Dan Michael

 I started painting full-time in January 2008, after spending 25 years as a graphic designer. Painting has allowed me to get back to creating directly with my hands, rather than through a mouse and key board. However, the years of working on a computer seem to have influenced the way I now apply pastel to paper. Beginning a painting with broad strokes of local color, I then cover this layer with numerous scumbled small marks which refine both the color and shapes. At a distance the paintings are representational, but upon closer inspection, objects disappear into overlapping specks of pigment, much the same way pixels form digital image.

The majority of my work is produced on-site at locations near my home in Mechanicsville, Virginia. I believe that familiarity with the subject matter produces a better painting. Also, since I walk to most of these places, if the weather turns bad, I can get out of the rain before all the pastel washes off the paper. I typically work for two-three hours on location, and then finish them up in the studio. I've found pastels to be the ideal medium for this process, allowing me to work for five minutes or five hours without the concerns of drying time or cleanup. Since most of my paintings are done on location, they are small for ease in transporting to and from the studio. but they are not studies for larger works, they are finished paintings.

I have recently become a juried member of the Degas Pastel Society, and a member of the Pastel Society of New Mexico.