About Pastels
Pastel painting became popular in the eighteenth century although Leonardo Da Vinci used pastels in the fifteenth century.
Much landscape art has been painted in pastels over the years.
There were, however, cave paintings in Southern France, Spain and South Africa showing that red, white and ochre pigments were once used.
Pastel sticks can be soft, medium or hard. They are made up from dry pigments mixed with gum and water into a paste which is allowed to dry. The hardness of the pastel depends on the ratio of pigment to gum.
As it can be difficult to obtain fine detail with pastels, pastel pencils can be used. It's so easy to achieve thin lines or outlines with these and by shaping part of a putty rubber into a cone, or by using the rubber on the end of a pencil, it's easy to blend in to get a realistic effect.
Pastels are effective when combined with water-based paint. They can be used on a variety of papers preferably textured, such as Ingres, Mi - Teintes or watercolour paper. Ingres has a texture with lines designed to grip the pastel, whereas Mi -Tientes has a dotted pattern.
Glasspaper is also ideal because of the surface which holds the pastel. As pastels are dusty though, it is important to protect the finished work, ideally within a frame and under glass. A fixative can be used. Although it can dull the colours, it is advisable to use one if the pastel is painted on thickly.
I personally enjoy working with pastels because I like the way I can blend them and It really feels like a painting comes alive with the colour and texture achievable with them. They are ideal to use when painting landscapes or seascapes, which I mainly paint. I love the way I can blend pastels when painting landscapes and the way I can bring alive the movement of the sea in seascapes.
There are so many colours to choose from so you're able to get the effects just right when you need to find the colours for a rock, for example, or a pond. you can choose just the right hue.
There are pastel societies around the world and in the UK, "The Pastel Society" was founded in 1898. Early exhibitors included Rodin, Whistler and Degas. Members today are typically professional pastel artists and potential members need to have their artwork for the annual exhibition assessed by a jury selection, and by the agreement of existing members.
