"We are delighted to be able to bring out the Lisa Ober Portrait set, which is a beautiful mix of colours. Lisa's work is extraordinary, and shows what can be done with the medium of pastel. It has been a wonderful process collaborating with Lisa, and we hope that you enjoy using the set as much as we have in creating it."
​Dan Hersey, Unison Colour

IT'S HERE!
​I am so excited I finally share my excitement about the Unison Colour Lisa Ober 18 Portrait Set!

It took months and a hunt through a huge number of colorful Unison pastels to arrive at the final set of 18 outstanding portrait colors...and I am thrilled with the final collection. I wanted the set to contain the colors I use most often in my own work, colors that will be the most helpful to seasoned professionals as well as aspiring artists.

This set contains the foundational colors portrait artists can incorporate into their own sets to create realistic and accurate skin tones, and is the perfect set for someone just starting their portrait-painting journey.

• Excellent first-layer colors for establishing middle values and overall skin tone
• Great dark colors for deep shadows, good contrast, and hair
• Perfect highlight colors for glowing skin and hair highlights
• Lovely additional colors to help you shift color temperature, add reflective color, and fine tune for a variety of skin shades
• Rich colors for believable mouths

​The quality of Unison Colour Pastels is unsurpassed. Handmade in Northumberland, UK, these sticks of nearly pure color have been a staple in my pastel set for many years. Their attention to quality and detail is why they are loved and used by so many professional artists worldwide. Each pastel is rich in color so it can be layered many times, soft and blendable, and works well with other pastel brands. I am grateful for the privilege of working with the team at Unison and proud to be associated with this fine company.

Own this set?
Please let me know what you think about the LISA OBER 18 Portrait Set! I'd love to see how you use these pastels in your own work or hear about your favorite colors.

​My talented friend Gail Sibley has a wonderful blog called How To Pastel. She asked if I would join her as a guest blogger and I was thrilled. Her site contains a wealth of information about painting with pastels. Please check it out at Howtopastel.com.
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​Here is a little excerpt of the article followed by a link to the rest of it.

Portrait of an Artist - Lisa Ober

I build and work my business in much the same way I build a portrait, from rough sketch to completion. Like most artists, my days aren’t entirely filled with painting but rather with other business-related tasks like planning, computer tasks, client meetings, networking opportunities, and sometimes teaching workshops.
Decades ago as a young person dreaming of having a career doing something I loved, I never would have guessed I would wear so many hats: artist, mentor, workshop teacher, gallery owner, marketer, sales person, social media court jester (not queen), graphic designer, web designer, photo editor, and computer tech. And I’m leaving out attention to spouse and kids, friends and family, and most of the gallery work I do because if I included those responsibilities I’d have to write a book instead of a blog post.
Join me as I “paint” a portrait of this artist. You may learn a little about how I paint (if you look at the progress shots of the little girl’s portrait at each stage), and you might just see yourself in the word-painting I create of myself. Click HERE to read more at the website, How to Pastel.

​Let me know what you think!

As a workshop teacher, the biggest problem I have had is getting my pastels to my workshop location without breaking my back or limiting what I can bring with me.  I have an excellent and HUGE pastel box made of solid wood and it's gorgeous.  But for teaching on the road, it weighs a ton and is a killer to haul up steps or for long distances.  Further, many of my students come to class with few supplies or with limited color choices.  With pastel, that can be frustrating so I often share my pastels.  Because of that, I like to take most of my collection with me.  For a few years I was limited to driving to my workshop events because of the sheer number of pastels I bring.  I like driving but sometimes it's just so much more practical to fly.  HOW DO YOU FLY WITH PASTELS?  I know some artists do it but they always have a limited set of pastels and horror stories to go with their travel stories.  I like sharing with students and I think it's important to introduce different brands so I bring as many pastels as I can with me.  

I got to thinking, would there be any way I could ship my pastels ahead of me to a workshop?  The answer is YES!   The photo below is a large chunk of what I take to workshops.  Note each box contains basically one hue arranged by value.  These boxes have lids that I fasten with strong large rubber bands.  I then put all the boxes in one or two shipping boxes and send my little friends (insured) to my workshop location a day or two in advance of my arrival.  NO BREAKAGE!  NO PROBLEMS!  Sure, there are things that could go wrong, but at least it offers me the option of flying and still having a nice collection of pastels to share.

Pros:
Lightweight
Inexpensive
Great pastel protection
Easy to ship (inside another box with some bubble wrap)
Easy to make
One could fit in a suitcase or checked baggage
Stackable and packable

So, here is what I did:

MATERIALS:

Kitchen scissors
Marker
Large strong rubber bands-I got mine at The Container Store in town
Premium Gift Boxes-I purchased high quality boxes from The Container Store, the 15 X 9.5 X 2(h) premium white gift boxes.   These are surprisingly rugged boxes (haven't had to replace one yet).  They have a glossy finish and are reasonably priced at $4.99 each.  They come in other sizes and colors as well.
1" Memory Foam Mattress Topper-This was a bit difficult to find but I ended up lucking out at Overstock.com  and found a 1-Inch Antimicrobial Memory Foam Mattress Topper for $39.00.  I got the Twin XL size and I believe I was able to complete 10 boxes with one topper.

1.  I unwrapped my mattress topper and left it out overnight.  They come tightly packed so you have to let them expand for a few hours before attempting to cut them to size.

2.  I placed one of the boxes at the corner of the mattress topper and traced the edges I needed to cut using the marker.

3.  I cut the foam to size, (2) two pieces for each box.  The foam cuts like butter with kitchen scissors.  I was amazed.  See the photo below which has a piece of foam on the bottom half of the box.

4.  With foam on the bottom you can then begin placing your pastels on top of the foam.  When you're finished, place a second piece of foam on the top and rubber band together!  You'll notice there is just enough room to close the box so it's important to use the rubber bands to make sure the lid stays on.  When I ship I put 4 rubber bands on each box, two horizontally and two vertically just to be safe.

5.  I labeled my boxes by hue.  I recommend labeling of some kind so you don't have to open the box to figure out what's in it!

6.  This kind of storage system is easy to work out of so I just plop the boxes on a table at home.  They are really easy to store.  They would also be great for small quantities of pastels.  Maybe you only need one for that plein air paint out!  Each box holds about 80 Unison sized pastels.  Isn't that amazing?

Let me know if you try this!  I'd love to hear from you.  This way of packing has saved more grief than I can put into words.  I hope it works for you too!