery Handmade Soft Pastels are a joy with which to paint.  They are very soft lending themselves to a very free creative approach.   And yet as I used them on the UART Sanded Pastel Paper, I found that I also had as much control of the placement of the colors as I could have wished.

The colors are vivid and scrumptious.  There is a wide range of beautiful colors to choose from - 96 colors in all..  The pigments are light fast and fade resistant.  And they blend very nicely.  These pigments lay down clearly and beautifully on the paper.  You will be tempted to try all the colors, as am I.  So it is helpful that the Mungyo Soft Pastels are an affordable price.

These very soft pastels may be blended with a blending stump or if you prefer to be more tactile with your art, your fingers.   Even though the colors blend well, they are also strong enough to layer boldly on top of a previously drawn portion of your painting.   For my example I have created a painting with lots of blending and layering of color.  As you can see the Mungyo Handmade Soft Pastels handled the task well.  I enjoyed working with them and will use them again.  I have already recommended them to some of my pastel loving students.

Here are the supplies I used from Jerry's Artarama for this example:
Mungyo Gallery Handmade Soft Pastels
Creative Mark Paper Blending Stumps 
UART Premium Sanded Pastel Paper 
SpectraFix Non Toxic Pastel Fixative





Wind and Honey Creations
Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessons

The Benefit of Fun

What difference does it make to have fun?  Well, kids could answer that in about 2 seconds.  It makes ALL the difference.  If a lesson plan isn't fun, I've lost the students almost from the beginning.  And that's even true of the adults, too.  Their heart isn't in it and soon their concentration won't be either.  They stumble through the activity with only half the effort.  And the 'less than wonderful' results at the end of the project prove this project was not fun enough.

I know that life isn't all fun and sometimes one must do tasks that are simply necessary and not so pleasant.  But what if we began to look for ways to put more fun into our lives?  If we smiled more, if we laughed more, if we had more fun, wouldn't those unavoidable less fun things be more tolerable?  Doesn't the chocolate pudding at the end of the meal make the brussels sprouts less  unpleasant?

The Fun Theory by Volkswagon is a site dedicated to the idea that simply adding fun to our lives can make a difference for us and for the world around us.  Here is a video of an experiment proving this theory.  When the only way to get from down to up was a flight of stairs and and an escalator, the stairs were a lonely place.  But after a piano keyboard was added to the steps, thereby creating instant fun, the stairs became a much much more popular route.

Wind and Honey Creations

Monday's Potpourri

And for today's Monday's Potpourri, I'd like to introduce GardenDelightsArts. Heidi is a new friend of mine who rescues and raises swallowtail and monarch butterflies. When they are ready, she then releases them to live and fly in freedom. That truly is a garden delight! Heidi is a photographer and a mixed media artists. She also teaches art classes. And I'm delighted to have just discovered that Heidi has box turtles! If you've read my blog before, you know how I love turtles. Here are some of the earrings Heidi makes in her etsy shop. They look like real butterfly wings. But you will be glad to know that no butterfly has been harmed. These are made through a special process that began with a photograph. You'll want to look at the rest of Heidi's shop. There are many fun things there.

butterfly earrings

Next in today's potpourri is a fish shaped cat bed by natdesigns2003. This is one of the funniest things I've seen. This wide mouth fish serves as a snuggly bed as well as a place for playing hide and seek for you favorite feline. It works kind of like the old fashioned brown paper sack. But oh so much cuter! natdesign also designs and makes clothing for dolls and for people.

fish bed

And finally, these embroidered pin cushions by manitobagifts. The pin cushions are so pretty, they will inspire you to sew. They are actually pretty enough to have sitting around even if you never put a pin or needle into them. They would make lovely gifts. Debra has many other items in her shop that are hand crafted and embellished with her hand embroidery or applique work.

pin cushion

http://www.windandhoneycreations.com