Essential Pastel Supply List for Beginners: Your Ultimate Guide

Kickstart your pastel art journey with this beginner's guide. Discover essential supplies and art tips to help you get started with confidence.

Essential Pastel Supply List for Beginners: Your Ultimate Guide

Welcome to the essential pastel supply list designed especially for beginners. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your collection, this guide has been updated with helpful links and

additional details to make your pastel art journey smoother.

Kerri Dixon Arts — A collage of Kerri Dixon's pastel art, showcasing realistic portraits of various animals, including a cat, flamingo, chimpanzee, frog, dog with a tennis ball, and more.

1.Good Quality Paper: I primarily use Clairefontaine Pastelmat. It’s my go-to because it does everything I want it to do. While I occasionally use sanded papers, I find myself sticking more and more to Pastelmat.

2. PanPastel Soft Tools: These are essential for blending the stick pastels and PanPastels.

3. Backing Board and Sticky Tape: To tape down your pastel paper.

4. Glassine Paper: This is to rest your hand on while working to prevent smudging your pastel work.

5. Tracing Paper: For transferring line art onto your pastel paper.

6. Stabilo Carbothello Pastel Pencils: My all-time favorite pastel pencils.

7. Soft Pastel Sticks: Perfect for backgrounds and block-ins.

8. Knife and Sanding Block: For sharpening your pastel pencils.

With these essential supplies, you're well on your way to creating beautiful pastel artwork. Starting with a curated list of tools can make your journey more enjoyable and less overwhelming. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your collection, these items will support your artistic endeavors.

Blending Pastels: Recommended Tools

For blending pastels, soft tools and sponges are excellent choices. The soft tools can help achieve smooth transitions and a polished look. Using a sponge is especially beneficial for large areas and can create beautiful gradients. Here are some specific recommendations for blending tools:

1. Soft Tools (PanPastel Sofft Tools) provide essential blending capabilities:

- The Sofft Knife & Covers feature foam covers that fit over knives of various shapes, enabling precise application and blending.
- Sofft Sponges, available in angle, oval, and round shapes, are ideal for seamlessly blending larger areas in pastel art.

2. Sponges offer versatile blending options:
- Cosmetic Sponges, affordable and easily cut into smaller pieces, are perfect for detailed pastel work.
- Art Sponges, designed specifically for pastels, provide denser material for enhanced control and blending precision.

3. Blending Stumps (Tortillons) are effective tools for refining details:
- These tightly rolled paper sticks are excellent for blending small areas and adding fine details in pastel artwork.

4. Chamois Cloth is a gentle blending tool:
- A small piece of chamois cloth allows artists to blend pastels delicately without lifting too much pigment, achieving subtle transitions.

5. Fingers, though unconventional, can serve as versatile blending tools:
- Some artists find using their fingers effective for blending soft pastels, offering tactile control and nuanced blending results.

For sharpening pastel pencils, a sharp knife or blade works well. A sanding block can be used to refine the point further and shape the tip for detailed work.

For a robust backing board, MDF is indeed a good choice as it is sturdy and smooth. Clear sticky tape is great for securing your paper without distorting colors, and glassine paper is essential for protecting your artwork from smudging.

I hope you find this supply list helpful, whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your collection. Remember, while it can be tempting to buy every pastel out there, starting with a curated list of essentials can make your journey more enjoyable and less overwhelming.

I’m excited to share a PDF guide with you! Inside, you’ll find clickable buttons that take you directly to Amazon Australia, where you can see more pictures and prices. These are affiliate links, meaning I get a small percentage if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. This helps support the content I create and allows me to keep sharing valuable information with you.

Link here : https://www.kerridixonart.com/...

And also if you'd like to hear me talk more about art competitions for animal arts, head over to my YouTube channel to join the conversation CLICK HERE.

Kerrixx