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Pastel Set

Pastel Set

Materials You Need For Pastel Painting

Going to an art supply store and stocking up on materials is one of the guilty pleasures of being an artist, even for the hobbyist. All those paints, pastels, pencils, brushes, easels, sketchpads, sheets of paper, blank canvasses, and interesting tools can provoke a buying frenzy in even the most restrained and frugal person. But what are the essential materials you need for pastel painting as opposed to the things it would be nice to have?

Pastels. Artists who work with paints such as oils or watercolors don’t need as many separate colors as pastel artists, as they can mix the ones they have on their palettes to create other colors. Grays, for example, are always mixed by painters, but for pastel artists every shade or tint of gray needs to be purchased ahead of time.

A healthy selection of pastel sticks is therefore a necessity, even for someone who’s just starting out in pastels. They can be bought individually stick-by-stick, but it’s much easier to just buy them in a pre-chosen set, which all of the major manufacturers (such as Holbein, Sennelier and Caran d’Ache) do. The sets range from little boxes of no more than 12-15 sticks to elaborate wooden cases containing over 400, but 40 or 60 will give a good range without breaking the bank. If money is tight, consider buying a set of half-sticks instead of the full-size ones.

A drawing board. Yes, it’s time to go back to the drawing board! A nice rigid wooden or melamine drawing board will provide a solid backdrop to your toil. Around 16 x 20” is a good minimum size. Place a couple of sheets of newsprint between the board and your art paper to make it a little more yielding, and get a couple of large bulldog clips to secure it all to the board while you work.

Paper. One of the essentials! Look for grained, textured paper made specifically for pastels or charcoals. Smoother papers won’t work.

A rag. A soft rag or chamois can serve double- or triple-duty for the pastel artist. It can be used to wipe dirty fingers, it can be used as a blending tool, and it can be used to gently remove excess pigment from your paper if you’ve put down too much.

A portfolio. A portfolio is a necessity for storing and transporting your blank paper, and for transporting your finished works if you work en plein air. Keep some sheets of glassine paper in your portfolio to interleave between and protect the contents when you’re on the move.

An artists’ charcoal. Charcoal is great for preliminary sketching and blends well with soft pastels. A stick will always come in handy.

Stumps. Paper stumps and tortillons (shorter and less tightly wrapped) are blending tools made from paper. They’re very inexpensive and are invaluable tools for the pastel artist. Keep a couple of each around at all times.

To begin with these are really all the materials you need for pastel painting. Not really that much is it?

I offer a Free 10 day e-course on pastel painting at: www.paintingwithpastels.com

About the Author

Emma Ralph is an experienced pastel artist. To discover more about the materials you need for pastel painting visit www.paintingwithpastels.com

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