Pastels will humble you. Then they will totally conquer you. There are occasions when both of them take place in the same afternoon. It is not picking up watercolors or acrylics where the learning curve has a fairly predictable direction. Surprises early and often are thrown by the pastels. Superficially, the medium appears to be nearly simple enough to the point of not using brushes, no mixing palettes, and no waiting until something is dry. Nothing, no fancy pigment sticks, no paper, no two hands of mine. It is this simplicity that actually surprises beginners. Continue reading!

Pure pigment is almost quality pastels. Less binder used and much color intensity. You are not putting on paint, you are rubbing crude colour on a surface, and persuading it to take form. Most amateurs refer to it as a combination of drawing and sculpture. Such a description is not too far off.

The choice of paper is one of the most significant issues, and a good course of study discusses it during the first day of the course.

Once you fall on smooth paper, it is a trap that you cannot get out of. The pigment hardly sticks to it, strata will not form up and the entire session turns into a contest you just cannot win. Surface Textured papers Sanded papers, velour, Canson Mi-Teintes- allow the pigment to adhere and the work to be done. A single bad experience on the wrong surface is often enough to ensure that such an error is made never again. Even the best courses will not proceed to another topic until this lesson sinks.

It is the process of layering when the medium is no longer perceived as foreign but rather perceived as a real benefit. Water color artists are conditioned to produce light to dark. The pastels do not observe that. It is possible to create a dark, somber background and apply radiant highlights over it. Those lights appear to produce their light. It is that sort of effect which causes you to pause in the stroke and just look.

Making people confused in a manner not expected. It has nothing to do with technique, fingers, tortillons, dry brushes, soft cloth, whatever it is, it works. The moral of the story is to know when to quit. pastels mixed to too much unnaturalness become pale. The places where they are a little rough and crumbly? They tend to be the ones that capture the best shots and get the strongest attention.

All the pastelists will finally end up being obsessed with the landscapes – skies, treelines, the play of light on the water. Pastel does this with all the elegance, and that is in part due to the fact that you do not have to dry between you and the scene in front of you.

The dust is on the other hand, non-negotiable. It lies on clothes, bags, furniture and that cup of tea that is lying a smidgen too near the easel. Wear something expendable. Keep a damp cloth nearby. Accept the glorious chaos.

The stained sleeves, they are so well worth it.