"How to Get Started in Soft Pastels" for our newbies

[Deborah Secor]

Originally Posted by kateo

I do not post a question without searching for a previously given answer first. I found acrylic glazing posts but since some of the artists in my gallery have had such poor results with using acrylic, I decided not to use it.

I could not find any posts on using fixative or any other coating on pastels to eliminate the need for glass. I object to using glass because it changes the way my work looks. It acts as a barrier between the viewer and the finished art. It diminishes the color intensity. It forces you to change your stance to see parts of the work to see around glare or a simple reflection of the viewer's face instead of allowing the work to be seen as a whole as you can acrylic or oil works. Museum glass does not solve these problems completely.

I have not found any posts in searches to address these difficulties. I am new to this forum and the searches, as well, so it is likely that I am just stupid and have not found the answers on my own. I will try harder.

I asked on this thread since I am a "newbie" to pastels. But you say this is the wrong place to post and it is not a "newbie" question. From your response, it seems the answer lies only with acrylic glazing so the question seems to be a stupid one, as well. More .

Thank you for your response.

Kate

Whoa! Hang on there, Kate. I didn't mean to imply anything like what you say. Please forgive me, that my reply embarrassed you that much. No way I meant that in the slightest!

Many people who are new to the threads don't even think to try and do a search. There's a wealth of information in the Pastel Talk section, in particular. That's a good part of the reason I posted the idea, and the directions on how to search in that forum alone. I didn't mean to imply in any way that you are stupid or should just try harder... My suggestion to post in the general forum, as Chris mentioned, was only because more people will see it and answer your question with lots of links and discussion. This is a good, valid topic, and one that has had a lot of discussion. There's nothing wrong with asking it here, but you would get more answers "out there."

Here's a link that contains some information abut varnishing pastels.

There are some people who have experimented with varnish. Look at this thread.

Here is a blog entry where a woman uses varnish on her painting: http://katherine-artandmusic.blogspo...xperiment.html

Here's some information from Golden that might interest you: http://www.goldenpaints.com/company/...005/pastel.php

And here's another thread about varnishing over pastels.

Check out these artists: Trish Messenger (SanAntonio) and Sandra Jackoboice (Michigan/Florida), who have reportedly tried the technique.

Personally, Kate, I have chosen to use Plexiglas to solve the problem of weight and size. That's why I answered you that way, not to imply that you were asking the wrong question or putting it in the wrong place.

We welcome "newbie" questions on the forums, where you get a lot more responses. Witness the fact that I haven't returned to this thread until now as proof of that. I have notifications turned off, as I get too many of them, and simply rely on visiting. I'm sorry not to have returned until today.

Everyone around here is friendly and helpful, so I'm sorry to have given you the wrong impression about that. Again, please forgive me for hurting your feelings with a too-quick and obviously presumptive answer.

[Joyce Kulak]

I am also a newbie. Thank you for the good information. I have a lot to learn and this is a good start. I have painted in oils up to now. Thanks again.

[Jack_LibertyLake]

To collect pastel dust, I have taped a wallpaper wetting tray to my easel. It's not an original idea; seems I read about it on wet canvas blog.

I do have a question: I too store my pastels in their original boxes. Do pastel sticks dry out if left exposed to the air for a day or three? Until now, I've been re-covering the sticks with the original foam and I place he lid on, but I find this slows me down the next morning when my creative juices are flowing.

Thanks for all the great advice.
Jack

[allydoodle]

Originally Posted by Jack_LibertyLake

To collect pastel dust, I have taped a wallpaper wetting tray to my easel. It's not an original idea; seems I read about it on wet canvas blog.

I do have a question: I too store my pastels in their original boxes. Do pastel sticks dry out if left exposed to the air for a day or three? Until now, I've been re-covering the sticks with the original foam and I place he lid on, but I find this slows me down the next morning when my creative juices are flowing.

Thanks for all the great advice.
Jack

I leave my pastels out all the time, never had a problem. I've never heard of them drying out, they're dry already!

[Cieljaune]

A "newbie" at pastels may be somewhat or very experienced in another medium. The answer to this forum question depends *entirely* on what the person knows and has done in other kinds of art.

If you already draw with charcoal, you are halfway to learning pastels because the two have a lot in common -- mark-making, paper characteristics, soft/hard sticks, creating light and dark values, managing dust and mess, etc. Pastels add the wonders of color to all the things you know about charcoal.

Drawing with graphite or colored pencils teaches you skills that can be transferred to pastels. Ditto watercolor, ink, acrylic and oil painting. (My background pre-pastels was watercolor, and I needed to un-learn some things about laying down light colors first!)

The principles of composition, emphasis/de-emphasis, working precisely versus working loosely -- all of these carry over from one medium to another. Pastel is not a strange, unique medium that has its own rules. It's another way of making images and follows all the same fundamentals as other the visual arts.

If you don't know much about composition and handling values (dark-light), those are absolutely essential matters for you to start learning about while you're getting used to using pastels.

And by all means, find a teacher! A teacher can show you the tricks of handling pastels, but it's even more important to find a teacher you have good rapport with, a person who will teach you the fundamentals of composition.

My final advice is to start simple, doing pastel works that have a limited number of colors. Using a limited palette, in other words. You can learn a lot about the basics of pastels that way and not be overwhelmed by a million questions about choosing and matching colors. Pastels don't blend as infinitely and beautifully as oil paints or watercolors, but you can combine just a few colors to produce amazingly subtle results. Give it a try …

And good luck!

-- Ciel

[LunarMoth]

Hi I'm a newbie in pastels too. I used to be on here a year ago under the watercolor section of the site and now I've taken an interest in soft pastels. And I just love this thread, it's just what I was looking for on this site.
Okay so I do have one question for you. I originally intended to use my pastels as highlights over the top of my watercolors, after I seen some illustrations in a childrens book done like this.
I'm useing a 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper, cause I read somewhere that this paper could be used with pastels and it's what I paint my watercolors on. The problem is when I lay the colors down on top of the paper and go in to blend them with my finger or a chamois cloth they look blurred or muddy. Can someone tell me why this is? Am I over blending?
The watercolor painting underneath is dry before I start to lay down the pastels.
Thanks, LunarMoth

[Deborah Secor]

No, you're not overblending. The problem is you're blending at all... Sorry to say it, but it's the blending that breaks down the crystal structure and dulls the brilliance of pastels. If you put it down and don't touch it at all, it should have the brightness you want. I'd suggest using very soft sticks, and then a spritz of SpectraFix--but experiment on things that you don't value highly first. It MUST be framed to be permanent.

[LunarMoth]

Thank you so much Deborah, for helping me. Everyone on this part of the site has been so friendly and kind to me. I'm so happy to be learning this wonderful art here.
By the way, my mother's first name is spelt just like yours.