Roche pastels - Page 8

dvantuyl · #**106** 03-10-2012, 05:58 PM

Thank you Sherry. Here is a little plain air painting I did a couple years ago. The reason I am sharing this is because at that time I had a little bit of my Roche's left and used them sparingly on the grasses. The orange color is from the Roche 12 piece landscape set and some of the ochre color is a from a very tiny piece. This is the last painting where I was able to use my Roche. I dropped the orange and it shattered. The ochre was used up. Those Roche's really helped make the grasses glow. With the pumice and richness of the orange color I was able to drag it very lightly over and it blended in very well. It was exciting at the time and fun.

SherryC · #**107** 03-10-2012, 06:06 PM

I like your philosophy Robert. I think you have a gift ... The gift of enjoying what is around you, what you earn, what your are given, the days when you feel good. Many people do not have that.

SherryC · #**108** 03-10-2012, 06:10 PM

Thanks for sharing this. I think my other colors will arrive Monday or Tuesday so I can play with painting something other than purple. I have some portrait and landscape colors coming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvantuyl

Thank you Sherry. Here is a little plain air painting I did a couple years ago. The reason I am sharing this is because at that time I had a little bit of my Roche's left and used them sparingly on the grasses. The orange color is from the Roche 12 piece landscape set and some of the ochre color is a from a very tiny piece. This is the last painting where I was able to use my Roche. I dropped the orange and it shattered. The ochre was used up. Those Roche's really helped make the grasses glow. With the pumice and richness of the orange color I was able to drag it very lightly over and it blended in very well. It was exciting at the time and fun.

SherryC · #**109** 03-10-2012, 06:23 PM

Lest I bore people to death, this will be my last post. In 1991 Christie's auctioned five trays of "numerous" Roche pastels. It did not state how many sticks. The selling price was approximately $450.

sketchZ1ol · #**110** 03-10-2012, 07:03 PM

hello
Donna - that scene really does allow for
pushing value and saturation !

there was another european brand , discontinued ,
which followed the outline of
pigment , tint , tone ,
and had a bit of grit .

i found that i could go further on paper
with stick blending .
> haven't tried the american gritted formulations .

Ed :}

japonaise · #**111** 03-10-2012, 08:10 PM

Ed: You may want to try Diane Townsend Pastels. They are hand made and contain pumice. J

SandyB · #**112** 03-11-2012, 05:51 PM

Robert,
Please forgive my delayed "thank you" to that very kind compliment on my work. How rude of me (I was playing with Henri

). Thank you, indeed.

Colorix · #**113** 03-11-2012, 06:57 PM

It has been interesting to read about the Roché pastels here.

I can now add my own opinion, as I've tested 7 colours, and written a review of how they performed on 3 different papers.

Even more, I found out how Edgar Degas could fixate and layer, fixate and layer -- the Roché pastels do not change even with several layers! Very exciting!

I hope it is OK to link to my blog, where the Roché Review is. If it isn't kosher, I apologise.

SherryC · #**114** 03-11-2012, 07:50 PM

Charlie I am thrilled that you did these tests with the Roches. The more I work with them, the more I like them. I have ordered the 12 piece landscape amd the 12 piece portrait set which should be arriving in the next day or two. As you know I have only been using pastels for about nine months so I am still learning...trying all of the different brands and papers and techniques. I got really excited when I first tried these becuase they are so different.

I am blessed that art is my hobby so I can make these last for a long time. And I have found that the very lightest touch still lays down great color so as much as I have played with them, I do not seem to have used much of the sticks.

In the hands of you professionals I think you could create some most interesting effects.

**allydoodle** · #**115** 03-11-2012, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colorix

It has been interesting to read about the Roché pastels here.

I can now add my own opinion, as I've tested 7 colours, and written a review of how they performed on 3 different papers.

Even more, I found out how Edgar Degas could fixate and layer, fixate and layer -- the Roché pastels do not change even with several layers! Very exciting!

I hope it is OK to link to my blog, where the Roché Review is. If it isn't kosher, I apologise.

What a great review Charlie. It does seem that Roche pastels offer something extra for the money. Up until this point I wasn't convinced that they did, but I'm thinking differently now. I'm not ready to add them to my palette just yet, I've got other pastels that I've had my eye on for a while now. Maybe at a later time I would consider adding a few to my arsenal. My only problem would be what colors do I buy? I would think at that price you would get very particular. I'd really have to think about it so as not to make a mistake.

I hope you post a painting done with these Sherry, I'd love to see something!

johndill01 · #**116** 03-11-2012, 10:00 PM

Interesting reading. Today while finishing a small fall evening landscape, I had the occasion to use some of the Townsend Terrages and Soft form that I had acquired years ago, in addition to the three Roches's that I have. Both are similar in application to the paper and both allow very strong impasto strokes without trying to push the stick through the paper. Quite an eye opening experience. Only problem now, how do I justify the expense of adding to my meager collection? Where is the Pastel Addicts Association when you really need them???

John

And then I just made the "mistake" of reading Charlie's review. Running and ducking hoping that the PAA people DO NOT find me. :-) By the way, a great review Charlie.

Dougwas · #**117** 03-11-2012, 10:06 PM

They're out buying pastels, John.

Doug

Jason1616 · #**118** 03-11-2012, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by japonaise

Ed: You may want to try Diane Townsend Pastels. They are hand made and contain pumice. J

Actually this could be true if the Roches are gritty like some people have said, they might be similar to Diane Townsend. I have a small set of DT Soft Forms and I really like them! You can definitely feel the pumice, yet they are fairly soft and rich in color. And MUCH less expensive than the Roche!

Jason

bluefish · #**119** 03-12-2012, 07:48 AM

Charlie......an excellent review.......another review that would be very interesting would be a comparison between Roche and Townsends, both with pumice.......can you get Townsends over there? If not maybe Sherry can do one for us over here!

robertsloan2 · #**120** 03-12-2012, 10:12 AM

Purr! Pastel Addicts Association must be a special subcategory of Art Supply Addicts Anonymous (we're not trying to quit, it's all about enabling!). That's so awesome, John.

Here's my best, very best excuse.

Art Supplies Always Pay For Themselves. Pastels are especially good at it. The first painting or two with the new ones usually pays for them and then after that everything else is gravy. I stopped worrying about cost a while back and now I'm more concerned with space and storage.

Charlie, your review is wonderful. I loved your example paintings. It makes sense to me - though it's funny to think the most expensive pastels are happiest with less expensive pastel paper, they're what they are. Quirky. I love the effect and am so glad you took that close-up comparison photo with your Unison swatches. That makes me think they will be awesome in combination.

Pretty much like you did in the grasses, Donna. They glow, they are so beautiful!

So cool you're getting the landscape and portrait full stick sets, Sherry. Those will be such a joy!

Salute to our Partners