Art Mediums: Pastels
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008I frequently use soft pastels and velour art paper or suede board as this combination of medium and support is particularly suited to animal artwork, and I thought it would be good to provide some information about pastels as a Fine Art medium.
Pastels as a Fine Art medium have been used for hundreds of years by many of the Masters, including Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Whistler, Cassatt and Matisse as well as many others.
Pastels are pure finely ground pigments that are rolled or shaped into sticks using a soft binder to hold the particles together. The pigments used to create pastel sticks are actually the same pigments that are used to create all coloured art mediums including oil and acrylic paints – it is just the binders that are used that makes each medium different.
Although some people refer to them as ‘chalk’ pastels, this really is a misnomer as pastels are not anything like the chalk sticks you will find in a classroom - nor do they only come in soft light ‘pastel’ colours, they do in fact come in many pure and vibrant colours, as well as literally dozens of earthy, natural tones.
According to Answers “pigment applied with pastel does not change in colour value, the final effect can be seen immediately. Pastel remains on the surface of the paper and thus can be easily obliterated unless protected by glass or a fixative spray of glue size or gum solution. When pastel is applied in short strokes or linearly, it is usually classed as drawing; when it is rubbed, smeared, and blended to achieve painterly effects, it is often regarded as a painting medium.”
There are several types of pastels available to artists as defined by Answers:
Soft pastels — This is the most widely used form of pastel. The sticks have a higher portion of pigment and less binder, resulting in brighter colors.
Hard pastels — These have a higher portion of binder and less pigment, producing a sharp drawing material that is useful for fine details. These can be used with other pastels for drawing outlines and adding accents.
Pastel pencils — These are pencils with a pastel lead. They are useful for adding fine details.
Oil Pastels - These have a soft, buttery consistency and intense colors. They are slightly more difficult to blend than soft pastels, but do not require a fixative.
Water-soluble pastels — These are similar to soft pastels, but contain a water-soluble component, such as glycol. This allows the colors to be thinned out using a water wash.
Personally I work mostly with soft pastels, with a few hard pastels and pencils for final line work, as the softness is very suitable for creating believable, almost touchable animal fur.
Hahnemuhle Velour Pastel Paper is produced in Germany using inert synthetic fibres on an acid free backing sheet. This beautiful paper actually feels like velour fabric, and because of the nap (long fibres) it holds most pastels very well. Of the pastels that I use, I choose the harder ones as some of the more softer brands are more delicate and likely to ‘fall off’ when used on velour paper. This velour paper comes in a range of colours that are all lightfast (so they are resistant to fading) and they all have acid free backing which prevents yellowing over time.
My favourite support for animal art in pastels is suede mat board. Although a very expensive support, I find the results that I can achieve are outstanding and as the pastel pigment is held by the imitation suede ‘nap’ better than it is on velour paper, the artwork is less delicate than that on velour, which in my mind makes it well worth the extra expense. The biggest problem with both velour and suede board however, is that you do have to be careful with them as neither supports are very easy to correct mistakes once they have been made!
Finally, pastel artwork (with the exception of art that is mostly sketchy line work) is generally referred to as paintings rather than drawings. Due to the delicate nature of pastel paintings, it is very important that they are cared for properly and framed professionally in the correct manner, with an acid free mat(s) and behind glass so that they can be enjoyed for many years to come.
Now that you know all about pastels, I better get busy and write some articles about the other mediums that I use – charcoal, colour pencils, acrylics and oils!
