My Favorite Series #3: Pastels

When I create I only want my most favorite mediums and tools with me. Too many supply options can become distracting and a bit overwhelming to me (can we say decision fatigue?). I have been enjoying putting together this monthly series highlighting a favorite go-to medium or tool each month. I hope this series is inspiring for you and your own creative journey. If you missed the first two supplies, you can find them here: Supply 1: Graphite, supply 2: High Flow Acrylics.

Today is all about pastels, the pigment and soft textures created from this medium are just beautiful. Pastels are basically made up of pigment with the addition of a binder to give them their solid form. There are multiple types of pastels; oil, soft, hard pastels.  I really enjoy using them all, but for today I will be focusing on the ones I use the most often, which are soft pastels.

               I think pastels are the most beautiful art supply to have sitting out in my studio. If you are familiar with my work, I am drawn to soft colors and pastels have a way of creating a soft peaceful presence. They are extremely versatile and can be used in several different ways throughout different stages of the painting process. You can draw with pastels, add water to create movement, and I think one of my favorite things about them is just how beautifully they blend in the pure pigment form.

How I like to use pastels:

I use pastels quite frequently when I am practicing. I love using them for quick sketches and then coming in with water and maybe some white gesso to move pigment around. I also use pastels to begin a lot of paintings because I can get a general sketch in and then move the pigment around to eliminate any hard lines. Pastels will move unless sprayed with a fixative and I actually don’t mind that because I enjoy mixing the pastel with paint or water, seeing what happens. I will also add finishing touches to a painting with pastels. It just adds some extra interest and areas of soft texture. I don’t often use pastels dry, but absolutely love how beautifully they blend when dry and I hope to explore more ways of incorporating dry pastel into my work. One way I currently use them dry is for creating color palettes, and putting the limited palette on a beautiful piece of antique paper for inspiration for later use.

I created a video below demonstrating some of the ways to use pastels that I have mentioned above and list a few of my favorites below! I hope you enjoy seeing a little bit of the process!

A few of my favorite soft pastel brands: Sennelier Soft Pastels, Prismacolor Nupastels, Townsend Soft Pastels