A painting might be said to be "harmonious" when all of its various elements are pleasing to our sensibilities; and this is usually achieved by a certain order and equilibrium being manifested and recognized as pleasing to the eye. It is as if all the elements of the work -the colors, the forms, the lines- all come together to create a single, unified whole.

Achieving this effect can be better achieved if one doesn't bother with superfluous details. This is because superfluous details can distract attention from the essential elements of a painting and thus disturb that element of equilibrium which is so pleasing to the eyes.

However, the Quest for Harmony shouldn't necessarily totally dominate one's work. After all, the world itself is not entirely harmonious !

One should not be overly concerned with intellectual questions, when painting. Rather, one should try to access one's subconscious, spontaneous nature, and avoid rational judgments. One can never go wrong following one's intuition.

After all, the ultimate goal of painting is not to be subservient to exterior rules, but to get in touch with one's own inner self, to paint according to one's own inner voice, not by the application of theories.

While centered compositions sometimes appear awkward in photographs, more freedom is possible in paintings.

For instance, a very centered composition might, by its symmetry, convey a sense of power, or hieratic quality, or naïvety. In a sense, a very centered composition is posing questions.

Moreover, in a painting, other elements may be added to that of the composition in order to enhance the impact of the work, such as the nature or the texture of the medium, the "touch", the "magnetic" quality of the colors, the very presence of the sensibility of the artist.

Everything is founded on observation.

And, as far as observation is concerned, everything is potentially "grist for your mill" and can be used to your advantage.

For instance:

(1)	"Go beyond" yourself as much as you can: take in exhibitions, visit museums, read art journals, meet artists -if at all possible in their own studios. Don't limit yourself to a specific medium, but try to take in all kinds of workshops or shows. All artistic media are interesting in that they all stimulate our artistic view: sculpture, engraving, mosaic, painting, metal casting, etc.
(2)	Carry a sketchbook with you when you travel or walk about, so that you can record in it whatever you see, as if it were a kind of visual diary. Try to observe and record everything around you as much as you can, and do it actively whenever possible: for example, if your walk through the countryside, draw the trees you see, or whatever.

It is very good to start from a model, regardless of whether it is a reproduction or a live one. This works like a support that helps a tree grow.

Combining the use of both a reproduction and a live model can only be advantageous, given the multiplicity of the points of view provided. Everything is potentially useful when "collecting nectar" to make your honey!

To start with, it might be helpful to look at the history of the use of this technique in pastel over the centuries.

Just to explain this curious term a bit, the word "stump" comes from the French "estompe", and a "stump" is a tool which looks rather like a crayon, but is made of rather coarse gray paper, tightly rolled in alternately diagonal patterns. This tool is used to "stump" the work, i.e., to "tease" its contours and shades and to blend together the various tones of the pastel on whatever medium is used. Personally, I never use a stump, but rather prefer to blend and/or blur the colors with my finger.

Since "stumping", either with the finger or with the stump itself (which is not recommended), entails a blending of the colors together in order to achieve attractive soft, vaporous or opaque effects, it can be an easy way to blend tonalities and get an attractive "artistic fuzziness".

As a result, the beginner sometimes feels the need to use it in order to hide imperfections.

However, I think that stumping destroys the radiance of the pastel pigment, which is one of its most desirable qualities. After all, the pastel stick is almost pure pigment -which is a rather rare thing in painting. In pastel, the "raw" pigment is laid down without artifice on the paper and works like an explosion of light.

Below are the advantages and disadvantages which I would associate with the use of the "stumping" technique:

You can test these considerations by drawing two identical paintings, then stumping the one and not using this technique on the other. Then carefully note the differences between the two. You can also try both techniques within the same painting.

Remember that pastel painting offers a nearly infinite variety of textures: the individual strokes themselves can be thin or thick, straight, curved, sinuous, or short, long, zigzagged, striped, in dotted lines, or hatched ones, moistened, or stained, in flat tints, etc.. There is really no limit!