Kurt Wenner spent years early on in his career, learning how to draw in Italy. During that time, he came to understand just how fundamental drawing is to all the visual arts. Realizing it had been used for centuries to communicate new ideas across all fields, he came to view drawing as a “visual arts language.”

Many think you need inborn talent to draw, but Wenner’s work demonstrates it can be learned along the lines of music or a spoken language. He has spent decades successfully teaching it as such and received the Kennedy Center Medallion for his work.

After mastering drawing, he explored historical art materials. Using ancient recipes and enduring a lot of trial and error, he landed on a formula for a beautiful palette of colored pastels. Now, three decades later, he continues to make his pastels by hand as he finds them far superior to commercial ones.

Wenner transforms his drawings using his handmade pastels into full-color works of art. This gallery will give you a chance to explore this side of his creative process.