The artist Rita Kirkman has been using pastel since she was 11 years old, and has made her career as an artist since she was 19. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1988. In 1986 she began a 12 year career sketching quick (human) portraits at amusement parks. Since 2003, Kirkman has improved her own style and technique with pastel through independent study and workshops with several renown pastelists. This effort is consistently rewarded with major awards in national and international competitions. Her work has been published in The Artist Magazine, The Pastel Journal, Southwest A...