Pastel Podcast Episode 19: Sarah Blumenschein
Sarah Blumenschein: From Engineer to Award-Winning Pastel Still Life Painter
Sarah Blumenschein always loved to draw. But when it was time to choose a college major, she picked engineering because it came with a job. Years later, as a mother of young kids, she met a pastel artist at an art festival. That artist told her pastels were the one medium she could set down mid-painting and pick up the next day. That advice started a second career. Today Sarah is known for her vibrant still life and floral paintings, full of glowing light, reflective glass and dramatic shadows. In this episode, hosts Kari Stober and Lisa Skelly talk with Sarah about her path from engineer to Best in Show winner. They cover the techniques behind her work, why she paints so many sunflowers from above, and why steady practice matters more than talent.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- How an engineering career and four kids led Sarah to pastels as her medium
- The “paint pears fifty times” advice from Eric Michaels that taught her the value of practice
- Why she wanted to paint landscapes, and how Albert Handell’s critique pointed her toward still life
- Why she paints on dark gray UArt paper and lets the paper hold the darkest darks
- Her one-layer value block-in that checks the whole painting before adding detail
- How she composes still lifes from photo thumbnails and crops them in Photoshop
- The overhead, bird’s-eye view behind her award-winning sunflower and pumpkin paintings
- Why light and shadow work “like a dance”: a warm light needs a cool shadow
- Why she paints 9x12s, and the challenge of scaling a small painting up
- Her box of fabrics, tablecloths and borrowed glass for building still life setups
- How she handles art competitions, rejection and imposter syndrome, including Richard McKinley’s 24-hour rule
- What she learned as president of the Pastel Society of New Mexico
Timestamps
- 0:00 – Welcome and host updates
- 2:20 – Introducing Sarah Blumenschein and her sunflower demos
- 5:30 – From engineer to pastel artist: the art festival conversation that started it all
- 8:42 – “The fiftieth time you paint pears, it will be way better”
- 10:20 – Drawing as a kid in England, then choosing engineering in college
- 19:12 – Wanting to be a landscape painter, and finding success in still life
- 22:59 – Painting on dark gray UArt paper
- 26:43 – One layer to set values before diving into detail
- 28:10 – Composing with photo thumbnails and Photoshop
- 32:27 – Painting still lifes from above, and the Best in Show pumpkins from a Trader Joe’s box
- 40:43 – Light and shadow as a dance: warm light, cool shadows
- 42:00 – What’s inspiring her now: 9×12 paintings and scaling up
- 53:02 – Competitions, imposter syndrome, and limiting the highs and lows to 24 hours
- 1:07:53 – Sarah’s advice: practice like you’re learning a musical instrument
Resources & Links
- Sarah’s website: https://sarahblumenschein.com/
- Sarah’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blumenscheinsarah/
- IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies): iapspastel.org — find a member society near you
- Lisa Skelly: lisaskellyfineart.com
- The Pastel Podcast: thepastelspodcast.co
- Pastel Today Newsletter: Sponsor of the Pastel Podcast
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Until next time — stay vibrant!
