Max Mallie's Blog: A Trip to India

Pastel artist David Napp‘s pastels are adventures in resplendent color and bravura mark-making. We travel along on some of his real-world adventures as he transports us to the bazaars of Marrakesh, the thronged cities of India, the warmth of the Italian countryside, and the cosmopolitan splendors of London and Rome. His views and motifs are chosen carefully and simplified to a compelling clarity. Detail is stripped away, forms are massed and color is built to achieve a transformative vibrancy.

Paintings from a trip to India, for example, highlight ordinary moments in Indian life: a man riding a bicycle, an elephant striding across a roundabout and a group of women walking gracefully in their flowing saris. These works project the intensity and joy of life that captivates so many travelers to India. “You’ll be driving along a road and see people who are living in cardboard tents by the roadside, and they’ll be smiling and waving at you,” says Napp. “They have almost nothing, and yet they’re happy and full of life. They’ll share anything they have with you.”

Learn more about Napp—and how a recent change in working style opened up a whole new style—in the December 2016 issue of Pastel Journal, available in print and as a download—and on newsstands November 8.