Pastel Tones is dedicated to pastel colors and their visual interaction. The focus is placed on softness, balance, and tonal subtlety, exploring how muted hues shape atmosphere, rhythm, and emotional distance through careful color relationships and controlled composition.

We invite contemporary artworks built around pastel tones or their combinations. Works may be abstract or figurative, digital or traditional, provided pastel colors remain central and defining. We are interested in cohesive palettes, restrained contrasts, and compositions where gentle color decisions determine the overall visual structure.

Prizes

Dates

March 1, 2026 — Applications open
March 25, 2026 — Application deadline
March 28–30, 2026 — Notification of winning artworks

Gold Award

Květinová poezie

Foamiran

An original 3D floral artwork handcrafted from foamiran. This piece is not only a beautiful decorative element but also a work of art that will bring elegance and a unique style to the home.

Certificate

The Fire In Your Eye

Photography

Cooper's Hawks are regular backyard visitors in the Winter months. When I looked out into the yard and saw this bird perched on the back fence I grabbed my camera, already with a long lens attached and crept up to the fence line to shoot this bird right as the light from the setting sun shined between the houses and illuminated its eye. The long lens and short distance to the bird created the beautiful, blown out pastel background seen here.

Certificate

Profile of Anna

Oil

Classic, side profile portrait in soft, muted hues.

Certificate

Cove

Acrylic

The water mirrors this conversation. Silvery blues blend with soft aquamarine and hints of reflected stone, the surface neither fully still nor restless. Gentle brushstrokes blur the boundary between sea and sky so that the horizon feels less like a line and more like a merging—air dissolving into water.

Certificate

Ethereal

Pastel and acrylic gesso on canvas

Ethereal Garden Drift invites viewers into a subtle world where abstract floral shapes gently dissolve into one another, framed by soft pastel tones that evoke a sense of calm and quiet wonder. The piece balances delicacy and movement through a harmonious blend of lavender, pink, yellow, orange, and green hues, each layered thoughtfully to create depth without overwhelming the composition. Fine, flowing lines weave throughout the canvas, suggesting the organic growth and lightness inherent in a natural bouquet, while textured brushstrokes and pencil-like marks add tactile richness. The painting’s open, airy arrangement allows the forms to breathe, capturing a fleeting moment of nature’s grace suspended between abstraction and memory. This work demonstrates a fresh approach to pastel on canvas, lending a contemporary softness that is both inviting and contemplative.

Certificate

Tulle Rainbow

Acrylic on 300LB Hot Press

The delicate, lightweight, sheer and airy netting of this beautiful tulle fabric in the soft pastel colours creates a dreamy, floating, romantic image.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

When Words Aren't Enough

Mixed media

Description

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Field of Flowers

Textured acrylic painting

I wanted to produce a colourful, abstracted field of flowers - as if the viewer is looking out of a window ie: the frame - on the scene. The piece is textured and sanded to produce 'broken' colours and uses muted, yet colourful delicate pastel shades. The vibrant blooms burst with life and colour, inviting the viewer to gaze out onto a joyful, sunlit landscape brimming with natural beauty and a sense of peaceful escape. This artwork will add a pop of colour to any area and brings nature's glory into the interior environment.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Panther Chameleon

Fiber-reactive dyes and resist on silk

Panther Chameleon 18"x24" (Skeleton Hibiscus and Monstera vine) Belying the names, I think of rainbows when I see this adorable lizard, lace when I see these hibiscus flowers, and impressively large leaves on the monstera vine. 29.5" x 36" framed

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Prince Edward Island Sunset

Digital Photography

A land of sweeping coastlines and breathtaking vistas, Prince Edward Island (PEI) is Canada’s smallest province, known as the "Garden of the Gulf" for its lush landscape, red sandstone cliffs, and iconic red soil. Located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, this Maritime province is famous for its beaches, potato farming, and as the birthplace of Canadian Confederation. This photo was taken from the back deck of my summer home on the island.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Riding High

Soft Pastel

18" x 24" This painting is a Montana cowboy in the high country of Jardine (on the north border of Yellowstone National Park). He is participating in the Hells-a-Roarin' Horse drive in Gardiner, Montana which happens every Memorial Day Weekend. An event which includes a huge auction with 100% going to providing "off-road" wheelchairs for disabled veterans.
They drive 150 horses from Gardiner to their summer home up a winding mountain road 8 miles. Mid-way, we all stop for a break for a cool drink and the horses get to roll in the high meadow. My reference photos.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Valley

Painted ABS

Through poetic translation and abstraction, mountains and landscapes become symbols of emotional expression, serving as windows to convey sentiments. Bright sunshine, lush mountains, and azure seas are translated into calming images of travel scenes. From poetic lyricism to abstract interpretation, the space between form and meaning lets one express thoughts and reconnect with old dreams.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Cherry Blossom

Photography/Digital Art

Portrait Photography and Digital Art of an Asian woman in cherry color. Pastel background that I created to enhance the image.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Disney Steel Pastel

Photography

Colors of natural and artificial light bathe over the sleek steel skin of Disney Hall.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Pelican Mountain

Astrophotography

Pelican Mountain evokes a sense of familiar - a mountain landscape - but in reality it's a violent, dynamic, turbulent cosmic stellar nursery located in the Milky Way.
Pelican Mountain, a detailed area of the Pelican Nebula, located in the Cygnus Constellation about 1,800 Light Years from Earth, is printed on metal and is available in two sizes: 30" x 50" and 40" x 70"

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Suspended in Quiet Motion

Fluid acrylic and Ink

A tranquil yet emotionally layered series that explores erosion, movement, and quiet transformation—where softness meets disruption, and abstraction becomes a reflection of both nature and inner landscape.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Morning Brew

Oil Pastel

During an early morning walk in Varanasi, I came across this Chaiwala (Tea vendor) preparing the day's first brew. The warm light, vibrant colors, and atmosphere of the moment inspired this pastel painting.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Emerging Patterns

Fused glass

Tapestry using glass stringers for color and pattern.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Canyon Impressions 2

Watercolor and ink

This is an abstract watercolor and ink composition with a layered washes of warm pink, lavender, pale blue, and dusty rose. Scattered across the surface are ink lines forming loose geometric shapes—triangles, polygons, and angular fragments. The painting is an impression of my experience hiking the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Lemon Tulips

Digital photography

Photo collage with a stylized painting of tulips and lemons

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Sweet Kiss

Pastel

A stack of freshly baked macaroons.

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Estremos

Portugese Marble

23" x 10.5" x 7"

Certificate

Curator’s Choice

Take Me To Where The Wild Things Grow

Acrylic

Take Me To Where The Wild Things Grow is part of the Into The Woods series.
It tells the story and the belief that there is no age for discovery, for curiosity. Having someone to do it with you is nothing more than a miracle.

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