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Pastel Podcast Episode 17: Daniel Keys

From Paint Kit to Portrait Society: Daniel Keys on Self-Taught Mastery and Mentorship with Richard Schmid

What does it take to go from an 11-year-old with a birthday-money paint set to winning the Portrait Society of America’s Draper Grand Prize, the PleinAir Salon Grand Prize, and covers on seven major art magazines? For pastel and oil painter Daniel Keys, it took total self-motivation, a magazine cover at 22 that changed everything, and a decade of quietly studying at the elbow of the legendary Richard Schmid. In this episode, hosts Kari Stober and Lisa Skelly sit down with Daniel to talk about growing up home-educated, how visual “chord mixing” in pastel changed the way he paints in oil, and why he now prefers pastel for portraits.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How being home-educated let Daniel specialize in art years earlier than a traditional school path would allow
  • Why he calls himself self-taught even though he later studied one-on-one with Richard Schmid
  • The magazine cover at age 22 that became his “big break” into the art world
  • What it was really like watching Schmid mix paint and handle a brush for the first time
  • How pastel’s “visual mixing” — layering broken color rather than blending on a palette — has changed the way he now approaches oil
  • Why he’s come to prefer pastel over oil specifically for portrait work
  • His teaching philosophy: why drawing and values (not composition) are almost always a student’s biggest gap
  • Details on his recent painting trip through Yorkshire, England, chasing 500-year-old thatched-roof cottages
  • His upcoming pastel workshop in Tucson and a fall exhibition of his England paintings

Timestamps

  • 0:00 – Welcome & host updates (Kari’s 21st annual Just Plein Fun, a gifted stash of pastels and Kitty Wallace paper)
  • 2:10 – Introducing Daniel Keys: Draper Grand Prize, IAPS and Pastel Society of America awards, and the 2025 PleinAir Salon Grand Prize
  • 5:33 – Daniel’s recent painting trip to Yorkshire, England, and hunting down thatched-roof cottages
  • 25:51 – Growing up home-educated and self-taught: the real advantage of early specialization
  • 31:01 – How Daniel came to study with Richard Schmid despite calling himself self-taught
  • 35:15 – The moment that changed everything: watching Schmid mix paint and paint with total confidence
  • 37:17 – The magazine cover at 22 that became his “big break”
  • 40:30 – Oil vs. pastel: how visual mixing in pastel reshaped his approach to oil painting
  • 43:59 – Why he now reaches for pastel specifically for portrait commissions
  • 20:02 – Teaching philosophy: why drawing and values matter more than composition
  • 1:00:41 – What’s next: a fall exhibition in Fresno and an upcoming pastel workshop in Tucson

Resources & Links

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Until next time — stay vibrant!

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