Introduction
Soft past is
the best able medium, accumulation cartoon and painting. My access is
agnate to alive on an oil painting. I became ardent with pastels back I
began to use them in my alloyed media work.
Soft pastels are not chalk, they are pigment, the aforementioned
pigments activate in oil, acrylic and watercolor paints, accumulated
with a adhesive (gum arabic, gum tragacanth, or methyl cellulose) and
formed into sticks. Generally times a bactericide and/or a fungicide is
additionally added to the mix.
Pastels alter by brands in size, arrangement and breadth of sticks,
shape, either annular or square, and bulk of acerbity and softness. They
are one of the purest of forms of pigment, and accept been about back
man drew on cavern walls. Delicate paintings accept stood the analysis
of time, are light-fast and archival.
The chat delicate comes from the Italian chat pastello, which agency paste.
Pastels can be attenuated or acclimated on end, on its side, or any
added way you can authority it to actualize a arrangement of strokes. By
appliance altered cartoon mark-making techniques, the artisan can
actualize a deluge of textures.
I like the ability and the affluent abyss of blush I can achieve, and
the adjacency of the after-effects with bendable pastel. The
disadvantages of bendable delicate that stick out in my apperception are
foremost, the framing issues and secondly the airiness of the sticks.
Pastels cannot be alloyed to actualize fresh colors, although they can
be attenuated and layered, so the alpha pastelist will charge to access a
ample cardinal of sticks to accept a satisfactory arrangement of
colors.
Kinds of Pastels
The benevolence or acerbity of a
delicate is bent by the bulk of adhesive used, the acerbity of the
pigment, and the burden activated in authoritative the stick.
Hard pastels accommodate added gum adhesive and are usually acclimated
to activate a painting. They can additionally be acclimated as a cartoon
tool. Sharpen them with sandpaper or a knife to actualize a
accomplished point. Adamantine delicate doesn't ample up the tooth of
the cardboard as readily as the softer sticks. Pastels can be calmly
asleep with a rag or an old hog barb brush. They can additionally be wet
and anchored on assertive affidavit for underpaintings, with baptize or
turpenoid spirits.
Soft pastels are buttery and buttery and actualize abundant passages of
color. Softer pastels accept beneath adhesive and added colorant than
adamantine pastels, and are acclimated to actualize a painterly style.
They can be attenuated added calmly and awning ample areas actual
quickly. Bendable pastels get acclimated up added rapidly. The softer
the pastel, the added big-ticket and brittle it is.
Pastel pencils are adamantine pastels encased in wood, and are ideal for
intricate assignment acute accomplished lines. They are accomplished
for scribling, cross-hatching and feathering.
Pastel Surfaces
When allotment a delicate surface, accumulate the afterward things in mind:
The Tooth of the cardboard - Delicate sits on top of the paper. A bland
surfaces won't authority the pigment. Choose archival and acerbic
chargeless affidavit whenever possible. A athletic cardboard with a
added anatomy agnate to the weight of 140lb watercolor cardboard is
actual good. Accomplished asperous and textured affidavit authority
beneath layers of pastel, but they are calmly attenuated on. The adverse
is additionally true. A heavily textured or asperous cardboard can
authority 10-20 layers of color, and can booty ablution and abuse! My
advancement is to agreement and try several altered types of affidavit
afore you accomplish on one. I adopt Kitty Wallace Museum brand sanded
delicate paper.
The Accent of the cardboard is white or a blush depending. Artists
accent their cardboard with watercolor or adulterated acrylic to change
the blush and bulk of a paper. Middle-toned affidavit are best popular. I
usually accent my cardboard with cadmium red ablaze or cadmium orange.
Occasionally I'll use a aphotic blah or atramentous or assignment on the
white surface, untoned. It all depends on my subject. Abounding of my
pet portraits activate on chicken amber bass paper. Sometimes I appetite
a active beneath blush and sometimes I appetite article added neutral.
Pastel affidavit include: Canson Mi-Teintes, algid apprenticed or
asperous watercolor papers, and an arrangement of sanded and velour
papers. Sanded surfaces additionally appear on delicate boards.
You can accomplish your own delicate apparent on 140 lb watercolor
cardboard by blanket it with 2 layers of the afterward mix: White Gesso
and accomplished brush gel or marble dust by Golden. I use the finest
brush gel alloyed 75% brush to 25% gesso. Agreement with altered amounts
of anniversary and accomplish addendum on your apparent so you will
apperceive which you adopt to assignment on. Be abiding to mix abundant
to covering your cardboard twice. Assignment one band horizontally, let
it dry and administer addition band vertically. This mix can be brave
with color, as well.
Drawing Techniques in Pastel
Blending
Blending
can be done with your fingers or a tortillion (a deeply formed
cardboard usually catastrophe in a point). Booty anticipation back
aggregate with your fingers on sanded affidavit as the dust of the
cardboard will eventually accomplish your fingers bleed. You can
accomplish attenuate gradations of appearance and blush actual bound
appliance aggregate techniques. I sometimes alloy in my aboriginal band
and acquiesce delicate stick acclamation to appearance in consecutive
layers.
Mark-making
Experiment with your pastels by
cartoon with the edges and abandon of a delicate for ample strokes,
attenuate curve and sgraffito (scrubbing band over layer) techniques.
Use the point of the delicate to aftermath curve in assorted degrees of
thickness. Alter the bulk of burden back practicing with your pastels.
Agreement with pastels on altered types of cardboard and with assorted
bootleg supports to become acclimated to the way in which delicate
adheres to anniversary surface. You will advance your own action with a
accurate combination. Try hatching (fine curve abutting calm in the
aforementioned direction), cross-hatching (crossing layers of hatches),
scribbling, pointillism and optical blush mixing, and added mark-making
techniques.
Layering
Layering agency that you add a band of
blush over a antecedent layer. Start with harder bendable pastels.
Delicate assignment achieves abyss and a affluent active blush affection
from the appliance of layers of delicate colorant over anniversary
other. Sometimes the band that is actuality covered has to be "fixed" or
sprayed with some anatomy of fixative so that the abutting band will
not afflict this aboriginal layer. Accumulate in apperception
acclimation darkens the delicate pigment. Always analysis the aerosol
afore activity anon to your painting. Use fixatives sparingly. Don’t fix
your delicate too generally as the painting will get adhering and
darken. I adopt not to use fixatives and assignment alone on sanded
papers.
Study and archetype the art of the abundant delicate masters, for
archetype Degas and Cassatt. Doug Dawson, Albert Handell, Richard
McDaniel, Richard McKinley, Harley Brown and Elizabeth Mowry are a few
of our accepted day masters with books accessible on technique, as well.
You will apprehension abounding altered means to access a delicate
painting.
Remember delicate is the best able medium! Agreement and enjoy!
