Animal
Spirit
Updated 31st Aug 2010
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About Pastels
What are pastels?
Types of pastel
Pastel paper options
Fixing pastels
Framing and caring for your pastel painting
What are pastels?
The name Pastel comes from the French word “pastiche” (paste) and is not coloured chalk (limestone), as commonly thought. It comprises the same pure colour pigments used in fine art paints which are ground into a very fine powder and then mixed into a paste with a binder before rolling and drying to form sticks.
Many people consider pastel to be a fragile medium, but in fact it is the most permanent of all media when applied to the correct base and properly framed. The colours have an unrivalled brilliance that does not diminish with time.
Many famous artists used pastels, not just for sketching, but also for finished work.
Edgar Degas was a champion of its use in the late 19th century and two of his works
sold in 1983 at Sothebys for more than $3 million each. Other pastel artists include
Delacroix, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard and Whistler.
Types of pastel
Pastels range from “soft” to “hard” sticks and now also include pencils. It is the amount and type of binder added that determines the softness of the pastel and this will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. As more binder is added, the percentage of pigment is reduced and the brilliance is diminished to some degree, so the artist needs to choose between softness with brilliance or a harder pastel with greater control and durability.
In general, soft pastels are good for the main areas and hard pastels work well for sketching and fine detail.
Pastel paper options
Pastels require a textured surface to cling to, in paper this is called “tooth”. Although there are several options available, I mostly use ingres paper and velour paper, depending on the subject and the finish that I am aiming for, so below I describe some of the properties of each.
Ingres is a traditional type of pastel paper named after the Neoclassical French
painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Its unique texture is formed on a cylinder
mould machine by pressing the paper fibres between the cylinder mesh and the marking
felt. This surface texture is known as a chain and laid line surface. The paper allows
for a range of techniques, including smudging and blending styles where the paper
texture shows through the pastel. You could say that the finish looks more “arty”.
Velour paper is paper coated with a fine velvet surface. Velour paper allows for
great accuracy and gives a very soft finish with an excellent range of textures,
so it is wonderful for animal fur. Because it is smooth, the artist can achieve a
photo-like realism, but it can be difficult to achieve very crisp detail and sharp
edges when needed. It has the advantage of holding the pastel well, so that it doesn’t
smudge, however significant amounts of pastel will loosen, come to the surface and
fall off if the paper is tapped. The artist can’t blend colours by smudging, in the
same way as traditional paper, so a different technique is needed.
Fixing pastels
When applying pastels to paper, the issue of whether to apply fixitive to the finished work to prevent smudging is a difficult one for artists. (Pastel on velour does not need fixing.)
Despite manufacturer’s claims, my experience is that fixitive spray diminishes the brightness of the colours and I have known it to completely erase surface highlights. My solution to this is to fix the work at one or more points during the layering and blending process and then apply the final highlights and detail which will not be fixed.
There is no doubt that the finished picture needs to be handled with great care until it is safely framed under glass, to avoid smudging. Thereafter pastels are lightfast and durable.
Framing and looking after a pastel painting
Pastels need to be framed under glass to protect the surface. The glass should not
come into direct contact with the picture surface, so at least one mount (matte)
is needed. Plain glass is best because glass with non-reflective or other finishes
can actively attract the pastel particles and draw them from the paper onto the glass.
As with any work of art it is best not to place a pastel painting in direct sunlight or above a radiator. Although the pigments are light fast, when under glass the heat can create humidity which could cause moisture damage to develop. Whenever transported or not in a hanging position, a Pastel painting should always be placed face up and handled gently.
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Pastel on ingres paper
Pastel on velour paper
