Buying 

When buying pastels buy 1 dark to 2 lights.

Hard and Soft Pastels 

Pastels come in a huge range of brands, both hard and soft. Hard pastels lend themselves well to drawing and the early stages of a painting and are  recommended for preliminary sketching. The points and edges are good for cross hatching as well. Soft pastels provide depth and a build-up of colour. There is a variety of soft and very soft pastels  which can enable quite a few layers of pastel to be applied to the paper resulting in the tooth of the  paper being filled with softer and softer pastels as work on the painting continues. Pastel sticks are supremely responsive to the slightest change in pressure. Learn to manipulate  the pressure to achieve the possible variations of tone and colour. 

Hardness or Softness of a Pastel 

The hardness or softness of a pastel depends on the amount of binder or filler in its makeup.  There are advantages to each style of pastel. 

Medium and Hard Pastels 

Have less pigment and more binder. They are firmer to work with but the colours are not as vivid.  They are good for making crisp lines and details as they can be sharpened to a point. They are  often used for outlining or adding intricate details to work done in other media. Because hard  pastels are less vivid, some pastel artists use them for background colour. 

Hard pastels include: 

• Faber Castell; 

• Cretacolour; 

• Nupastel; 

• Conte (favoured for detailed sketches and life drawing, also for fine linear marks and highlights to finish a soft pastel picture).

Oil Pastel 

Can only be successfully used under charcoal or soft pastel if the oil pastel is first dissolved with a  medium such as alcohol based products such as isochol, certain odourless solvents or turps. This  sets the oil pastel into the surface of the paper allowing the application of charcoal or soft pastels  to be worked on top. 

Pan Pastels 

Are soft artists quality pastels packaged in stacking and interlocking jars. Using a unique process  requiring minimal binder and fillers resulting in a rich, soft, low-dust formulation. They are erasable  and compatible with pastel sticks, pastel surfaces and fixatives. They give a painterly effect, and  can be mixed, blended, layered and applied like paint. It is possible to block in large areas in a  very short time and they clean up easily. The artist can apply the pastel with a soft sponge or  supplicate with a cover. 

Pastel Pencils 

Pop your pastel pencils in the freezer for a few hours and they will sharpen easier. 

Pastel Pencils are very suitable for lines, shading, delicate colour transitions and extended arears.  Because they are pencils they are clean and easy to control. 

Pastel Pencils include: 

• Derwent; 

• Bruynzeel; 

• Caran d’Ache; 

• Pitt Pastel – Faber Castell; 

• Swan Stabilo CarbOthello

Pigment Dust 

Is probably the biggest concern for pastellists. Whenever possible it is better clean dust with a wet  rag, sponge or paper towel than to sweep it up (which causes more dust). Care should be taken if  using a vacuum cleaner as often the pigment is finer than the bag and can blow through causing  quite an unhealthy dust storm.

Soft Pastels 

Contain less binder which gives them their velvety texture. They contain more pigment so the  colour is rich and can easily be blended or smudged with a finger or soft tool. The down side is that  they are more delicate and can break easily. The same softness that makes them easy to blend  also allows them to be accidentally smudged, so it’s a good idea to use a spray fixative once you  complete you work (this is a personal preference). Their soft texture creates more dust which can  be a problem for some people.

 

There are many brands of soft pastels including but certainly not  limited to: 

• Art Sprectum; 

• Rembrandt; 

• Sennelier; 

• Unison; 

• Terry Ludwig; 

• Schmincke; 

• Great American.