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

[nvcricket]

Helen,

You made some great additions to your sticks. Yep, it is a ceaseless addiction, although it is cheaper than alternative vices, so enjoy!

Carol

[ElsieH]

Hi, there, All!

I hope I'm not repeating this idea, but I noticed earlier in the thread that
the question of how to catch pastel dust on the bottom of the easel was mentioned.
I use a little plastic tray that I got at the home store (Home Depot type store). It's light-weight plastic and meant for dipping wall paper into to activate the glue before hanging the paper.
I fasted it at the bottom of my easel to catch dust...works great!
Also, I store the collected dust in a jar to make neutrals with later.

[KrisG]

Originally Posted by B

hello to all in the threads....my question...does anyone do an underpainting with acrylics for a pastel painting? if so, i am interested in knowing the technique. as to 'catching' the dust, a long piece of cardboard, folded in half and then covered with aluminum foil, makes a sturdy 'catch' for pastel dust.

I'm surprised to see that so few under paint with acrylics. I've tried all sorts of prefabricated substrates and have experienced peculiarities with each that I wasn't too fond of. After my first experience with making my own substrate I'll never go back to paper of any sort again. For priming I use a coat of gesso before anything else (in order to seal the surface and keep color from bleeding though, it's masonite in case you're wondering). Afterwards I prepare a mixture of 1/3 gesso, 1/3 water and 1/3 fine pumice powder (you can make a big batch and keep it handy just make sure you coat the threads of the lid with vasoline). This provides the tooth which is phenomenal. It's not as toothy as sandpaper but holds layer upon layer of pigment. Here is where the under texture is created but caution should be used. Brush strokes are fine and create a character to the substrate that is wonderfull; however if it is put on too thick it eats pastel like a Picasso Cookie Monster. As far as the underpainting itself, an acrylic wash cut with enough water to go on thin but withought comprimising the intensity of the acrylic pigment is ideal. When working on the underpainting I also keep a pile of pumic powder on my palette also and work it in to the pain I'm using just to make extra sure that the tooth is there when I start working with pastels. As far as what surface to do this on, I've tried plenty. I like my pieces large and warping is a constant enemy, yes... even for things like 100 weight matt board, premade cardboard canvases for painting and things like that. The ONLY surface I've ran across so far (that is still fairly cheap) and holds up to this treatment is 1/4" masonite. 1/8" masonite will still dissappoint

Hope this helps! (Wish someone could've given me this advise before I warped about 4 different surfaces).

P.S. On a side note DON'T THROW YOUR PASTEL DUST AWAY! Collect it and when you have a good amount together reconstitute it with water and reshape. You'll get some lovely grays (it's also handy to keep gum tragacinth and chalk around if you have trouble getting them to stick back together or if you want to lighten the intensity respectively).

So... just my experience. Glad to see I'm not the only one interested in making my own substrate. The extra time and effort is well worth it, the difference floored me.

[hairielis]

Great information, you help very much!

[joskenn]

Do portrait painters use soft pastel pencils for fine details in and around the eyes, hair and other facial areas, where ordinary soft ones don't work.
Any ideas on this are welcome?

Because I've struggled with finishing eyes with ordinary soft pastels, but was happy enough after.

joskenn

[Dougwas]

Hi Joskenn. Welcome to WC. You will get more answers if you go and click on "Forum Tools" and then "Post a New Thread". The page will come up and you give it a title and then ask this question and submit it.

It will get easier the longer you are here. Don't hesitate to ask any question. There are many people here who will be able to help you.

Doug

[Deborah Secor]

Hi joskenn, and welcome to the Pastel forum...

I don't paint a lot of portraits but in my experience I don't use pastel pencils for the details. The problem is that the pastel pencils give a very different look to things, having less substance or thickness than soft pastels. They end up looking drawn on, instead of painted like the rest of the portrait in soft pastels. I've found that over time I've learned how to add suggested details, and use a Colour Shaper where needed to suggest more. (In case you don't know, this is like a paintbrush with a rubber tip!)

For instance, in this painting I didn't use anything but soft pastels:


I have a set of Girault pastels that are a bit harder than some and the long, narrow sticks can be sharpened to a slight tip. That way I can use the edge of the tip to paint in the colors, then use a Shaper to move it around a bit, slightly blending where needed. I don't do a lot of finger blending, just layering colors. This is on Wallis sandpaper, which has a lot of tooth and lets me build up a lot of pastel layers, too.

I hope that helps answer your question... And keep in mind there are other ways to do it, too. You might look around here and see how others do portraits in pastel, as well as checking into the Portrait Forum. You can use the search box at the top of the page to look for information. Try searching with the words 'pastel portrait' and see what you get.

Have fun!
Deborah

[DAK723]

Here's a link to a thread about some observations about the differences between using photo reference versus plein air.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516948

Don

[robertsloan2]

It's been a while since I was a beginner, but here are some thoughts on starting in pastels.

Nupastels or Colored Conte Crayons are wonderful for doing details in portraits or anything else that needs details. They're also great for working small and still getting pastel effects even on ACEO sized pieces.

If you're going to do portraits, get a set of skin tones or earth tones pastels right off. It makes a huge difference. I started out with 30 assorted Grumbachers and within 48 hours bought 30 assorted Skin Tones Grumbachers to be able to do a decent face rendering.

I like Canson Mi-Tientes because I'm used to it, use it on the smooth side and probably have lots of practice at getting my results without filling the tooth so much I can't use it any more. Even paintings seem to go okay on that, and it's not that expensive. I would get a beginner started using toned supports of whatever kind because it really helped me grasp what I could do with light over medium and light over dark. Also, the Canson pads are inexpensive so even a beginner starting with one of the student brands could get some pretty good results on a toned ground without spending a fortune.

More colors is better. Half sticks sets have more colors. Sets with foam padding and slots are tons better than boxes with styrene inserts that drive me nuts. They protect the sticks better.

[helen audrey steeves]

Thanks to all for the time taken to give these tips. I see that I will have to reread them often.

[fromglorytoglory]

thanks everyone for the great tips! they are very helpful. David, I'll definitely be using your tinfoil tray idea, thanks heaps!

[NRC]

I'm happy to have found this again...I forgot it was here. Got 1/2 way thru the first time and ran off to play with my pastels. Started from the beginning and this time read all the way to the last page. I've saved it in my favourites so that I can follow the links next time around.

KrisG mentioned making one's pastels from collected dust. If one drops and breaks a pastel (the Ludwigs are coming!) does one powder them up, add water, form and dry? And it will behave as it was originally?

Now I'm running off to Google "gum tragacinth". Thanks everyone.

edit: Look what I found! http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/P...els/index.html
sent me right back to WC

[kdrungilas]

I have made several pastels from collected dust and broken bits. I use a bit of alcohol rather than gum arabic or tragacinth to mix a stiff paste, roll with wax paper and this evaporates within a day leaving me with a useful, neutral stick. Sometimes I really crush and mix the dust, however, I do like having some larger bits of distinct color within the stick too for a nice effect. Adds a bit of surprise to a painting.

[rankamateur1]

I've done the same using water instead of alcohol (I'll have to try that). I have found that if the paste is too stiff, then the new stick is a bit hard. I'm speculating that if there's a bit more water, then there are bigger spaces between the pastel particles when the water evaporates giving a softer pastel. I need to experiment more.

Luana

[kowgrrl]

This thread has been so cool. I have a very basic set of 30 rembrandts, bought used for 50 cents, but I love them already and hope to crank out some fun paintings . this thread has been immensely helpful!