A Guide to Pastel Painting

Introduction to Pastel Painting 

What Do I Need to Start Pastel Painting?

What Are Soft Pastels?

What’s The Difference in Quality Between Soft Pastels?

What’s The Difference Between Soft and Hard Pastels, Oil Pastels, PanPastel, and Pastel Pencils?

Painting With Oil Pastels

What Tools or Brushes Can I Use For Applying Soft Pastels?

What’s The Best Surface for Pastels?

Can I Prepare my Surface with a Ground?

Can I Combine Pastel Painting with Other Media?

What's the Best Way to Protect Finished Work?

Frequently Asked Questions

Further Reading

Glossary

Working with pastels is usually called pastel painting. Pastel painting is a way for artists to work directly with color, without using a brush. Artists can blend using their fingers, blending tools, and brushes. The term 'pastel' includes oil pastels, soft pastels, hard pastels, pan pastels, and pastel pencils. While they share the name, each type has its own unique qualities.

Soft pastels are designed to be as soft as possible without breaking too easily. Artists usually use textured surfaces (called 'tooth') to hold the powdery colors. Since pastels aren't mixed on a palette, they come in a wide range of tints and shades. Soft pastels can be used dry or with water. They are also available in pencil form for finer details.

Oil pastels are sticks of color, made from pigment mixed with a non drying oil and wax binder. Many different techniques can be achieved with oil pastels. For example, dissolving oil pastels with a solvent creates a watery, fluid effect. Using them dry on textured paper can resemble crayon marks. Some oil or wax pastels are watersoluble as well. Since the color can smudge, many artists use a fixative or frame their work behind glass to protect it.

To start pastel painting all you need are some pastels and paper:

A set of pastels: You can choose soft pastels, hard pastels, oil pastels, pastel pencils, or a mix.
A surface: Use textured paper or card, or cartridge paper for quick sketches.

Helpful Tools:

Blending tools: Try a color shaper or blending stump to blend colors smoothly.
Fixative: Use to protect your finished work.

Soft pastels are made from pure pigment mixed with a clay binder. They are pressed into sticks that give strong, vibrant color when applied. 

Since you don’t need brushes or other tools, soft pastels are one of the most direct and tactile mediums available. They are usually applied by hand to textured paper or card and can be blended with your fingers, a blending stump, or a color shaper. You can also blend soft pastel with liquids like water, rubbing alcohol, acetone, or oil paint solvents. You should always check that your surface can handle the liquid before use.

On surfaces made for pastel, you can layer colors to control blends and textures. Using a fixative helps protect the layers as you work and when the piece is finished. Unlike oil, acrylic, or watercolor paint, you can’t pre-mix pastel color. Instead, you change colors by layering varied shades on top of each other directly on your work.

Are Soft Pastels Toxic?

Most soft pastels are made with pigments that are either non-toxic or have low toxicity. They only pose a risk if ingested in large amounts, which is uncommon.

However, pastel dust can irritate your lungs if you breathe it in, even if the pastels themselves are non-toxic. If you work with thick layers of pastel, avoid blowing the dust away. This can send the dust into the air and make it easier to breathe in. If you're sensitive to dust or have allergies, wearing a dust mask is a good idea. To safely remove excess dust, go outside, tilt the artwork forward, and gently tap the back.

Some pastels may have more detailed labels than others. This usually reflects stricter rules in areas where the pastels are sold. It doesn’t mean those pastels are more harmful than others. To learn more, read our article 'Explaining Carcinogen Labels on Artist Materials'. Concerns about breathing in pastel dust have led some artists to switch to oil pastels.

Highest Quality Soft Pastels

The highest quality soft pastels offer the purest and brightest colors. These pastels usually include more colors made from single pigments and come in a large range of shades. Unlike paint, which can be mixed to create new colors, soft pastel ranges offer many different shades and hues. This wide selection helps artists capture all the colors they need.

Highest quality pastels have an ideal balance of pigment and binder. They’re crafted with care so the color glides smoothly onto paper. Because they use less binder, these pastels can crumble easily, so they’re often packed in boxes with foam inserts for protection. High pigment pastels tend to create dust, which is common for soft pastels with intense colors. The softest pastels are rolled by hand with minimal binder.

Excellent Quality Soft Pastels

Soft pastels of excellent quality often have a more uniform shape than the highest quality pastels. They tend to contain more binder, which makes them less crumbly. However, they are also less vibrant. Many shades in this range use multiple pigments, and white is often added to create lighter tones. This makes for a wide color selection but results in colors that aren’t as bright as single pigment pastels.

Some artists prefer lower quality pastels. These firmer pastels are easier to control and are good for fine lines and details. This firmness usually comes from simpler production methods that compress the ingredients, as well as the use of more binder. This makes them less crumbly.

Mid-range Soft Pastels

Mid-range soft pastels are great for exploring the medium without losing quality. They have less pigment saturation and the sticks are firmer. However, they’re easier to work with and they last much longer. Their firmness comes from a higher amount of binder. Some brands also use chalk in the binder, which affects how they look and behave.

Soft Pastels

Within the soft pastel range, there is a huge variety in hardness. Some pastels are buttery soft, some are very hard, but many are somewhere in between. Almost all brands have their own unique characteristics, and no two brands are alike. 

Soft pastels also come in a variety of shapes and sizes. As well as the standard crayon shape, there are square pastels so you have some sharp edges to work with. The sizes vary from the small square pastels by Blue Earth to the large rolled size of Mount Vision, which are at least three times the size.

Hard Pastels

Hard pastels make crisper marks than soft pastels. They are better for creating fine lines and details as they do not crumble or smudge as easily. However, they will not blend as easily as soft pastels. You may also find it harder to layer colors to quite the same extent as with soft pastels.

One of the most famous ranges of hard pastel is the Conté Carré range – Carré in French means ‘square’ – so they are literally square pastels. Conté Carrés are baked with kaolin clay. They are synonymous with drawing classes as they are a perfect medium with which to create sharp, bold expressive marks. They are therefore ideal for students wishing to become more confident with their drawing technique. The sticks measure 2.5 x 0.25in. The edges of the cuboid will create fine lines and the sides of the square will allow you to draw broad strokes of color. 

The Conté Carré range is most famous for its selection of earthy red-brown shades, but they also offer a full color spectrum in some of their other sets. Sets are hugely diverse and range from 4 to 84 color sets! The colors are blendable with one another and quite opaque – they work very well on darker sheets of paper.

Hard pastels need more pressure to apply color to the paper than soft pastels. This means they fill in the texture of the paper, leaving less of it visible. You can use hard pastels with soft pastels and mix them with other drawing or painting media if you enjoy mixed media. You can also erase or lift hard pastels with a putty eraser.

Oil Pastels

Oil pastels are made of pigments bound in a non-drying oil and wax binder. They are thought to have been originally developed by Sennelier, who was acting on the request of Pablo Picasso. The story goes that he wanted a painting and drawing medium that could be applied to wood, paper, canvas, or metal, without having to prepare or prime the surface.

Oil pastels are often favored by artists who find conventional soft pastels too dusty or chalky. Compared to soft pastels, oil pastels are creamier and the texture is noticeably more moist. This is a result of the presence of wax in their make-up.

Oil pastels are incredibly versatile. They can be used to draw in oil or acrylic paint. They can be applied thickly and smeared around with a finger or tool, they can be used with a solvent, either by brushing solvent on top of the drawing, or by dipping the stick before applying. You can even melt them for encaustic painting techniques. They are ideal for incorporating in mixed-media projects.

Artists' oil pastels are very different from children's wax crayons. They have much better lightfastness, though this can vary by brand. The softness also varies a lot. Some oil pastels are as hard as children’s crayons, while others are almost as soft as lipstick.

Painting with Oil Pastels

The consistency of oil pastels can be manipulated with heat. A cold oil pastel will feel harder and marks will appear sharper. More pressure is needed to deposit the color on to your support. When an oil pastel is cold it is a better drawing material, as fine and broad lines can easily be drawn. Some artists keep their oil pastels outdoors or in a fridge in order to keep them hard. 

An oil pastel that has been warmed up, either on a radiator or in your hands, will become more malleable. The color will glide onto your surface with less pressure. When oil pastels are warm, their properties start to resemble those of oil paint. As a result, more painterly effects can be achieved. 

Oil pastels can be thinned with solvents and extended with linseed oil, in the same way as can be done with oil paint. Oil pastels are used by some oil painters to draw into wet oil paint, to re-establish a composition in a painting, or to add texture or detail.

Mixed-Media and Oil Pastels

Oil pastels can be used with many other types of media. However, they do not dry like regular paints, which makes them less stable for layering. The wax in oil pastels can resist new layers, so other media may not adhere well. Because of this, oil pastels are often used as the final layer. To protect the work, it’s best to frame it under glass or use an oil pastel fixative.

Oil pastels are popular with mixed-media artists. They blend well with other media, like soft pastel, watercolor, colored pencils, and graphite, without issue. Sgraffito is a common technique with oil pastels. Since they scratch easily, you can make marks on thick layers with little effort, which helps avoid tearing or damaging the paper or surface.

PanPastel Colors

PanPastels are professional soft pastels in a unique pan format. This allows them to be mixed and applied like paint. They create very little dust, making them cleaner to work with.

Though PanPastels are soft pastels, using them feels more like painting than using regular pastel sticks. They come in round, stackable pans and are designed to be applied with Sofft Tools - a special range of micro-pore sponges.

Pastel Pencils

Pastel pencils can be used on their own or to add detail to soft pastel paintings. They are watersoluble, so the colors can blend smoothly for a flatter, less chalky look. Because pastel pencils are in a wood casing, your fingers stay clean, which helps prevent smudging.

You can blend colors by layering and using tools like a color shaper, brush, or your finger. Pastel pencils at Jackson’s are all good quality, but they differ in color range and hardness. For instance, Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel pencils are slightly harder than others.

Which Type of Pastel Should I Use?

The answer to this question is a personal decision. As outlined, each type of pastel offers its own set of qualities. Your job as the artist is to identify which qualities will best suit your creative intentions. You can mix and match different pastel types, and through trial and error, preference and style, you can find the materials and techniques that work best for you.

In time you may want to get some additional blending tools. Fingers can become very messy very quickly, and rough surfaces can make your fingers sore after a while.

Brushes for soft pastel tend to have quite short hair and a ‘stubby’ shape to the brush head. This lends itself well to blending pastels. Due to the delicacy of the medium, you will find that you will only need to use the brush very lightly, as otherwise you may lose a lot of pastel dust from the surface. These brushes come in a variety of sizes to cater for both very fine intricate work and bolder, large scale work.

If you prefer to blend with your fingers but find the process messy or harsh on your skin, latex or nitrile gloves can help.

Color shapers are made from silicone and are easy to wipe between blends. There are extra firm, firm, and soft varieties. The soft varieties are for delicate blends, while the firm ones can be used for applying more pressure and drawing out fine details.

Paper stumps and tortillions can also be used to blend soft pastel. They can be cleaned between uses by lightly sanding on a piece of sandpaper.

Sofft tools are made for use with PanPastel. The Sofft Tools range includes sponges of varying shapes and sizes. The smaller sponges fit onto a plastic handle to make controlled blending easier.

Chamois leather is another useful blending tool. A chamois can also be used to lift color when more pressure is applied.

Color shapers, tortillions, paper stumps and blenders all work on the same principle. These are tools that will move color around, push it further into its surface, and allow you to blend colors together. With these tools you can create smooth effects and the subtlest of blending.

You can dip all of these tools in water to help with blending. Another option is Tim Fisher Soft Pastel Liquefier. This is a fast evaporating, alcohol-based medium. It creates a watercolor effect when sprayed over soft pastel marks.

Removing Color

A putty eraser can lift away color, while harder erasers may push pastel particles deeper into the surface. The key to removing soft pastel is to be gentle. Surprisingly, a piece of soft, crustless bread works well as an eraser for soft pastel. Before erasing, blow on the area or use a soft brush to remove any loose color. This helps you lift the color more effectively.

Pastel paper is quite different from watercolor or cartridge paper. There are many types of pastel paper, each with its own qualities.

What Makes a Good Pastel Paper?

Pastel papers, as with all fine art papers, are acid-free and pH neutral. This helps to maximise their lifespan. Many pastel papers are colored, but unlike other colored papers such as sugar paper, the color is lightfast. This means they will not fade unless exposed to direct sunlight over a long period of time.

Most pastel papers will hold pastel color without the need for fixative. You can secure your pastel marks by dry fixing. This involves pressing down on the surface of your work with a piece of glassine. Spray fixative offers another layer of protection but does have a tendency to darken colors.

How Does Pastel Paper Hold Color?

The texture of a pastel paper holds color in its crevices. Among the wide variety of pastel papers, you will find a diverse range of qualities to suit every kind of approach to the medium. This ranges from fine cork particles glued to a surface, to the fine lines formed by the production of Ingres paper. 

This is where the following guide will help you to find the right grain or texture for you. Generally, the coarser the grain, the better the color holding. That said, you may prefer a smoother texture, which will allow for finer, more subtle details.

What Characteristics Vary Between Pastel Papers?

Pastel surfaces come as flexible paper sheets, card, or boards (where paper is mounted on card). A rigid surface helps keep the color in place. Since it doesn’t bend, the color is less likely to move.

Pastel paper comes in many colors. A tinted background can help unify your composition, as it will show through in the spaces between marks. Many pastel paper pads and loose sheets come in a range of colors. Heavier pastel papers, cards, and boards can also be tinted with ink if you want to change the surface color. Just check that the surface can handle ink before applying it.

Pastel papers also differ in how well they handle wet media, like watercolor and gouache. Some are not water resistant, and the texture may be damaged by water. If you plan to use these papers, check the product description to see if they can handle wet media.

What Paper Can I Use for Soft Pastel?

Soft pastels are best applied to paper or card with texture. The friction this offers makes it easier to deposit color and hold it in place. It is possible to use cartridge paper for quick sketches, but pastel paper and card allows for more layers to be applied. Heavier textured surfaces are popular for more finished works.

Pastel papers and cards fall into two main groups. Some have a light texture built into the sheet. Others have a coating that creates texture, such as soft microfibres (called velour), fine cork particles, or grit.

Coated papers tend to hold more layers than uncoated papers. The type of coating has a direct impact upon the appearance of pastel marks. Velour papers are best for soft blended effects, while gritty papers can hold dynamic marks in place. Uncoated Ingres and honeycomb papers are all you need for quick sketches with only a few layers.

What is Ingres Pastel Paper?

Ingres pastel paper is the oldest and most traditional pastel paper. 

It is cylinder mold-made, which means that acid-free cellulose fibres are placed in a huge vat and a large metal cylinder is dipped into it. The fibers attach themselves to the cylinder forming rolls of paper, which need to then be dried and flattened. The paper is compressed between the mesh of the cylinder and marking felt, which gives it its unique texture. This surface is known as a chain and laid line surface. 

It is a lighter, more delicate pastel painting surface. Some artists find that they need to reinforce their work with a light fixing. It is great for detailed work. It is also suitable for use with colored pencil, graphite, and charcoal. It is not heavy enough to withstand wet media applications without buckling; paper weights between brands vary from 100gsm-160gsm. It tends to be grained only on one side. 

Ingres pastel paper can have very subtle color flecks on its surface. This gives it a classic, traditional look.

What is Velour Paper?

Velour paper feels a bit like ‘fuzzy felt’. It is very soft and smooth to the touch. Pastels glide over the surface effortlessly, and it is a pleasure to work on. The softness of the surface holds onto a lot of color and marks, making it ideal for detailed works and adding texture. Velour is not recommended for hard pastels or hard pencils. It is best suited to very soft dry media. 

Pastel Paper Comparison Table

Our table compares the content, texture, formats, weight, and colors of artist pastel papers. Click the image below to enlarge, or download our PDF version to print.

Pastel ground is a specially developed primer that can be applied to a surface. Once dry, it is an ideal texture on which to apply soft pastel. Most pastel grounds dry with a light sandpaper-like texture. 

It should be applied with a thin and even layer using a priming brush. If you want a heavier texture, it’s best to apply multiple thin layers, allowing drying time between each, rather than apply one thicker layer. Our tip would keep one priming brush aside especially for pastel ground.

As long as the surface allows it, soft pastel can be combined with many types of media. Since pastel primers are acrylic-based, you can prime a surface with pastel ground and then use soft pastel with acrylic paint in one piece.

Rough and cold-pressed watercolor papers can hold soft pastel marks in place. This texture, combined with water solubility, makes soft pastel a good match for watercolor. For best results, protect your pastel and watercolor work behind glass or with a few light layers of spray varnish. Be sure to test the varnish first, as it may affect the colors.

Soft pastel can also be combined with hard pastel. These can offer crisper lines and a different quality to soft pastel. Pastel pencils can also be used for adding fine detail or outlines to a soft pastel work. Adding oil pastel to a soft pastel work can add a contrasting waxy textural quality.

There are three main ways to protect soft pastel works.

Glassine – For Protecting Work in Storage
Glassine is a glossy grease-proof paper that is designed to protect artworks from smudging. It is used to interleave sheets in some pastel paper pads. Loose sheets of glassine can be purchased in packs or singles. They are useful to keep in supply, for interleaving between stored works, or for wrapping pastel works prior to posting them.

Glassine is also great for protecting hard pastel and oil pastel. If you wish to further secure your marks onto the surface without using fixative, you can ‘pressure fix’ your work. Lay a sheet of glassine over the artwork and press it gently and evenly without moving the glassine. This will push the particles more firmly into the paper texture.

Fixative – For Protecting Work While In Progress
Fixative is a clear liquid sprayed onto a dry media artwork. This helps to stabilize the pigment on the surface, and to preserve finished artwork from dust. Most fixatives are available in an aerosol spray. Work can be fixed throughout the process to protect each layer.

The work should be placed on a flat surface and excess dust removed. Spray the fixative using an even amount of pressure and from the same distance over the whole work. Fixatives are sometimes available in bottles without aerosol. When this is the case the fixative can be applied with a spray diffuser.  

Fixatives are known to sometimes darken colors. Those who wish to protect their work without using fixatives are advised to keep their work behind glass.

You can learn more in our Guide to Fixatives. For a full comparison of fixatives, read 'Fixatives Are Not All the Same' on Jackson's Artists' Blog.

Glass – For Protecting and Presenting Finished Works
One of the most secure ways to protect soft pastel work is by framing it behind glass. This is also likely to be the most space consuming solution as well. 

As with all work on paper, it is best to have a gap between the work and the glass. This allows any humidity to circulate away from the work. It also prevents any shifts in the position of the glass from smudging the work. A window mount or spacers offers a good solution to this.

Keeping Your Pastels Safe in a Box
Soft pastels break easily. A sturdy wooden box with foam inserts is ideal for long-term storage. It keeps colors separate, clean, and safe from bumps that can cause breakage. With a bit of organization, it also helps you find the colors you need quickly.

Pastel: Popular Questions from Artists

Soft Pastel for Beginners: What You Need To Get Started

An Introduction to Soft Pastels with Artist Sophie Ploeg

Everything You Need to Know About Pastel Paper

Oil Sticks vs Oil Pastels

Can You Use Oil Pastels and Soft Pastels Together?

Using Soft Pastels for Observational Drawing

A Comparison of Caran d’Ache Pastel Ranges

Create a Custom Pastel Painting Surface With Colourfix Primer

Fixatives Are Not All The Same

How to Repair Broken Soft Pastels

How to Fix Broken PanPastels

A

Abrasion
Pastel papers and card can have varied textures. High abrasion surfaces, like Sennelier Soft Pastel card, have a heavy tooth. Many artists prefer this as it holds color well and allows for layering. However, pastels tend to get used up faster on these rough surfaces.

Acid-Free
Papers made from wood cellulose will naturally contain acid. This breaks down the paper over time. To make your work last, use acid-free surfaces. This includes treated papers or those made from cotton or linen, which are acid-free.

Archival
This term describes surfaces that can last for hundreds of years. However, it is sometimes used inaccurately. If you want your work to be truly archival, look for a Museum or Conservation grade rating. This guarantees the highest durability. Materials that are 'acid-free' can also last for centuries with proper care, which meets the needs of many artists.

B

Binder
Binders hold your paints and drawing materials together. In the case of hard and soft pastels, the binder is made of a mix of clay and gum arabic, gum tragacanth, or methyl cellulose. The greater amount of binder in hard pastels is what makes them harder. Oil pastels are made with a non-drying oil and wax binder. Colored pencils are bound in kaolin (white clay) and wax or oil.

Blackness
The 'B' in B grade pencils stands for blackness. The higher the number, the darker the mark of your pencil (i.e. 9B is a very soft, high-blackness pencil). Soft pencils have a much higher graphite content and lower clay content than hard pencils.

Blending
Blending smooths color to make a soft transition between colors. You can use your finger, a tortillon, a paper stump, a color shaper, or a soft brush. Mediums can soften pastel and pencil marks, making blending easy.

Burnishing
This process involves using a paper stump or tortillon on applied marks. It smooths the color, reduces texture, and adds shine. This technique is often used with colored pencils.

C

Cartridge Paper
A smooth or lightly textured paper. Best suited to dry media, printmaking, and light washes. Usually made from wood free paper. Confusingly, this means it is made from wood fibre, but the lignin has been removed to ensure that it is acid-free.

Casein
A milk protein used in Spectrafix fixative. It provides a non-yellowing and water-resistant film. Edgar Degas is thought to have used casein to fix his own pastel paintings.

Chalk
Often used as a filler in soft pastels. It is also a drawing material in its own right.

Chain and Laid Paper
A uniform texture found on Ingres pastel paper. The chain lines are found to run parallel to the shorter side of the sheet of paper in wider intervals. The laid lines run parallel to the longer side of the sheet with narrower spaces between them. The texture is made during manufacture. Also well suited to charcoal and drawing with Conté crayons.

Charcoal
Charcoal is made from finely ground organic materials like willow or vine plants. They are heated at high temperatures in a kiln without air. These materials are then bound together with wax or gum. Compressed charcoal has more binder, which makes it harder and produces lighter marks. 

Willow or vine charcoal comes in soft, brittle sticks, popular for quick sketches. The marks are easy to lift with an eraser or your finger and can be made permanent with a fixative. Charcoal pencils have the charcoal inside a wood casing, making them stronger and better for fine details.

Clutch Pencil
A mechanical lead holder holds leads and is often used with hard graphite grades. It’s ideal for fine lines and detail, making it popular for technical drawings.

Color Shaper
A shaping/molding tool. Made with a plastic or wooden brush-like handle and a rubber or silicon tip. The tip is shaped either to a chisel or a point. Color Shapers are useful for moving pastel color around or burnishing. They can also be used for sculpting models.

Color Strength / Saturation
This term describes how bold or intense a color looks. Another term for color strength is saturation. 

Pigment particles vary in size and type. Some pigments can mix with more binder without weakening the paint’s structure. This results in greater color strength. Some pigments look more vibrant than others, so they may appear stronger, even with the same pigment-to-oil ratio.

Complementary Colors
These color pairs are found opposite each other on the color wheel. They are also called secondary colors. When placed side by side, they make each other look more intense. When mixed together, they create neutral greys.

Composition
The way shapes, colors, and lines are arranged on your surface. This is sometimes called the design.

Consistency
Consistency is the flow of a medium. For pastels or pencils, it can be described as chalky, waxy, scratchy, or creamy.

Conté
A type of crayon with a square cross-section. Invented by French artist and polymath Nicolas-Jacques Conté (1755-1805). They are made by Conté à Paris. These crayons are now made from white kaolin clay and a binder (cellulose ether). Some contain charcoal or graphite powder, while others are colored with pigments.

D

Dry Wash
Using the side of a soft pastel stick to apply a thin and even layer of color to the ground of your substrate prior to starting work on your piece. The layer can be softened or thinned by gently brushing with kitchen paper, cotton wool, or a pastel brush.

E

Encaustic
Also known as hot wax painting. It involves heating pigmented wax so that it becomes liquid and applying it to a substrate. This process is possible when heating oil and wax pastels and crayons. Special encaustic wax cakes or bars are also available.

F

Feathering
Using short lines to create an image. Colors combine and blend visually when observed from a distance. Similar to hatching.

Fixative
A liquid sprayed on pastel and pencil drawings to protect them. Most fixatives are alcohol based and use hydrocarbon propellants. Some, like Spectrafix, are casein-based.

Fixatives can darken colors. To avoid this, it should be applied in thin layers. This is why they come in pump or aerosol sprays. You can also use it on a work in progress. Use aerosol fixatives in well-ventilated areas, ideally outdoors.

Frottage
Use of a pastel or pencil to make a rubbing from a textured surface.

G

Glassine
A paper that resists air, water, and grease. It is used to protect drawings and pastel paintings.

Ground
This term refers to the surface you choose for your artwork. It also describes a medium applied to a surface to create the perfect base for your work.

Gum Arabic
A formula made from the gum of the Acacia tree. It is used as an ingredient in the binder of pastels and pencils, as well as watercolor. The more gum arabic in a drawing material, the harder it becomes, and the lighter the mark it makes.

Gum Tragacanth
A water soluble gum used as a binder for soft pastels.

H

Hard Pastel
Hard pastels are made from pigment and a water soluble gum-based binder. Their ingredients are the same as soft pastels. The difference is that a greater proportion of binder in the recipe makes the pastels a lot harder. As a result, lighter and sharper lines can be achieved.

Hardness / Softness
The softer a drawing material, the easier it is to break down and be applied to a surface. This makes marks darker and more saturated. In graphite pencils, this is graded: 'B' stands for blackness. 9B or 8B is usually the very softest pencil available in a range. These are capable of the blackest marks which are smudgeable. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 9H or 8H is the very hardest pencil in a range. They are capable of very crisp, light marks.

Hatching / Crosshatching
Hatching is a shading technique where thinly spaced parallel lines are used to add tone to a drawing. Crosshatching uses two sets of parallel lines that overlap. This creates areas of tone with small crosses.

Highlighting
Highlights show where light hits an object. You can add them by lifting marks with a putty eraser, or by drawing light marks with pastel or pencil.

I

Impasto
A build up of thick layers of color. Oil pastel is best suited to impasto within the technique of pastel painting. This is most easily done by heating the oil pastel up before applying it.

Ingres Paper
Ingres paper has a smooth and finely ribbed texture. It is great for use with soft pastels and pastel pencils. It is usually mold-made and free from wood pulp. Most papermakers make a version of Ingres paper. It is named after the draughtsman Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867).

L

Laid Paper
Laid paper has a smooth, finely ribbed surface. This is as a result of the manufacturing processes. Ingres paper is a widely used name for laid paper.

Layering
To apply colors in layers. Rough or coarse papers are better for layering with pencil and soft pastels. The textured surface means they can hold color in place and preserve the appearance of drawn marks.

Lightfastness
The degree to which a color will fade or discolor when exposed to natural sunlight. Paintmakers use one of two scales to indicate the lightfastness of a color. These are the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the Blue Wool Scale (8 = most lightfast, 1 = least lightfast).

- ASTM I = Excellent Lightfastness
- ASTM II = Good Lightfastness
- ASTM III = Fair Lightfastness
- ASTM IV = Fugitive

Liquefier
A special formula that dissolves soft pastel. It helps to achieve wash effects and for blending or mixing techniques.

O

Oil Pastels
A drawing and painting medium made from pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder. They can be used on their own, or blended with the use of linseed oil or solvent. They can be applied to a range of surfaces including wood, canvas, and paper.

O

PanPastel
Creamy soft pastels in plastic stackable pans. They are designed to be used with Sofft tools. These sponges and sponge-headed tools make working with pastels more like painting than drawing. Developed in the 21st century, PanPastels are a modern take on soft pastels.

Paper Stump
A cylindrical drawing tool, made of compressed soft paper that has been sanded to a point at both ends. Artists use it to smudge and blend marks made with charcoal, Conté crayon, pencil, and other drawing media.

Pastel Blending Brush
A soft hair brush used to blend pastel marks. It also expands the potential for mark-making. With a flat stump-like brush head, although other brush shapes are available.

Pastel Pencils
Soft pastel color encased in wood. They offer a clean alternative to soft pastels. A good way to add detail to soft pastel drawings.

Primary Colors
The traditional primary colors for painting are Red, Yellow, and Blue. These are used to create a wide range of other colors. Another common set is Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta. These also create a range of colors but with different intensities. A split primary palette has both warm and cool versions of each color.

Pumice
You can add pumice powder to acrylic gesso or primer. This creates a textured surface that is perfect for soft pastels. It helps the surface hold color well.

S

Sandpaper Grain
Fine sandpaper grain pastel surfaces will hold layers of soft pastel color in place. Available in a range of colors. They tend not to be waterproof so only use them with dry soft pastels.

Sanguine
A deep rust color often found in soft and hard pastel and pastel pencil ranges.

Scraping Out
The process of scratching or lifting soft pastel color away with a rigid tool to reveal the surface underneath. The end of a brush handle, a palette knife, or a blade are all good tools to use for this technique.

Scumbling
To apply bold, unblended marks on top of thin, blended colors. This technique is often used with pastels and pencils.

Sfumato
This technique lets tones and colors shade smoothly into each other. It creates soft outlines and hazy forms.

Sgraffito
To scratch into the top layer of color to reveal a contrasting color underneath. This works well with oil pastels.

Sheen
The quality of a surface with regard to its shininess. For example, oil pastels often make marks with a waxy sheen.

Sight-size
To paint or draw at the exact scale that you see the subject. Holding a pencil or paintbrush up at arm's length against the subject helps to establish at what size you see the elements of your composition, and compare lengths and sizes with one another.

Sofft Tools
Sofft Tools are made for applying PanPastel colors. They also work well with watercolor, acrylic, and ink. Additionally, they are good for modeling clay and polymer clay.

The full range includes various sponge shapes and sponge heads that fit onto handles, similar to palette knives. You can easily clean them with soap and lukewarm water. Be sure to let them dry completely before using them again.

Soft Pastel
Soft pastels are a chalky medium made from pure pigment with low amounts of clay and gum binder. There is no drying time and colors can be applied and blended with your fingers. Soft pastels are easy to smudge and blend. They are water soluble. In comparison to other pastels and drawing media, soft pastels are known to generate the highest amount of dust. 

Stippling
This effect is made by gently prodding with a blunt-headed brush. It produces a dappled texture in soft pastels.

T

Tint
Soft pastels offer more colors than acrylic, oil, or watercolor paints. This is because you can't pre-mix colors with pastels, so a wider range is needed. Many brands organize their colors into tints. Each color in the range comes in several shades with different levels of lightness or darkness, known as tints.

Tinted Charcoal
Charcoal dust and small amounts of pigment are bound in a clay and gum based binder. Tinted charcoal will have the softness and smudgy quality of charcoal but with a subtle hint of color.

Tooth
Refers to the texture on a pastel painting surface. The tooth of the surface will hold the color in place and minimise the amount of soft pastel dust. Sanded papers generally have more tooth.

Tortillon
A cylindrical drawing tool. Used by artists to smudge or blend marks made with charcoal, soft and hard pastels, and pencils. They are tapered at the ends and usually made of rolled paper.

V

Value
This means ‘tone’ in visual art. ‘The value of the object’ describes how light or dark it is. The lightest value is white and the darkest value is black.

Velour Paper
Velour paper has a soft, luxurious surface. It is made of thousands of tiny fibres. These fibres help soft and hard pastels stick well to the surface and reduce dust accumulation.

W

Watercolor / Watersoluble Pencil
Colored pencils with a watersoluble binder. They can be used wet or dry, and colors can be blended with a wet brush. Some ranges are rewettable when dry, while others are not. This can help when layering marks. Refer to product information if in any doubt. Great for adding detail to watercolor paintings or as a medium in its own right.

Waxy Bloom
Some colored pencils contain a high amount of wax in their binder. This wax slowly rises to the surface, creating a milky haze on the pencil marks. You can remove waxy bloom easily by wiping it with a cloth or a cotton swab.

Woodless Pencils
Woodless pencils have a wider lead, which makes them last longer. You can save the sharpenings to use as a drawing tool. If they are watersoluble, you can dissolve the sharpenings in water and use them like watercolor.