Common pastel questions answered...
Kerri Dixon 
Let's discuss everything you need to know about soft pastels
Common Pastel Questions Answered
What about Quality?
Due to the minimal use of additives in the making of pastels, paintings do not crack or yellow and last for a very long time. In saying that their definitely are varying degrees of lightfastness in the different pastel brands. I only use the highest quality pastels available in my artwork for the piece of mind of creating a painting that will last a lifetime.
How do I store my pastel paintings?
Pastel paintings are very fragile, similar to a charcoal drawing. Pastel is like paint that never dries: when you touch it, the colour comes off. Because of this you have to store and frame pastels in specific ways, to make sure the painting does not smear or smudge. The best way to store paintings is flat with Glassine sheets between. Make sure the sheets of glassine are taped to the painting so it won’t move. I always recommend trying to frame as many of your paintings as possible, even if its just a very cheap frame from the local thrift shop.
It’s not always possible to frame your work so the next best thing is to create a storage box out of gator/foam board, with a glassine sheet over the top. This is a very handy box worth your time and cost to make as it can be used to store a few paintings at a time. It is also ideal if you need to send a pastel painting to a customer which isn’t framed.
Is their a correct way to apply pastels?
There are so many varied ways of applying pastels, with no wrong or right. Although some will have you believe that blending with your fingers is a real no no. But that’s exactly what I do and many other master pastelists I know of do the same. So however you apply your pastels to achieve your finished look is fine. Depending on your style will also depend on how many different colours you need, if you are applying varied strokes without blending or layering, then a much larger range of colours is needed. But if you are blending and layering colours then it’s kind of similar to oil paints in that you need lesser colours because you can create more by blending.
Also just because the stick is shaped like a piece of chalk, does not mean you need to use it like one, for larger areas you can use the stick on its side and for tiny details it’s quite normal to break the pastel stick to give yourself a fine sharp edge, so don’t be disheartened when you drop your nice new stick on the ground and it shatters into a number of pieces because everyone of those will be very useful to you.
How do I clean & organize my soft pastel sticks?
Cleaning you soft pastels is relatively easy, all you need is a bowl and a bag of
Polenta (cornmeal if your american). Just place your dirty pastels in the bowl of Polenta and swirl around. The Polenta rubbing against the sticks will remove any dirt.
Now to organize your pastels is best to have the colour families in seperate compartments. And each colour group sorted from dark to light values. You can even go as far as seperating them into cool and warm tones as well. This all just makes it easier while painting for selecting a colour. Try to think of Pastels as oil paints that the colours are already mixed.
How to prepare my pastel paper?
It is always best to tape your pastel paper to a board before you start. The best way is with just a 3mm thin MDF board, cut about an inch bigger all around than your paper size.
The best tape to adhere your paper to this board is a wide clear celotape. It holds well on all pastel surfaces that I have tried. This also creates a nice edge once you peel it away after your painting is finished.
Another great use for wide celotape is to clean your paper before you start, sometimes because the surface is textured, a lot of dust etc can stick to it. So just peel off some tape and go over your paper sticking it down and peeling it back up, this will remove any bits on the
surface.
How do I transfer my outline to my paper?
The best way I have found is to use a grid method on larger works and a tracing on smaller works.
Grid – Draw a fine line grid over your reference image and then draw the same grid but scaled up onto your drawing paper. Then focus on each square of your reference image and draw that into the larger corresponding grid square on your drawing paper.
So for example, if my reference image is 20cm x 30cm and my drawing paper is 40cm x 60cm, then my grid will be double the size (scale 2:1)
So on the reference image I will draw a grid with 2cm x 2cm squares and then on my drawing paper the grid will have 4cm x 4cm squares. This can be done with any size paper, you just need to work out the scale first.
Tracing/Transfer – This way is similar to what we learnt in primary school. We use tracing paper to get an outline of our reference image, then turn it over and colour in the back with a pastel pencil. You only need to go over the lines we drew on the other side. It’s best to use a pencil colour that suits your drawing you are about to do.
Then flip it back over and go back over your lines with a pen or pencil which will then leave the pastel from the other side on your drawing surface. I find this quite simple and is my preferred method of getting an accurate outline of what I am going to draw.
How do I sharpen my Pastel Pencils?
This is a question that is asked over and over again, as the pastel inside the pencils is soft, it is known to break when sharpening. I have tried a number of different pencil sharpeners, even bought a high quality handle sharpener but they always break.
So the best thing i have found is just a hobby knife and a piece of sand paper. You cut away the wood from the pastel with the knife and then use the sandpaper to create a point. Yes it is time consuming but it is all part of the process.
Best way to frame & post your pastel art?
As pastel is such a delicate medium, all your finished work should be framed behind glass to protect it. You can just use a standard frame but if you can afford a professional framer, then they will put a gap between the matt board and the pastel to catch any pastel dust. Without this gap, the dust can over time accumulate on the edge of the mattboard and become noticeable.
As for posting a finished artwork, if the piece is framed, I always use a professional art courier because I want my artwork to remain upright throughout the journey to avoid any pastel dust getting all over the glass and mattboard. Only proper art couriers allow for this.
A cheaper option is to send it un-framed. This way you need to really protect your work from being bent or rubbed. I build a custom box from foam board and then attach a piece of glassine paper to the face for protection.
Should I use a Fixative?
This is bought up a lot by beginners. And the answer is no. I never use fixative because my style of painting is to apply many layers and as soon as you use fixative on this it seems to bring some of those hidden layers to the front, ruining the colour you wanted and achieved through that process of blending. I also find that is is not needed because all pastels really need to be framed behind glass so sticky fingers can’t reach it anyway.
Are pastels lightfast?
Their are no official lightfastness codes for soft pastels that apply to other painting mediums, however being that there is hardly any binder added then their lightfastness are generally rated as superb. Which in terms of years, the majority are 100+. This is proven by looking at some of the masters work from the 1800’s which are still as bright and beautiful today as they were when painted.
Are pastels toxic to use?
Some pastel brands don’t use any toxic pigments such as cobalt and cadmium but it can greatly affect their brightness of colours. And it has been shown that the level of toxins in these pigments are not high enough to be absorbed through human skin anyway.
The international Art and Materials Institute (ACMI) has been making efforts to encourage safety in art materials since 1940. Their seal of approval can be found on many art materials in the form of labels.
The AP (approved product) label means the products “are safe and that are certified in a toxicological evaluation by a medical expert to contain no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injurious to humans, including children, or to cause acute or chronic health problems.”
You will find that most of the higher quality pastel brands will have this logo on their products. So all in all the major health threat with pastels would be breathing in the dust which can be prevented by not blowing on your paintIng. Try to have your pastel painting angled either on an easel or against a pile of books so that any dust will fall down to the bottom and then you can either use a damp cloth or vacuum to remove this. I know a few artists that use gloves to avoid the pigments going into their skin (I don’t because I haven’t found any yet that enable me to blend well, but I’m still searching). You could even wear a face-mask if you really had breathing problems such as asthma. So really there is nothing to stop you from picking up pastels and giving them a go.
If you want to learn more about Soft Pastels then your welcome to download my FREE guide which takes the mystery out of this amazing medium.
And make sure to Like my Facebook Page Here and join my Facebook Group “Drawing Wildlife & Nature – Beginners to Advanced” for more drawing tips and tricks.
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Kerri xx
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Categories: : beginner, educational, pastels
