Fine Art Pastels

Fine Art Pastels Techniques

Pastels on paper are great for working "en plein aire" (outdoors) as there are no liquids to spill or carry and no brush clean up. I sometimes do them first and then translate them into either oil or acrylic paintings, which I can work up in the studio, where the light is controlled and clean up is easily done. I carry a smaller selection of chalks for this outdoor work, and sometimes work on smaller pieces of pastel paper, doing several versions of a particular scene.

A drawing board and a portable easel are about the only other equipment needed. A clipboard is also easily carried over rough ground. Remember, when working outdoors, that the light changes as the day wears on. About an hour is maximum. Try working the same scenic view as separate pastels done at different times of day. Use plastic gloves or finger cots if you want to keep the chalks away from the fingernails while working. Both are inexpensive and eliminate washing up before leaving the site. Otherwise, carry a box of Kleenex.

My pastels are done without blending for the most part. I use them as a drawing technique. I don't try to hide the strokes of the chalks with a lot of blending as would be done in a painting. I usually use a full sheet of 19 x 25 pastel paper. My preference is a French paper called Mi Teints by Canson. These fine papers come in 50 different shades to please any palette. I never use white paper. These sheets have two surfaces, rougher vellum on one side and a flat finish on the other. These papers will also accept watercolor, ink and acrylic, and are long lasting and archival. I have used Dick Blick as my art supply house for years, first as an art supervisor during my years as an art educator, and in my own studio since retirement in 1986.

I choose a shade or tint that seems to suit the image. If it is a fall scene, then I use an orange or pink sheet. If an interior, then a cooler tone is chosen. I have found that a color-opposite choice enhances the brilliance of the finished drawing and that a close-color choice softens the finished work.

I use Prismacolor Nupastel color sticks which are about 3/8 of an inch square and about four inches long. They are lacquered and very little color gets on my fingers. I started using these in 1951 and have always used them since. I have a very large selection of colors, tints and shades. In addition to these, I have a 28 stick set of Conte pastel pencils, which can be sharpened to a point for precise detail work. I also use General's white charcoal pencils and their 6B black charcoal pencils for precise details.

I never use fixative! I have drawings that are now more than fifty years old and the ones that were "fixed" have foxed and spotted, making the drawing useless. The others are as they were made without evidence of deterioration.

I begin my pastel by choosing a chalk that is a shade lighter or darker than the paper color. I block in the main elements of the image, without too much attention to accuracy. I then start working up the background colors and tones, choosing tones that begin to suggest the sky if it is a landscape, or the shadows or highlights of the background in a still life. Then the middle areas and, finally, the closer details.

When I work outdoors, I know that I will have to adjust the colors for inside lighting, so details are left for that time. If I am working in the studio from the beginning, then I don't need to worry, as the result does not change with indoor lighting.

I do not try to blend and hide the strokes of the various chalks and pencils. I expect the viewer to see these drawings from a distance and not close up, as would be the case for book illustration or miniature works. Blending with stumps and fingers diminishes the vibrancy of the colors and, at least for me, makes a less exciting work of art.

Pastels can be double matted with the inner mat cut in the reverse to catch any stray chalk mites that might fall from the finished work, perhaps by a jolt or careless handling of the framed work. A UV inhibiting acrylic can now be used to protect the papers from fading. Even so, it is not a good idea to let any type of drawing on paper be exposed to direct sunlight, and they are better hung on inside walls or other places where they do not receive too much light.

Saint Gaudens Pastels Series

These two are my favorites from the whole Saint Gaudens series. Both are framed here at my studio and available.

Martha's Bouquet 1