How to Paint With Pastels
Pastels are quickly becoming the favorite media of many artists. You can draw or paint with soft pastels and you don't have to invest in a large, expensive set since you get great results from cheap 12 stick sets. They are small, portable, and you need few tools. Best of all, learning to use pastels is simple. Read on to learn how to work with pastels.
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Things You'll Need
- Dozen soft pastels
- Pastel paper or canvas board
- Ventilated area
- Newspaper
- Styrofoam pellets
- Alcohol or water
- Sketchbook
Instructions
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Plan well. Make a thumbnail sketch. Pre-design your work of art using a sketchbook.
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Work in a well ventilated area using a fan or an air filter, or wear a mask. The most toxic pigments like lead aren't used to make pastels but they still contain some pigments you don't want to inhale. Don't blow flakes off your canvas. Tap the canvas gently onto a piece of newspaper and throw the newspaper away when you're done.
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Use the tip of the pastel for lines and paint with the side of a hard pastel or a broken piece if you want to cover a large area.
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Work with light colors first, then work your way to dark.
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Blend the first layer with alcohol or water.
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Avoid too much pigment build-up by working with harder to softer pressure.
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Blend in earlier layers by layering and smudging. Lay a color on your paper and lay another color on top of it. This gives your painting rich, vivid colors. Smudge by putting two colors next to each other and rubbing them gently with Styrofoam pellets, a stub of paper, or your fingers for a softer look. Don't rub extensively with your fingers or a rag.
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Vary your strokes. Combine long angular strokes with swirling, dabbing, or stippling with dots or dashes.
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Keep your most interesting textures, finest detail and bolder contrasts as the focal point of your painting. Take risks. Don't be afraid to go dark enough, light enough or bright enough.
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Enroll in a class. Someone with more experience with pastels can give you all kinds of tips.
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Tips & Warnings
Practice and experiment.
Using a fixative at the end of a painting is rarely recommended. That can sink the colors deeper into the paper or canvas, destroying the refractive quality that makes pastels special and making the colors darker and duller.
