2026 International Online Show: Renditions
Welcome to the 2026 PSC International Online Show RENDITIONS
PSC Members and Non-Members
Show Co-Chairs are Xenia Sease and Phoebe Kaplan
November 2, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Show will remain online until our next online show posts but sales end January 31, 2027
To purchase a painting in this show: Please contact show co-chair Xenia Sease by email at xjsease@gmail.com. She will connect the prospective buyer with the artist. Sales and delivery of artwork are the responsibility of the artist.
Judge and Juror, Corey Pitkin, PSA-MP, IAPS-EP
A predominantly self-taught artist, Pitkin’s award winning work has been featured in The Pastel Journal, Art Renewal Center, Portrait Society of America, Pratique des Arts Magazine, International Artist Magazine, and Pastel World Magazine, and is held in collections across the globe. He is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America where he also serves on the Board of Governors and has achieved Eminent Pastelist status with the International Association of Pastel Societies. Pitkin teaches frequently online and regularly travels for in-person workshops. He currently resides in upstate New York with his wife Esther and children Anastasia and Xavier.
This year’s show drew 540 submissions from artists nationwide and around the world. From this exceptionally diverse field, renowned master artist Corey Pitkin selected a collection that showcases the breadth, vitality, and individuality of contemporary pastel painting. Look for Corey’s commentary featured below each award-winning piece.
Best of Show
Tony Allain, The Track to Scafell
19.5×25.5, NFS
The true mark of a master painter is to make the rendering of the complex appear effortless. This gorgeously sparse landscape showcases not only the learned hand of the artist but the delicate beauty of the pastel medium. The perilous cool grey stone walkway leads the eye up and along the craggy stones to the valley and ultimately to a small snowdrift blowing off the sharp mountain side, already lost to the wind. The marks that constitute the boulders flanking the path are rendered hard and unforgivingly, echoing the honed profile of the mountain ahead. Small hardscrabble shrubs fight to poke out between the stones and are accentuated by tiny wildflower blossoms that float like musical notes. It is the marks of the snow on the upturned plane of the valley floor that deserve the most attention though, and the artist has cunningly placed them dead center. See how the white mark is placed with a heavy hand at its top edge, giving it mass, but then the mark falls off into the grains of pastel pigment that communicate not just a soft edge but the drift of this snow as it is battered by the winds coming down the mountainside.
First Place
Christopher Copeland, Thawing Creek, Twilight
9×12, NFS
This stunningly painted landscape exudes calm while showcasing a master’s touch. The softness of the treeline is pushed forward by the barely-there profile of the violet mountains behind. That softness then dissolves into the brush and the gentle curve of the creek before the eye encounters a single hard edge. The stark edges of the snowbank along the water set the composition and are gently echoed by a streak of pale violet directly under the distant treeline. Small, delicate pops of warm color lead the eye across tiny details in the bare tree branches, the bend of the creek, and into the shrubs that add sudden energy and movement into the foreground. The sky and its reflection in the still water are treated with tight value control and a myriad of layered colors.The final mark of mastery comes from the dark paper that the artist allowed to still show through in selected spots, specifically in the closest foreground elements, that add an almost impasto effect of true physical depth.
Second Place
Lena Rivo, Woman on a Red Sofa
11×13, NFS
This seated figure contains an amazing amount of movement, replicated in rhythms throughout the painting. The sunbeam that illuminates and frames the figure falls at nearly a 45 degree angle, and you see that same shape echoed again in the angle of the facial features, right-side shoulder, the sofa back, in the cobalt shadow under the right collar, in the hem of the undershirt, in the top of the right hand, and in the cushion of the sofa. Then all of this is counterbalanced by a few carefully selected obtuse angles along the shadow cast by the head, the angle of the left forearm, and the legs – allowing the 45 degree angle to be a dominant design element while tempering it ever so slightly. All of this is complemented by loose and energetic marks and bright, primary color, adding a vintage feel to the composition that complements the fashion of the sitter.
Third Place
Jeff Slemons, Frankie & Annette
18×24, NFS
This day at the beach is rendered like a ticker-tape parade.The simplified design of the background is a counterpoint to the smattering of figures sitting, laying, and kneeling across the sand. Nearly every beach accessory has a pattern to it, from the vinyl folding chairs to the beach towels, from the flamboyant umbrellas to the vibrant swimsuits. All of this is unified by a clamor of brightly colored marks floating through the air, like the music of three different radios playing different stations at once. The overall radiant color palette completes the scene, adding a palpable heat to this bright summer day.
Terry Ludwig Award
Omma Moon, Adrian in Profile (Out of the Blue)
25.5×19 (27.5×20 framed), $2,600
It is the contrasts of technique within this piece that elevate it above a simple portrait sketch.The face is tightly rendered but not overly-drawn, with gentle form turns and sensitive use of color transitions, all while maintaining a tightly controlled value structure. The hair – and even more so the ear – serve as a transitional border, keeping some of the delicacy of the face’s rendering while also adding more energy and liveliness to the mark making that devolves into a scribble of tone at the back of the head. This is then framed by the darks of the scarf, articulated almost in complete monochrome before falling away into the simple, barely-there marks of the jacket.
Honorable Mentions
Douglas James Stewart, Marketplace Deliveries
18×12 (24×18 framed), $900
The patterning, mark-making, chaotic linework, and soft edges that envelop everything but the central design elements create a painting that so effectively captures the effect of a city street you can almost hear the traffic. The hard edges around the primary figure in black ground the piece, giving the viewer a brief respite from all the noise. The blues and pinks are organized strategically to lead the eye diagonally into the painting and adds a great feeling of depth.
Tamara Swindler, Twilight in Cactus Country
9.5×19 (11.5×21 framed), $650
While the brilliant colors of the sunset are what first grabs the viewer, look closer and you’ll see the results of so many good compositional decisions. The violet clouds echo the shape of the pink and gold clouds beneath, which again echo the shape of the cactus treeline and the foreground earth. The value of the treeline is just a step darker than anything surrounding, adding subtle depth and a strong compositional element that is then emphasized by vertical marks and quiet variations in color temperature.
Martine Tulet, Crowded Field
16×16, NFS
This is obviously a painting of a field of sunflowers, however in truth the artist has really only drawn a single flower – the one facing the audience. All of the other, shyer flowers, are a harmony of simple pastel marks hinting at the other blossoms hidden within the greenery. As the field recedes into the distance the values become closer, the temperatures cooler, and the golden marks more and more abstract, until you hit the barely suggested sky and mountain range.
Andrew McDermott, Turning
10.5×16, NFS
Despite being a city scene, there are hardly any actual straight lines in this pastel. Even the background buildings have a subtle curvature, adding to a feeling of anxiety and vertigo as the traffic builds to a line of chaos across the top of the composition. This is further emphasized by the artist using a scraping tool to add flow, texture, and something akin to comic book-style motion lines across the foreground, showcasing the wet concrete reflections that further abstract the design.
Steven Falen, Hiding Place
12×12, $300
This piece may appear representational from a distance, but upon closer inspection breaks down into an abstract cacophony of brilliant mark-making, tight value control, and repeated patterns. The energetic detail of the shrubs, all executed simply and directly, is given a resting point in the simplified design of the boulder that doubles as the center of interest.
Heather Quay, The Last Time I Saw Richard
8.25×8.5 (14.25×14.5 framed), $475
The key to creating a painting with a strong implied narrative is to give your audience enough information to create a story, but not so much that it can’t be their story. The busyness of the back bar draws your eye right to the empty chair, and this emphasis is strengthened by the sightline of the two sitters. All of this leads your eye to the solitary, isolated glass in the foreground, crafting a tale of longing, or remorse, or grief – all depending on the life experience of the person viewing the painting.
Artists’ Choice
Sarah Rose, Aspen Glow
6×8, NFS
A special thank you to Terry Ludwig Pastels for their award sponsorship.