Fearless Friday, Playing with Pastels

the Painted Apron

7 years ago

Being Fearless in art is really about dabbling outside your comfort zone

I’ve been doing a lot of drawing and detailed work lately, so thankful we were spared by Harvey and then Irma…

It was time to let loose and try something different

I went through a phase when I was all about pastels, I thought they were so beautiful and exotic, and I wanted to learn to use them

As you can see, my set is barely used, it is much harder than it looks…

So I don’t profess to be a pro at pastel art, but I can share my stumbles

I did a rendering using an impressionistic oil painting by Karen Mathieson Schmidt as a model

Experiment without putting pressure on yourself to create a masterpiece

Pastel is messy, so it’s an ideal medium for working outside

Also, pastel dust poses a respiratory threat and can be toxic, so make sure you work in a well ventilated area

In the trees above, part of the white is blended, forming a gray, blue and yellow were blended into the sky, then trees were added in several tones of brown

The texture of the black pastel paper produces many different looks depending on the strokes and how much blending you do

I have paper blending sticks, but I also used kleenex and my fingers for blending

If you do a lot of blending with your fingers use gloves to reduce the risk of toxicity

More color and blending

I love landscapes with a road or a path that takes your eye off into the distance, wondering what’s around the next bend

Almost finished

“Autumn Path”

I used Strathmore Gray Scale paper for these pastels, it comes in a pad of 15, with black, white and varying gray shades

You can order from Amazon here or Dick Blick here

Notes:

I have had these pastel sets for a while, and similar sets are widely available at art stores, online, even Walmart is starting to carry some decent art supplies

I recommend buying a small starter set of any art supply, to see if you like the medium itself and the brand of the supply, before investing in a large set. Differences in color purity and quality can make a huge difference between brands

The semi-hard pastels are square sticks, wrapped in paper which are good for applying large areas of color and blending

Pastel pencils can be used for lines, filling in small areas and details

Use fixative spray to protect your work from smudging and smearing!