Welcome fellow artists and art lovers. This website is designed to bring you closer to the wonderful world of soft pastels.
Lesson #1: - INTRODUCTION TO PASTELS
In this lesson, I would like to discuss the properties of soft pastel. Pastel is a dry medium that provides the richness and variety of paint colors. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH CHALK, each stick of pastel is a solid vessel of pigment, mixed with a gum base to hold its shape. You can't get more pure pigment than that. In fact, when properly cared for, pastel is among the most permanent of all media. Paintings dating back to the early eighteenth century are still as luminous and colorful as the day they were painted. The history of artists' use of soft pastel goes back many centuries. A comprehensive history of the use of pastel can be found in Alan Flattmann's book, The Art of Pastel Painting. With a little research, you can even make your own pastels, (to be covered in a later lesson).
Although they are referred to as "soft," pastels are made in a variety of solidities, running from very hard, (such as Conte pastel pencils) to hard, (such as Nupastel brand) to medium, (such as Rembrandt brand), to buttery soft (as in Schmincke brand). This variance allows the artist to layer colors on without building up too much thickness. You will see why this is important in upcoming lessons.
Painting with pastel can produce a wide range of effects. You can produce the most photo-realistic drawings to the most "painterly" paintings with little setting-up time, no paints to mix, smelly solvents or brushes to clean.
+++++
Lesson #2: - PASTEL PAPERS AND OTHER GROUNDS AND FOUNDATIONS
Among the most popular grounds pastel artists like to use are pastel paper, such as Canson Mi Teintes, sanded paper, velour paper, watercolor paper, mat board and granular board. The most important quality of these grounds is the "tooth." Pastels require abrasive surfaces in order to hold pigment. Different types of grounds offer a variety of textures when the pastel is applied. The choice of ground would depend largely on the desired results the artist has in mind for the painting.
There are typically four types of surfaces: Napped: (velour, flocked papers, felt); Fibrous: (textured papers); Granular: (sandpaper, granular boards); and Webbed: (canvas, muslin). I have grown fond of using sanded paper because it allows you to layer on the pastel more than textured pastel paper and this suits my style of painting. When using papers it is important to mount them to a support such as foam core or mat board. Be aware that whatever is behind the paper may impart its own characteristic texture to the painting.
I have experimented with and produces a few successful paintings using hand-made papers as well and was pleasantly surprized by how well it can hold pigment. It is fun to try different things by creating your own grounds and foundations. Here is my favorite recipe for making your own granular board: 1 Cup Water; 2 TBSP Gesso; 2 TBSP Elmers Glue (white); 5 TBSP find ground pumice; Add acrylic paint to tint the mixture of your choice. Important - Wet both sides of surface you are using. This helps prevent buckling. Stir each time you dip the brush because the pumice falls to the bottom quickly. Apply with large bristle brush (3") to any non-oily surface such as illustration board, museum board or untempered masonite just to name a few. Have fun and don't be afraid to try something new.
+++++
NEXT TIME: BASIC PASTEL PAINTING TECHNIQUES