Few more pastel questions

[Tony Perrotta]

Hi all, Thanks for all your help in my last thread. I know most pastelists use different hardnesses for different steps. What is used for what. Soft for? Hard for? Inexpensive for?, fine pastels for?

Thanks Tony

[SweetBabyJ]

Generally- which is not to say always- hard pastels are used to lay in a toning or underpainting kind of first layer. They can also be used on top of softer pastels where they then act as a blender of sorts- they are so hard they cannot deposit a lot of colour, but they'll blend what is there, and maybe add a bit of their own tone. But hard pastels are also good for adding minute and fine detail if you need it- individual hairs, a line of a wrinkle, a thin branch at a treetop. The softer the pastel, though, the closer to "last-applied" you usually get.

This is because softies fill the tooth of the paper fast- if you're so good you can get each colour, tone and value right from the first stroke, you'll not need those layers. If not- like most of us, you'll stroke and stroke trying to find just the right mix....

[DGrau]

you may use any hardness or softness of pastel which you wish throughout the painting. BUt scince the tooth of the paper is what grabs the pastel and as it gets filled it becomes harder to take the color, therefore at this point if you have softer pastels, that tooth will still grab some of it where as it will not with a hard pastel.
Normally speaking people start with the harder and go softer as the painitng progresses if useing a combination, But if you have enough tooth and it is the hue/value you wish, you can still use the harder, or sometimes by useing a harder over a soft it will slightly blend as you push it into the softer pastel.
Hard pastels are made useing more binders and fillers (less expensive)
Soft pastels use less binders {purer pigment~more expensive)
David

[jackiesimmonds]

This is because softies fill the tooth of the paper fast- if you're so good you can get each colour, tone and value right from the first stroke, you'll not need those layers. If not- like most of us, you'll stroke and stroke trying to find just the right mix....


or, you will recognise that you are loading up the tooth of the pastel paper by working in this way, so, to prevent this kind of aggravation, you TEST YOUR TONE AND COLOUR on a strip at the side of the picture, and if you are still struggling after a while and things aren't quite right YOU GET OUT A STIFF BRUSH AND BRUSH THE COLOUR RIGHT OFF THE SURFACE, leaving just a blush of colour on the surface which you can spray fix, and then happily work over.

In all my years teaching, I have watched countless students build up layer after layer, getting so frustrated as they struggle to find the colour and tone they want, and then getting even more frustrated when the paper wont take any more pastel. When I nudge them into remembering about brushing off, it's like a light bulb goes off in their head. Why they dont think of doing it themselves, when I have mentioned it time and time again, I cannot imagine. There seems to be a resistance to it, for some reason. It really is the best answer to stop the clogging of the paper.


The advice about hard, and soft, pastels, is right on the money so far, so I won't repeat it, other than to say that for a beginner, it is easier to use hard UNDER soft, rather than the other way round.

I never used to use hard at all, could never see the point, always did a pic from start to finish with soft pastels, using a light touch in the early stages so as not to fill the tooth too soon. But it is a personal choice, and you have to find a way that feels right to you.

There is no comparison between cheap pastels, and the top quality ranges. Good pastels are smooth and creamy and stroke onto the paper beautifully; cheap pastels are really gritty by comparison. They are very different animals.

Jackie

[Tony Perrotta]

Hi, Thanks for your responses. So it would be correct to get a set of Nu Pastels to do my blocking in and save the softer pastels for the finer work.

Thanks Tony

[SweetBabyJ]

That's the way a lot of folks here work, Tony, but it's only one way. If you're using a sanded surface that "eats" pastel fast, may as well save the softies for last, eh? Like dessert.

NuPastels have some archival problems according to everyone but the company (isn't that always the way??) but so far, their relative inexpense outweighs that notion when you're getting started. All you can do is try, and see what works for you.