Aigul Khakimzhanova

The technique of pastel is considered an intermediate technique between watercolor and drawing. This technique possesses properties of transparency, delicacy, and fragility, which were skillfully applied during the Renaissance and Rococo periods by artists such as Chardin, Latour, and Liotard. Later, in the 20th century, artists like E. Degas and O. Redon utilized this technique in their works. Few turn to this technique, considering it to have its own complex barriers of expressiveness. 

But for me, pastel is a special technique where the expressiveness of lines is intensified by the resonance of color. It is no coincidence that this medium became my favorite. Using colored strokes and strokes in the space of the paintings, you can depict air and light. The gentle light of the sky is the light of the human soul. 

‘The gentle light of the sky is the light of the human soul.‘ 
This technique allows for a delicate penetration into the space of the painting, gradually filling it with compositional content, as if sculpting the needed color, light, characters with the touch of a stroke, immersing everything in a unified space of interaction. Undoubtedly, while working on a painting in this technique, you become an observer as the canvas begins to come alive, gradually filling the space across the entire canvas with strokes. 

Characters of the painting start to emerge from the depth of the space, revealing their soul and energetic message to the viewer. I feel that this technique has the potential to convey a magical state, a breath from the depths of cosmic space, erasing temporal boundaries. For me, this technique offers the possibility to connect with the deep states of the soul and the cosmic messages of time or timelessness. 

When I work in this technique, I enter a state of euphoria and happy serenity. Furthermore, I can share interesting facts; I don't know how it happens, perhaps it's no longer under my control, but what is born on my canvas starts to come true and manifest wonderfully in my real life and the lives of people close to me. And perhaps, my immersion in my favorite pastel technique opens up some deep expanses to me.

‘my immersion in my favorite pastel technique opens up some deep expanses to me.‘
I love this technique and believe that with it, one can discover new and new horizons of an amazing journey through the world of art.