Introduction to Pastel

 

I'm J Starr, and I started drawing about the same time I could reach a wall with a crayon or pencil. At first, I studied colouring books, and I was fascinated by the simple line-work used on Captain Kangaroo's Magic Drawing Board. I've dabbled in oils, acrylics, watercolour, graphite, pen and ink, along with various graphic mediums, and 3-D sculpture and carving work. Then, I discovered soft pastels.

 

 

 

Contrary to their name, which conjures up baby colours of pink, blue and spring green, pastels are sticks of PURE pigment, held together with a minimal amount of binder (usually gum tragacinth) and just enough water to form a thick paste which is then shaped into a stick and left to dry. The result is like stroking butter on velvet. Pastel hues (colours) and values range from the darkest midnight blue you can imagine to the lightest whisper of warm sunshine on a baby's skin- the best pastels are sold in value ranges rather than hue assortments. Pastels are often rated by their "softness", with Schmincke's being considered the softest, and NuPastels the hardest. Each brand and soft/hard ranking has its use, and, of course, some brands use better pigments than others, but I urge you to purchase the best you can afford in order to truly explore this medium.

 

That said, I would recommend a full set of NuPastels (despite some fugitive colour concerns) because they are highly versatile, and really cheap. I then recommend a selection of about two dozen Rembrandts, or Great Americans; if cost is no issue, go for it and get the Unisons (and call me- 'cause if cost is no issue, I need to talk to you about adopting me). From there, I would recommend getting a "sampler" which is about 10 sticks in different hues from different manufacturers, which offers you the chance to try different brands inexpensively, from Art Supply Warehouse , or simply buying open stock when you find a good sale. Keep an eye on E-Bay, you can often get some darned good deals on pastels there.  Jerry's Artarama has good deals, and Art Supply Warehouse  (all of these are online) sometimes does, too.

 

 

So now you have your pastels- heavy little things, aren't they? Like I said, they're pure pigment, the real thing. They are not, despite a century of confusion, "chalk"- chalk is soft limestone- pastel pigments are the real deal, just like the best oil paints. In fact, pastels became very popular with the Impressionist oil painters as an easier, cleaner way to tote supplies out to Monet's lilyponds and catch the moment in sketches and studies, which were then sometimes translated to oil in the studio. Pastels may be how Renoir got close enough to all those young women leisurely bathing- no scent of turps to give him away. Impressionists found pastel work to be just as rich, just as luminous, as those tedious layers of glazes they had to learn to do during their apprenticeships. Obviously, as a pastelist, you're in some illustrious company.

 

 

 

Now what kind of ground or support should you use? Any surface with a bit of "tooth" is suitable for pastel; because they are dry, and truly just a fine powder held to the ground by pressure, tooth is necessary to give the powder something to grab onto. The very first pastels in existence are the cave paintings: Powdered ochres and iron oxide, charcoal and other minerals applied in a drypoint technique to rock. Pastel work has been done on fabrics, ivory, barks, canvas, and all kinds of papers. Some folks make their own surfaces by preparing matboard scraps, foamcore or what-have-you with a pumice gel which gives the surface the required tooth. Many brands of pastel papers are "sanded" to give the surface a deep tooth which grabs and hold many layers of pastel. The creme-de l'creme of pastel papers is Wallis Sanded, invented by Kitty Wallis; beginners are often left gasping at the price, but not only is the paper worth it in terms of the results given, it is what I call " a victim paper"- it LIKES being abused- brushed off, hosed off, scrubbed off. It is very difficult to destroy Wallis Sanded paper. This means, if a piece doesn't come out the way you like, you can just hose it off, and start over.

 

Which brings us to your ground- or paper- colour. With pastels, more than any other medium, the artist has the advantage of using ANY COLOUR GROUND. Pastels are opaque- the lightest yellow pastel will cover pure black paper- yellow will sing out true- unsullied by the paper's hue. There WILL be the optical illusion given by complement and analogous colours, certainly- and that is a technique many artists employ to great effect. Most brands of pastel papers come in a wide variety of colours and values- from deep aubergine to pale pink, from snow white to basic black. Again, Dakota Arts has a sampler pack which is a wise investment.

You'll also need an easel which can be adjusted to vertical or slightly past; this ensures any pastel dust falls straight down rather than marring already painted areas. If your easel does not have a flat board to use as a support, you'll need a piece of foamcore or gatorboard or what-have-you to attach your paper to at least temporarily as you work the piece. When your work is done, it is best to protect the surface with a piece of glassine or glossy paper from a magazine, or even tissue paper. Pastel works are both extremely fragile and easily damaged- until properly framed- and at the same time the most archival of all mediums- once properly framed. A word about fixative: Fix does not in any way increase the "permanence" of a pastel, it is NOT like a varnish. All it does on a positive note is give your work a bit more tooth if you need it. The downside is, it darkens your work, it changes the texture, it "splotches" easily, and it can compact the pastels so they lose their natural sheen and luminosity. Using the appropriate ground with the appropriate-to-it technique will help you avoid the pitfall of "fix".

 

Framing choices once the work is done run the gamut from floating the work on a neutral support right to the frame's edge to matting in a variety of colours and styles- the one constant is that the work MUST be under glass. Some folks have used plexiglass, but there are sometimes issues with static electicity build-up drawing the pastel dust to the plexi, thus weakening the work's integrity. Some folks recommend using spacers inside the frame to set the painting back away from the glass, while others lay the glass right onto the work- again, the choice is yours. With a bit of experience, you will come to understand which framing choices are best suited to which support and technique you've used in the work.

 

 

A just-completed float to edges framing job

 

 

Demo #1 Fruit and Cyclamen Still Life

The Power of Colour

Colour Wheels and How They Spin