Painting with soft pastel is the closest thing to painting with pure pigment. Pastel colour glides onto the surface and can be blended and modified with your finger or a tool such as a colour shaper.
This pastel department incorporates the many variations of this drawing and painting medium. Working with the
very best soft pastels feels like drawing with pure pigment, in all its vibrant, chalky glory.
Oil pastels combine pigment with wax binders, creating a versatile medium that offers blendable texture. Pastel pencils allow you to enjoy the expressive qualities of soft pastel in a pencil form - perfect for precise, detailed marks that can be blended and smudged too.Is pastel a drawing or painting medium? The answer is both! They’re unique in their qualities and fall between the two. The high pigment concentration in pastels rivals what you’d find in the most vibrant oil or acrylic paints. Their versatility allows you to draw chalky lines and also apply flat areas of colour than can be blended and layered over one another.
Pastel painting sets make it quick and easy to acquire a number of colours to get started. There are literally thousands of colours to choose from by world-renowned brands including
Unison, Schmincke, Conte, Sennelier,
Pan Pastel, Daler Rowney, Caran d’Ache and
our own brand Jackson’s.
While paper for soft or hard pastels will always require a bit of tooth, this article explains the subtle differences between each paper and why you would choose a particular one.
Aug 28th 2014 by Julie Caves
Finding the right fixative for your piece that is secure enough without changing the colour too much can be hard but this article could help you out.
Aug 29th 2014 by Julie Caves
Teresa Allen discusses in detail the qualities of Art Spectrum Soft Pastels and how to create a distinct carefully layered landscape.
Feb 24th 2017 by Julie Caves