art sobre pastels

8/18/2019 Art sobre Pastels

1/4


2/4

w w w . a r t i s

t s m a g a z i n e . c o m n O

c t o b e r

Soft pastels, such as these by erry

Ludwig, are easy to blend and

have a rich color and

velvety texture.

You can download past Mediapedia arti-

cles in our shop at www.northlightshop.

com/category/artists-magazine.

Must-have toolsn Drawing board and clips: A rigid surface is a must when working on paper.n Boxes for the pastels: Working with loose, disorganized pastels is inefficientand frustrating. Get into the habit of limiting the number of loose sticks in your

work area. Storage boxes will keep your pastels organized while you work and

assist in inventory control.n Kneaded erasers: Use these for blending as well as for removing pastel from

the surface.n Blending tools: ry various tools, such as paper stumps (also calledtorchons or tortillons), cotton swabs, facial tissue and paper towels.n Razor blade and craft knife: Use these to sharpen hard pastels toa point and to scrape off unwanted deposits of pastel from your work

surface.n Tracing paper: Tis is useful to protect your work from smudging asyou paint.n Protective gear: Dust masks, gloves or protective hand cream areadvisable.n Wet wipes: Tese are handy to clean up the pastel dust that didn’tmake it to the work surface.

n Fixative: Workable fixative protects your work from smearingbut leaves it open for reworking; permanent fixative protects it from

damage and seals it from further alteration.

Tips andTechniquesPastel techniques are similar to draw-

ing and painting techniques. ry the

techniques listed at the right with

pastels of different brands and

degrees of hardness—each will create

a slightly different result.

ChemistryPastels are made from finely ground pigment mixed with chalk or clay

and a binder, such as gum arabic or gum tragacanth, and formedinto a stick. Their colors can’t be mixed on a palette like paint, butmust be mixed on the drawing surface by blending, layering orusing other techniques such as scumbling (see opposite page).

Pastels vary in hardness by manufacturer. Hard pastels havemore binder than the softer pastels, and their colors may notbe as vivid. Hard pastels are good for preliminary drawing inparticular because they can hold a point and create crisp linesand details. Softer pastels contain less binder and more pig-

ment, a ratio that gives them a rich color and velvety texture.

They’re easier to blend and smudge than hard pastels, butsoft pastels are more delicate, are easily broken and createmore dust. The hardness of the pastel will affect the resultsof the techniques you use.

Some of the most popular brands of pastel includeGirault (soft), Great American (soft), PanPastels (soft),Prismacolor Nupastel (hard), Rembrandt soft pastels

(medium), Schmincke soft artists’ pastels (soft), Sennelier(soft), Terry Ludwig (soft), Unison handmade pastels (soft),

and Winsor & Newton soft pastels (medium).


3/4

O c t o b e r n w w w . a r t i s t s m a g a z i n e . c o m

Drawing with the tip of the

pastel: Holding the pastel stick

like a pencil produces lines of varying

width and character depending on the

hardness of the pastel and the pressure

and speed of the hand.

Drawing with the side of the

pastel: Using the side of thepastel stick produces broad strokes or

blocks of color. Te character of the

stroke depends on the softness of the

pastel, the shape of the stick, the tex-

ture of the drawing surface, and the

pressure and speed of your hand. Break-

ing a stick in half may be necessary for

a more manageable stroke. Tis tech-

nique works best with softer pastels.

Blending with pastels: Unlike

paint, pastel colors can’t be

mixed before being applied to the draw-ing surface—you must select a stick of

the appropriate color or blend colors

directly on the surface. You can create

different effects and textures by how

much or how little you mix the colors.

You can blend with your fingertips,

but the risk of ingesting the pigments

warrants using protection. Also, a pastel

surface can be rough enough that using

your fingers can lead to bleeding. Othertools include paper stumps, kneaded

erasers and cotton swabs for precise

work; facial tissues, paper towels, cot-

ton balls and small, soft natural sponges

for larger, less precise work. Soft brushes

are good, if they don’t stir up dust.

Hatching and cross-hatching:

Hatching is drawing fine, closely

spaced parallel lines to create an area of

color and value; cross-hatching is draw-

ing similar lines perpendicular to the

first. Tis technique works best withharder pastels or pastel pencils and is

useful to create texture or to allow the

eye to create an “optical blend” when

different colors are used. You can cre-

ate a sense of form and shape by varying

the direction of the cross-hatching.

Scumbling: Scumbling with pas-

tels is very similar to scumbling

with paint. You apply a broken layer of

color on top of another layer of color,allowing the bottom color to remain

visible. Tis technique works best on a

textured surface and with soft pastel

applied over hard. ry fixing the bottom

layer before applying the top layer.

Working on a colored ground:

Apply pastels to a colored surface

such as toned paper or a board, panel or

canvas painted with a colored ground

or pastel primer. Allowing the colored

ground to peek through creates vibrant

color. Many pastel artists use an under-painting of watercolor or pastel to tone

a piece of white pastel paper.

Colorfix PanPastels are relatively new. Te

soft pastels, which come in small trays, are

applied with soft foam tools in a

process similar to painting.

Safety and Cleanup

Te downside to the soft consistency of pastels is the increased possibility of

accidentally ingesting the pigments. Although most pastels have an AP non-

toxic label, some have the CL (“Caution Label”) seal indicating they’re toxic or

hazardous if not used with appropriate caution.

Because pastels have so little binder, they easily generate dust that’s hard

to contain, and you should take care not to breathe it in. Don’t blow loose

powder off the surface as you work—you risk inhaling it. Instead, tap

the work over a waste bin to remove dust, and after each painting

session, wipe down your work area with a wet paper towel; use

a wet mop or a vacuum with a HEPA filter to pick up any resi-

due that has fallen to the floor. If you work close to the

paper, consider wearing a dust mask.

Blending pastels with the fingers is also a natural

impulse. It’s highly recommended to use gloves or a

protective hand cream—such as Winsor & Newton

Artguard barrier cream, EZ Air Invisible Care, Invisible

Glove or Marvelous Marianne’s SkinSafer barrier cream.

Te usual precautions should be observed scrupu-lously with pastels: Keep food and drink away from your

work area and never smoke while you work. Wash your

hands thoroughly with soap and water after using pastels.


4/4

F A Q

s

w w w . a r t i s

t s m a g a z i n e . c o m n O

c t o b e r

Surfaces for PastelsThe most important consideration when selecting a surface for pastel workis the surface’s “tooth”—the ability of its texture to grab and hold the pastelparticles. A slick or smooth surface has little to no tooth and won’t hold thepastel. On the other hand, a very rough surface may not allow the pastel tocover completely. Much depends on your personal preferences.

Most papers suitable for charcoal work well for pastels because they

have a sufficient tooth. Popular papers include Canson Mi-Teintes, CansonIngres, Strathmore Series and Fabriano Tiziano.There are several papers made especially for pastel, such as Hahne-

mühle Velour and Bugra, Amalfi handmade and Sennelier Papier Carré.Some papers have coatings containing very fine particles to hold the

pastel, such as Wallis sanded pastel paper, Art Spectrum Colourfix coatedpastel paper and Supertooth board, Sennelier La Carte pastel card

and Ampersand Pastelbord.Finally, you can apply primers and grounds

to paper, board or canvas panels to make themreceptive to pastel. Try Art Spectrum pasteland multimedia primer, Golden pastel ground

or Lascaux pastel ground.

From left to right, you can see the effect of

a soft pastel used on Strathmore water-

color paper, Strathmore charcoal paper,

Mi-eintes pastel paper and Colourfix coated

pastel paper.

Are pastels a permanent medium?

Pastel is a fragile medium. Once prop-

erly fixed and appropriately framed, pastels

will remain as applied. As long as you use high-

quality cotton or linen rag paper, pastels won’t crack,

crumble or disintegrate. Te lightfastness of pastels is

almost completely determined by the pigments used;

as with most artwork, prolonged exposure to direct

sunlight should be avoided.

How do you properly fix a pastel painting?

Unless sprayed with a protective artists’ fixative, pastel

artwork is subject to smudging and smearing, particu-larly if you use softer pastels. Using workable fixative

protects your work from smearing but leaves it open

for reworking; a permanent fixative protects it from

damage and seals it from further alteration.

Some pastel artists find that fixatives darken

their paintings; some new fixatives are addressing this

problem with good results.

Matting and framing your work behind glass is the

best way to keep it pristine. o store your pastel works,

keep them flat in boxes or a flat file with sheets of

glassine between the drawings to minimize smearing.

How many pastel colors do I need?

A common mistake beginners make is buying too many

colors. Limit your selection to a range of warm and

cool colors from each of the primary and secondary

hues, plus a few earth colors, neutrals or grays, blackand several sticks of white. You can augment your col-

lection with extra colors as needed. About sticks is

a suitable number for a beginner’s pastel box. As you

develop a style, you’ll determine quickly which colors

you use most.

Can I clean my pastel sticks?

Te fastest way to clean a pastel stick is to wipe it with

a paper towel. Or you can shake pastels gently in a lid-

ded container of cornmeal or uncooked rice to remove

unwanted color.

Soft pastels, such as these by Girault,

are easier to smudge, but matting

your work behind glass will help

protect it.

art sobre pastels

Documents