Max Mallie's Blog: Richeson Pastel Silver Award Winner

In his prizewinning pastel, Chloe, winner of the Richeson Pastel Silver Award in the 17th Annual Pastel 100 competition, Chatanooga, Tenn., artist Daud Akhriev has painted a portrait that captures not only the likeness of a young woman, but the luminous beauty of afternoon light. Feature writer Tamera Lenz Muente writes: “A young woman stands against a minimal, pale backgound. A gentle breeze coming from the left blows strands of amber hair toward her chin. She gazes boldly out from beneath a blue sun hat that casts a shadow across her eyes. Sunlight streams through the holes in the brim, creating bright spots on her face. The position of the shadow and these points of light indicate that the sun is radiating from almost directly overhead. Light glints off her silver necklace and cross pendant, as well as her full bottom lip. You could also say that the artist’s subject is light: We can almost feel the heat of the sun. We nearly squint at its intensity.”

You can read more about the prizewinning artist and the other Pastel 100 award-winners in the April 2016 issue of Pastel Journal, on sale here.