Complete Artist’s Manual: The Definitive Guide to Materials and Techniques for Painting and Drawing. Simon Jennings
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darkest. This system of numbering, however, is not standardized from one manufacturer to another, so it is worth checking catalogues and colour charts.
Soft pastels
Soft pastels are the most widely used of the various pastel types, because they produce the wonderful velvety bloom which is one of the main attractions of pastel art. They contain proportionally more pigment and less binder, so the colours are rich and vibrant.
The smooth, thick quality of soft pastels produces rich, painterly effects. They are easy to apply, requiring little pressure to make a mark, and can be smudged and blended with a finger, a rag or a paper stump.
The only drawback of soft pastels is their fragility. Because they contain little binding agent they are apt to crumble and break easily, and they are more prone to smudging than other types of pastels. A light spray with fixative after each stage of the work will help to prevent such smudging.
Hard pastels
These contain less pigment and more binder than the soft type of pastels, so although the colours are not as brilliant, they do have a firmer consistency. Hard pastels can be sharpened to a point with a blade and used to produce crisp lines and details. They do not crumble and break as easily as soft pastels, nor do they clog the tooth of the paper; they are often used in the preliminary stages of a painting, to outline the composition, or to add details and accents in the latter stages, sometimes in combination with other drawing and painting media.
Pastel pencils
Thin pastel sticks are available encased in wooden shafts, like pencils. Pastel pencils are clean to use, do not break or crumble like traditional pastels, and give greater control of handling. They are suitable for both line sketches and detailed or small-scale work, and can be used in conjunction with hard and soft pastels.
Let the buyer beware
Since the degree of softness varies noticeably from one brand of soft pastel to another, you should try out individual sticks from different manufacturers until you find the one that suits you best. Only then buy a full range.
Permanence
Reputable manufacturers provide the names of lightfast pigments, such as burnt umber, that are used in pastels. Pastels in cheaper ranges often are given romantically descriptive names which, however, give no indication of the nature or permanence of the pigment.
Versatility
Working with the tip
Working with the side
Pastels are both a painting and a drawing medium. Working with the side of the crayon creates broad, painterly strokes that can be blended and smudged or built up in thickly impasted layers, with the solid, buttery appearance of an oil painting. Working with the tip of the crayon, you can make thin lines and crisp marks that create a very different feel.
Blending
Blending with a fingertip
One of the attractions of a powdery medium such as pastel is that it is easily blended to create soft, velvety tones and subtle gradations from dark to light. Blending has many uses – softening fine lines and details, suggesting smooth textures, modelling form with degrees of light and shade, lightening tones, and tying shapes together. To create an area of blended tone, either apply lightly scribbled strokes with the point of the stick, or use the side of the stick to make a broad mark, but do not press too hard – if the mark is too ingrained it will be difficult to blend. Then lightly rub the surface with the tip of your finger or a rag, tissue or paper stump, to blend the marks together and create an even tone. Repeat the process if a darker tone is required.
Line and tone
Lines over soft blending
You can use blended tones alone, or mix blended and linear techniques to add variety and texture. Another approach is to create an area of soft blending and then overlay it with linear strokes. Here, the blended tones act somewhat like an underpainting, adding extra depth and subtlety to the image, while the strokes tie the image together.
Scumbling
Scumbling
Scumbling modifies the colour of a tinted paper or a layer of pastel by applying a thin, semi-opaque layer of another colour over it. Loose, circular strokes are applied with the side of the pastel stick to create a thin veil of colour which does not entirely obliterate the one underneath. Scumbling not only creates subtle colour effects, but it also gives a very attractive surface texture. Use it to give depth and luminosity to your colours, and to soften and unify different areas of the drawing.
James Crittenden
Windy Day
Pastel on paper
65 × 75cm (26 × 30in)
Jackie Simmonds
The Glass Table
Pastel on paper
45 × 60cm (18 × 24in)
Among the many ways of applying pastel, the ‘painting’ and ‘drawing’ disciplines can be used alongside each other to create a breathtaking range of effects. These two pictures show some of the varied textures that can be produced, from broken, grainy strokes to delicate ‘washes’.
SEE ALSO
| OIL PASTELS | Oil pastels are made by combining raw pigments with animal fat and wax; this makes them somewhat different in character from soft pastels, which are bound with gum. Whereas soft pastels are known for their velvety texture and subtle colours, oil pastels make thick, buttery strokes, and their colours are more intense. Oil pastels are also stronger, harder and less crumbly than soft pastels; since they tend not to smudge, they require little or no fixative, but they are more difficult to blend. |
Using oil pastels
Working with a robust medium such as oil pastels will encourage a bold and direct approach which is of enormous benefit in developing confidence in your drawing and using colours. In fact, oil pastels are not ideally suited to small-scale, detailed work; the sticks are too chunky for this, and fine blending is not possible. It is far better practice to exploit the tactile qualities of the medium and to work on a large scale, using various textural strokes and building up a rich patina of waxy colour.
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