(see figure 2)Īlthough pastels can be laid one on top of the other to give a subtle change in colour, they cannot be easily mixed together to form different shades as with other painting mediums.
The harder pastel sticks are long, quite narrow and square in shape. The softer pastel sticks are usually quite chunky and either round or square in shape. You will also need some quite hard ones for painting details. When starting out using pastels, I suggest you choose some that are not too soft, you will find these easier to use. Others are much harder, so hard in fact, they can be sharpened to a very fine edge for painting details. Some soft pastels are extremely soft, very creamy and may crumble easily. Usually the more expensive ones are superior. Pastels, like all painting mediums, come in degrees of quality. Soft pastels: These can be in stick form, as pencils or in tiny plastic containers known as pan pastelsįor the purpose of these articles, we will look solely at the soft pastels that come in stick or pencil form, as they are in my opinion, the easiest to use. In order to mix them on the paper you need a solvent to break down the binding agent Oil pastel: These usually have quite strong vivid colours and a waxy feel to them. There are different types of pastel: oil pastel, soft pastel and hard pastel. They will have more bulking and filling agents therefore they will give a rather matt dull appearance. Cheaper pastels will have artificial colouring and little in the way of pure minerals. Good quality pastels will have little or no ‘fillers’ in the product, hence the rich crystal like sparkle they show when spread onto paper. Pastels are made from pure mineral pigments and usually combined with gum tragacanth or gum arabic and water to hold them together. Chalk is made of limestone or gypsum and compressed into powdered sticks with some type of colouring.
People ask if pastels are the same as chalk. Provided your pastels are of good quality, they will not fade or deteriorate in any way once protected by a frame and glass. You can remove pastel, put light over dark as well as dark over light. They give you the ability to change your work in many ways as you progress through your painting. Pastels are probably the most forgiving of all painting mediums. This is what I intend to do in these few blogs. There is a great deal written about pastels but I find that not all of it goes right back to the basics.