Among the many techniques and tools that are used contemporary artists, pastel stands out for its unusual texture and brightness of color. It is not easy to draw a portrait with a pastel, but if you are carried away by this direction, improving your own skills and making efforts to get the desired result, you can achieve what you want. Moreover, the process itself brings pleasure and carries you into work with your head.

Before you start drawing with pastels, it is important to understand the features of this technique, as well as acquire necessary materials for the creative process. For beginners and professionals, the same set of tools is not suitable, so the preparation for the creative process will be different. Only after that you can begin to figure out how to draw a portrait in pastel.

Benefits of drawing with pastels

Many artists different levels professionalism prefer to all other techniques it is pastel painting. A portrait in this technique looks unusual and allows you to convey the slightest features of the artist's mood. Other benefits of pastels include:

• simplicity of the process - pastel lays down easily, especially if all materials and tools are correctly selected;
• a variety of colors - pastel is known for its soft transitions and a combination of different shades;
• lightfastness - unlike many other paints, it does not fade in the sun;
• velvety surface.

These pluses contribute to the popularity and love among artists who are happy to use pastel: the portrait technique with this tool allows you to make a beautiful and unusual image of a person. Although it is not as easy as novice artists would like.

Drawing tools for beginners

Pastel drawing should begin with the preparation of materials and a place for future creativity. This artist's tool is of several types: dry, oil and wax pastel. Dry, in turn, can be soft and hard.

In addition, you will need:

• special paper;
• brushes;
• a drawing board or any other flat surface on which a drawing sheet can be fixed;
• an eraser with which you can carefully remove extra lines;
• ordinary sandpaper, with which you can sharpen the crayon if necessary.

These tools are essential for drawing portraits in pastels for beginners. To learn and comprehend the wisdom of this technique, such a set will be enough. And in the future, you will have to expand your arsenal of materials and tools.

Tools for professionals

Simple and affordable materials are used by beginners, but in the course of training and professional development, their assortment will grow and expand. You can also use later:

• fixatives - substances that are sprayed onto a sheet of paper before starting work to fix the future drawing;
• turpentine or other pastel thinner, which will even out and generalize layers of paints;
• a work mask to minimize the inhalation of chalk dust;
• canvas - used instead of paper.

Careful preparation and selection of all materials will make the process more comfortable and easy. In the process of work, each artist will be able to evaluate the usefulness and expediency of each tool.

Features of the choice of pastels

For beginners, dry pastel in the form of crayons is best suited. It can be soft or hard, you need to get both types and try to draw with both. When choosing paints, you must initially understand what will be drawn and what colors will be needed for this.

When purchasing a pastel, you need to pay attention to the quality of paints and the manufacturer. It is better to initially pay a little more, but buy suitable materials that will be comfortable to draw. Comprehending the subtleties and nuances of drawing with pastels, honing the skill, you can try to draw with oil and wax pastels. They differ in application technique, but with certain efforts they are not particularly difficult.

What kind of paper is needed for pastels

It is impossible to draw with such paints on ordinary paper, because the pastel portrait will blur, soak a thin sheet and be smeared. Therefore, it is better to take special paper. For pastels, the following varieties are suitable:

• paper with a coarse-grained surface that comes in a variety of colors;
• cold pressed watercolor paper;
• charcoal pencil paper - withstands pastel, but is more suitable for rough sketches and short-term sketches;
• paper with an "emery" coating - has a fine abrasive coating, so it holds the pastel perfectly.

The choice of paper is an important step in preparing for drawing, since not only the comfort of the process, but also the final result will depend on it.

Pastel drawing rules

In order for a pastel portrait to turn out beautiful and reliable, it is important to follow some rules for its image. And even if the first time the result does not turn out as we would like, as you acquire the skill and professionalism, it will come out realistic.

When creating a portrait using pastels, you need to remember the following recommendations:

1. To begin with, it is important to present a general image of the upcoming drawing and highlight the main features that will distinguish this person from all others. In the face of each person there is something unique, not like the others.
2. Before you start drawing, you need to determine color scheme upcoming image. What shades prevail in the face and image of a person, how do they combine with each other?
3. Starting to draw, you must first make weak sketches and a contour, on which the entire portrait will then lie.
4. Despite the fact that the human face, as a rule, appears warm and requires appropriate colors, cold shades will also be present in it.
5. For a layered drawing, it is better to choose a soft pastel, then the layers will easily lie on top of each other.

There are many more rules for drawing with pastels, but with these simple recommendations you can start learning, and understand and apply the rest of the nuances in the process of practice.

Portrait drawing sequence

To draw a beautiful and believable portrait, you need to follow a certain sequence of drawing lines and layers of pastels.

Image stages include:

1. Representation of the general image of the face, separation of light and dark areas.
2. Weak drawing of lines, a sketch of the general concept of the drawing.
3. Detailing the contour, drawing the eyes, nose, lips according to the proportions of the human face.
4. Applying layers of nude pastels with a combination of warm and cold shades.
5. Guidance of the main parts of the face, detailing.
6. Finishing touches, giving the face a natural expression, drawing small elements.

Drawing a portrait is not an easy process, and from the first time it may seem to the artist that there are too many mistakes and flaws. But the diligence and desire to learn how to draw with pastels are worth the result that you get in the end. It is important to enjoy the process of drawing and not despair after the first unsuccessful attempt.

Pastel is a cross between colored pencils and colored crayons. It consists of colored pigments with chalk and binding elements. Pastel painting technique originated from drawing soft materials, such as charcoal pencils, charcoal, sepia. Pastel pencils have many shades, to a greater extent they are delicate, like milk, giving a special grace to the drawings.

If you want to learn the pastel technique, you should know that this technique is more suitable for drawings, where the atmosphere, color mood, background play the main role, since it is inconvenient to draw small details with pastel, these pencils are not intended for drawing details.

Pastel Drawing: Preparation

Before we tell you how to draw with pastels (especially important for a beginner), we will look at what is generally needed for drawing, because pastel is not the most common material.

The choice of pastels

Three types of pastel can be distinguished: dry, wax, oil.

Dry, in turn, is divided into hard and soft.

Each type of pastel has its own characteristics, its own possibilities for working with a drawing. Choose at your discretion. We will talk about how to draw with dry pastels (below).

Pastel paper

Yes, it should be a special paper with a textured surface, because it is necessary that the pigment is retained. Most often, pastel is painted on colored paper, it allows you to fully convey the saturation of colors. The choice of color is individual, depending on the nature of the pattern.

Pastel Paper Types:

1. sandpaper (usually large format; for artistic purposes);
2. velvet paper;
3. pastel board (from tiny particles of cork).

Other

In addition, the following may come in handy: a blade, bristly brushes, rags, an eraser, a cotton pad - to correct the pattern; hairspray or special agent for fixation.

How to draw with dry pastels

1. The preliminary drawing is applied with a small pastel, slightly different from the tone of the paper. The lines are thin, applied lightly, just to see the contours. Use the correction materials (see above) if necessary. Don't use a graphite pencil, as it will be bad to draw with pastel on top.
2. Next is the background. We apply the main tones by placing the crayon flat. If the length of the chalk is large, do not be afraid, break off the desired size (conveniently, 2-3 cm). If the paper is colored, apply the main tones, only where necessary. There should be no gaps on white paper (use white chalk where necessary).
3. Outline the main subjects, proceed to refine the drawing. Use lines, dots, strokes. It is good to make shadows and color transitions with pastels. Use shading (rag, cotton wool, brush or your own finger) and rub the right places on the picture. In pastels, you can superimpose colors on top of each other, experiment.
4. What else you need to know about how to draw with pastels. For beginners, it is often difficult to keep the key. Decide in advance what will be the lightest in the picture, what will be a little darker, and what will be the darkest. Remember - each subject has its own tone.
5. Some drawback of dry pastels is that it is difficult to convey the saturation of the shadows. But this can be improved by adding color. Draw a shadow with gray or black chalk, and on top enter a color (of the object or area where the shadow is). Blend.
6. View the drawing from the side. Highlight the main details with clearer lines, blend out minor or too contrasting areas.
7. Fixing the drawing. Use sandpaper or velvet paper to keep the design longer. You can use special aerosols to fix pastels. Hairspray will work too, but remember that the pattern will darken. You can also place the drawing under glass.

oil pastel

And a few words about how to draw with oil pastels.

1. It is better to use light paper.
2. A thinner for oil paints (for example, pinene) is used as a shading.
3. The preliminary drawing is applied with oil chalk or charcoal. At the same time, the charcoal is brushed off before applying the pastel, so that barely noticeable strokes remain.
4. Having applied the pattern with hatching, flat, we proceed to work with a brush. With a brush dipped in thinner, as if blurring the drawing.
5. We draw the details, refine the forms, texture. We complete the drawing.

Oil pastels are very different from dry pastels. In fact, it is familiar to many wax crayons - binder linseed oil acts as a pigment. People who do not know about pastel in general often come to the store and buy oil pastel because of its bright colors and beautiful crayons.
I bought myself a box for experiments. It turned out that there are a lot of ways to use these beautiful multi-colored crayons. I have Mungyo pastels in 36 colors, excellent shades from acid to natural. Here's what they look like. Good for samples, if you want something even better, you can look at Van Gogh and Sennelier.

Drawing on plain pastel paper

It is better to take light-colored paper, because most likely it will show through the strokes and give a shade to the whole drawing. I took a dark gray sheet and regretted it, because dark shades are lost, and the bright ones are almost invisible. Oil pastel is difficult to rub with your finger, the crayons mix right on the paper, giving a smooth color transition. In some places you can scratch individual strokes with a sharp one. If there are pellets left after drawing, I just brush them off carefully.

Sandpaper drawing

A heavenly paradise, because the colors become saturated and a firework of shades is obtained. The rough base holds the pigment well and sometimes it turns out even to make accents with light crayons, although it is better to follow the sequence from light to dark. It is assumed that the pattern covers the entire surface of the sheet. When choosing sandpaper (sold in A4 sheets in hardware stores), look at the number. The smaller it is, the better. From 800 it is better suited for dry pastels, it is more convenient to rub on it without erasing your fingers. I drew at 280 and I liked it, in principle, you can safely take up to 400.

Solvent painting

Some convert oil pastel into a painting medium using a solvent. Turpentine, pinene and white spirit are mostly suitable. According to the written, they are carried out with a brush with a solvent, due to which the pastel becomes liquid, similar to paint. As a result, we get a kind of underpainting, similar to dark watercolor painting. In the shadows, we try to match the tone end result, and in highlights and midtones it is better if the underpainting is a little darker. In the future, the underpainting in the shadows will remain, and the shadows will turn out transparent. You can blur with a brush, a finger wrapped in a cloth. You can dip the crayon itself in the solvent and run it over the paper. You can also use canvas as a base.
I myself have not tried this technique yet, so I will show an example from the Internet of how a pastel blurred with a solvent can look like.

Sgrafitto

A magical technique similar to engraving. First light tone the entire surface of the sheet is covered, then it is shaded with black chalk, and then the drawing is scratched with a sharp instrument. The contrast between light and dark creates an image. I like the fact that it looks like linocut and allows you to make very thin lines. Again, I can’t show my works, because I painted in this way for a long time, back in the art school. Therefore, an example from the Internet, what can be the result

Encaustic

Painting is done with paints in molten form (hence the name). A variety of encaustic is wax tempera, which is distinguished by its brightness and richness of colors. Many early Christian icons were painted in this technique. Originated in ancient Greece.
Today, encaustic paintings are painted using an iron. Here is a video that shows the process of work. Even highly detailed works can be drawn in this way.

Finally, a few features of oil pastels.
Over time, the oil is absorbed into the base and the pattern becomes a little darker. If the drawing was based on white paper, yellowish stains from oil may appear on it, so it is better to use colored paper or cover the entire surface of the drawing. There are still cases when, over time, the oil appears as droplets in the picture, you just need to carefully remove them with a solvent.
Oil pastels, unlike dry pastels, do not require fixing. Sometimes oil pastels are varnished, but I think this is redundant. Pastel should be stored in a folder carefully so that it does not stick to anything. It is best to keep the drawing under glass. The glass must not touch the work.

On the whole oil pastel It seems to me very bright and lively material. It is suitable for "careless", generalized in style, paintings. For those who like to tinker with details and smooth undertones, oil pastels are most likely not suitable.

Yes, I did it!! And now I can present this course to your attention! Hooray:) So, about everything in order!

So, this is a pastel drawing tutorial, which consists of 10 lessons, each of which is in PDF format, that is, it actually consists of text and photos, of which there will be a lot! Moreover, in each lesson we will draw in stages, which simplifies the task as a whole!

I arranged the topics in such a way that they go in such a way that the knowledge from the previous ones is used in subsequent lessons.

The course is designed to teach you the basic rules for conveying a convincing drawing, as well as to fill and train your hand, learn to see more colors and just get inspiration and pleasure from the very process of drawing, in connection with which I tried to make it very bright and cheerful, which, by the way, is not superfluous at all in the middle of autumn!

The entire course contains over 400 photos!

The course is designed for your self-study. C ena course 3500r.You can pay here

After payment, you will receive a download link, you will need to download and unpack it: put the cursor on the received file (zip-archive), right-click and in the window that appears, click on "Extract to Pastel drawing course, 10 lessons".

More detailed instructions for payment is here.

For all questions, write to the mail

Yes, it is better to prepare drawing materials in advance. In order not to overload this post, I wrote a separate post about the materials that you will need for drawing.

At the end of the course, you will not only have more experience in drawing, but also 10 pastel drawings that you can decorate your home with and give to your loved ones.

A little about the structure of each lesson. Depending on the topic of the lesson, at first there will be a little theory, and then the main part - drawing a plot with detailed photos stages of drawing, my explanations of what, how and why we draw. In all lessons I Special attention devoted to the selection of colors to make it easier for you to deal with colors, there are a lot of color rulers in the lessons, according to which it is easy to pick up crayons. Some lessons have diagrams and sketches :) Each lesson comes with an additional example that you do not have to draw (if you really want to, then of course you can :), this example is also quite detailed and also contains many photos of the drawing steps. It is needed in order to better understand the topic :)

And here are the themes:

1).General questions of pastel drawing. We draw fish.

This is one of the most simple lessons, which is logical, since he is the first :)

It will deal with the basic questions that arise when drawing with pastels: how to apply and how to blend. And also we will begin to study the basic principles of drawing and in order to "paint", we will draw a simple picture with fish.

2 ). Learning to convey volume. We draw a rosehip berry with pastel.

This lesson is complex, with a lot of information! But don't be afraid :) Firstly, there are a lot of explanations and photo steps in the lesson, so we will do everything gradually. And, secondly, drawing detailed and enough complex drawings gives you a lot of experience at once, even if it seems that nothing is working. In general, we are not afraid of anything, but we sit down and draw! :) Yes, and one more thing - your attentiveness is required here, although it is needed everywhere :)

In this lesson we will learn how to draw a three-dimensional object that is part of a complex background. In fact, the lesson contains three drawings, but from them you will need to draw a rose hip:

3). Draw a blooming wild rose with pastel.

The main purpose of this about the lesson - learn to convey the volume of uneven planes (petals). We will learn how to use a beautiful gray-pink-green color scheme, and also apply the knowledge of their lesson #2.

4). We draw a landscape with a pastel .

This lesson is devoted to a very pleasant topic - the landscape. We will consider the basic rules for its construction and color application, and also learn how to compose our own, "profitable" landscape from several photographs. And we will also learn to quickly draw a large number of the same type of details (for example, such as Christmas trees on the mountain slopes), transfer them with common lines and spots.

5). We draw a bunch of berries with pastels.

In this lesson we will draw a juicy bunch of berries. The purpose of this lesson is to show you how to draw several volume objects of the same type, as well as how to draw a complex motley background with pastels. Well, knowledge of the volume of the subject from lesson No. 2 will come in handy again.

6). Draw a still life with pastels.

The still life will be with a saucepan, tomatoes and peppers. We will touch on the basic issues of building a still life, deal with the horizon line and gradually draw a glossy shiny pan with vegetables and a beautiful background.

You can hang this picture in your kitchen, as it is very kitchen.

7). Sketching flowers on kraft paper.

I find this lesson easy. But it is very important to draw it as intended, and very fast drawing on large format craft paper - A2 is conceived. Kraft paper can be replaced with pastel, but the format must be large. This lesson is designed to practice the speed of your drawing and practice clear and confident strokes. I know that many people miss this :) We will draw forget-me-nots in the grass.

8). We draw a flamingo in water with a pastel.

In this lesson I will show how to draw ripples on the water, what colors to use. But the main part of the lesson is devoted to flamingos. Many perceive colors and objects in a simplified way. For example, at first glance, flamingos are white and pink. But if we paint it only in white and pink, it will turn out flat. In this lesson we will learn how to draw the volume of complex shapes and look for their true colors.

9). We draw a cow with a pastel.

Here again we will solve the issues of volume, folds, colors, perspectives.

On a black and white sketch, we will determine the tonality. pastel paper orange color perfect for this scene.

In this post I show a piece of a cow - this is not yet completely painted over the nose :)

10). Draw a pastel night cityscape with reflections.

This is one of the most difficult lessons, if only because it contains a large number of small details. Therefore, in this example, it is good to learn to abstract from details and see the main thing, to combine details into common areas. . We will learn how to make the correct construction of objects, as well as work with tones. A separate pleasant theme is the theme of reflections in water. Here is a sketch of the picture we will be drawing.

The tone of the picture will be like this:

That's all. Who knows what, write, ask!

Consider a good example of the pastel drawing technique from a photograph. We use for this photo of the Taos Mountains in the early evening from El Prado, a suburb of the northern part of Taos, New Mexico.

When creating this pastel, I worked directly on white grainy paper. I used charcoal to draw the basic outlines loosely but accurately, creating the most important shapes, basic lines, and relationships of light and shadow.

As always, at the very beginning of the work, I determined the center of the composition and then acted so that each element of the picture supported it. For example, from the moment the white adobe building was identified as the center of the composition, I began to draw it on dark background, and against the backdrop of a bright array of trees, thereby I increased the contrast and combined the two opposite beginnings landscape. This stage of the work took approximately 30 minutes.
When I paint or teach, I give great importance systematization of the process of working on the picture. I believe that first of all, the order of priority of the stages of work on the picture should be correctly determined. Following these rules, I can be sure of the success of the picture at the very beginning of the work and really achieve sharpness of perception by the end of the painting. In my art workshop, I help students overcome discouragement and frustration at early stages painting, teaching them how to plan and how to follow step by step in the painting process. I approach each student individually, according to the level of his artistic skill. Beginners and young inexperienced artists can avoid many failures if they build their work in stages.
When I paint in pastels or oils, I usually work on a surface that has exactly 50% neutral gray.
So, I quickly cover the surface of the drawing with paints that are close in tone to the final color scheme of the picture, but still somewhat darker. From the point of view of drawing, composition and color scheme, this is a finished pastel, but it is still rough, sharp, somewhat unpleasant for the eye.

Then we pass over the work with a brush moistened with a solvent (without the smell of turpentine). It is interesting that for many it is this part of the work that is most enjoyable, and the result is a pleasure. Starting to blur the pastel from the lighter tones, using broad free strokes, I create a work surface that is true in tone, neutral enough, with well-established images.

It should be noted that depending on the plot of the painting and the impression that the artist wants to make on the viewer, some of the paintings at this stage of the work may be exhibited as finished works. The described method makes it possible to use one of the features and advantages of pastel - an amazing variety of techniques used in it. At this stage, the painting has the appearance and impression of watercolor, but this should not confuse the artist, because in the next stage of work, an opaque pastel will cover everything in the best way. We will leave the “washed” painting layer unrecorded only in those parts of the picture where the effect of “transparency” is required. This step takes approximately 20 or 30 minutes.
With the completion of this stage, an amazing thing happens: by stepping back from the painting a few steps, I can get an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat the finished painting will look like. In further work, I will have to strictly follow the drawing already available at this stage, although I will still impose additional layers of pastels. At the completion of this layer of "sub-painting" there is also an already well-established full color solution and the ratio of light and shadow in the work.
Now I can turn to the center of the composition and bring it to a real conclusion. It is very important. The composition center should work. If the center of the composition is unsuccessful, then no matter how well the other parts of it are done, the picture will not succeed. Working in concentric circles around the center of the composition and moving further and further away from it, I bring the painting to its full completion.

Even though I am moving back and forth across the entire surface as I work, I am constantly making sure that the surface is painted evenly, without big jumps. The edge of the picture, which gives a certain image, must be connected in color and combination of light and shadow with a part that has already been created correctly. This helps keep light-shadow and color relationships consistent. This can be compared to building a bridge that starts on one side of a river and continues step by step (across) to the other side. This bridge is more likely to hold firm than if it were built starting on both sides of the river and built before the builders meet, presumably in the middle. The final stage of this picture takes about 1.5 hours.

1. The versatility of pastel drawing.

Pastel can be used in a wide variety of ways, any of those listed here. Each of these methods can be used on its own, or combined with others to produce interesting new results.

There is no absolute right or wrong way.

As with so many things in painting, pastel painting comes down to what you love and want to do with it.

Don't forget to try various techniques follows with different pastels - hard, semi-soft and soft - because each gives a different result from the others, as will give different brands of pastels.

2. Drawing with a pastel tip.

The easiest way to use pastel is to draw with the tip, holding the crayon like a pencil or pen. The resulting line conveys the gesture you made.

Change the thickness of the line by changing the pressure on the crayon. The harder you press, the more pastels will remain on the sheet. For finer lines, press more gently or use the edge of the pestle.

Use the whole hand when drawing, and not just the wrist, then the drawing will be more free.

3. Use the edge of the pastel.

If you want to work quickly creating large blocks of color, use the side of the crayon. For optimal results, break the pastel (yes, I said break) in the middle and draw, remember - even a small piece of pastel is still usable.
Changing the pressure will create a different texture on the pastel paper. When the side of the pastel has worn off, leaving two sharp edges, use it to create lovely thin lines.

This method is best used with semi-soft or soft pastels.

4. Hatching and intersecting hatching.

If you have done any drawing before then this technique will be familiar to you - in fact it is best for pastel pencils or hard pastel sticks. Hatching is simply a series of parallel lines, preferably regular lines (hence pencil) drawn closely together. Cross hatching is the next step, drawing the second row of lines at an angle (most often at right angles to the first row).

This method allows you to freely experiment with color and tone.
Use this method to create a sense of shape and volume by changing the direction of the hatching.

5. Mixing pastels (shading).

Unlike other drawing media, pastels cannot be mixed before being placed on paper. There are two ways to create color and tonal smooth transitions - optical blending, which is achieved by having colors in close proximity (see shading), and blending, where the pastel blends already on paper.

You can use a wide range of mixing tools, but the traditional one is your finger (you can do this with gloves to protect your hands or just smear with your finger). Also available tool: hand side - useful for blending large areas, but not suitable for precise results; they also use cotton wool, pieces of paper, an eraser, etc.

1. When using your finger (or hand), remember to clean it regularly to avoid contaminating your work with other colors. I always keep a box of wet wipes.

2. Tortillons can be washed for later use, remove the dirty layer at the end with a sharpener.

6. paint coating.

One of the great advantages of pastels over other mediums is color variation. maybe best method for getting it - inking. After the pastel layer has been applied, lightly apply a layer of paint on top. This will create a new color overlay.

The result is visually stimulating, careful selection of colors will produce amazing results.

This method works best with the softest pastels.

7. Pastel decoration.

Embellishment is a finely tuned form of shading using short strokes. The result is more like scumbling - it can give a vibrancy to the painting. Embellishment will also work for optical color mixing (as with pointillist paintings), where the eye blends colors together instead of blending them on paper.

Tip: This method is especially good for giving the appearance of iridescent fabric, feathers, and weights, or for creating atmospheric effects with light.

8. Sprinkling with pastel.

Pastel is line and color at the same time. This is a soft and velvety texture and a subtle radiance of a silky material. It allows speed of writing, instant transmission of ideas and emotions, ease of corrections, complete immediacy of work.

pastel like art material- These are colored sticks of compressed pigment. Available in chalk or pencil form.

It happens three types: dry, wax and oil. All these different types pastels cannot be used in one work.

"Pros" of pastels:

• Ease of operation. For the most part, all you need is paper and crayons. There are no specific technologies and rules for working with this material. You can easily apply color, blend and remove.
• Light resistance. Unlike other materials, pastel does not fade in the sun, does not fade and does not change its color over time.
• Color nuances. Pastel gives soft transitions from color to color, it is easy for her to depict portraits that have subtle color nuances.
• Velvety. The pastel layer gives a beautiful velvety surface.

"Minuses":

Rather, one minus - loose pastel crumbles or smears. She needs to either draw on a rough surface, or immediately frame it under glass. Fixing the surface of the pastel with varnish leads to a change in color.

Pastel masterpieces by artists (J. Lyotard, E. Degas, Z. Serebryakova)

Pastel for Beginners: Material Technology

Auxiliaries

Most artists do not use any auxiliary means in pastel: this is one of its advantages. True, sometimes, especially in complex, multi-layered works, some of the so-called mediums are simply necessary.

• water, turpentine

In multi-session sketches, to create a kind of underpainting, artists spray a certain amount of water, turpentine or other thinner on the initial pastel layers, which evens them out, generalizes and makes it possible further work, clarifications, avoidance of natural color losses in this case.

• Fixatives

In long-term works, in order to fix the pastel particles before applying subsequent layers, artists spray a thin layer of fixative onto the sheet. They also cover the finished piece with a fixative to prevent the pastels from chipping and peeling during framing and shipping.

But there are masters - fundamental opponents of fixatives, since the latter "mute" the color valera of the picture. The consumer is given a choice of two types of fixatives in aerosol cans - matte and glossy.

If you decide to use them, try to do it very carefully. An extra fixative will irreparably ruin the work.

Pastel for Beginners: About again for pastels

Although pastels can be drawn on any surface, they usually work on paper, cardboard, sometimes on canvas. In addition to strength, the basis for pastels requires a certain texture.

• Special paper for pastels.

For pastels, paper with a coarse-grained texture is selected, which contributes to better adhesion of its layers. In addition to white, there are many colored papers - ivory, tan, gray, blue, green, purple, and so on. The color of the paper is as important as the shade of the underpainting in other painting techniques. Remember that this choice is quite large and it is necessary to gradually try out as many varieties of the base as possible.

• Watercolor paper.

Any watercolor paper is suitable for pastels, but cold-pressed paper is best. If you need underpainting in watercolor or acrylic paint, this base is the best choice, since not every paper reacts equally well to water-based soils - water causes deformation of their surface.

• Charcoal paper.

Some of its types (as well as inexpensive types of pastel paper) are quite loose, which makes them an unreliable material. Charcoal pencil paper usually does not have a significant texture, which weakens its ability to hold pastel particles. It is used for short-term etudes.

• "Sandpaper.

This paper is coated with small particles of abrasive material (like ordinary sandpaper), due to which it holds a significant amount of pastel. Although it contains acids, its popularity among artists is great.

Making sandpaper

1. 1. 1. Take high-quality, acid-free paper (including watercolor), you can use cardboard.
      2. Wet her easily reverse side. This is necessary to prevent deformation when you apply the aqueous composition to the front side of the sheet.
      3. Now with a flute, moisten the front side of the paper (or cardboard) with a pre-prepared composition:

         - 4 parts acrylic gel.

         - 2 parts of the composition to create a granular structure (flint, marble dust or pumice).

         - 1 part water (volume may vary).

      4. Let dry. If you are unhappy with the result, repeat steps 2 and 3. If the paper is still warped, place the paper face down on a clean, flat surface and moisten the concave areas. Then press down the edges of the paper and let it dry. If the leaf does not straighten, repeat the entire process using less water.

There is another way - use the recipe in the box, replacing the acrylic gel with an acrylic primer. Using a palette knife or sponge, apply the mixture to the paper. The result is a superb textured surface that can react with pastels in a new and unexpected way.

• Graphics paper

You should be familiar with other types of paper. There are many varieties available in art stores. The best way to determine whether the proposed option is suitable - to feel the texture by touch. Paper weight varies from 120 to 360 grams/sq. meter.

• fabrics

Pastels can be used on fabrics such as canvas. Many artists stretch the fabric on a regular stretcher. Some stretch the fabric over rigid cardboard, using acrylic gel as the adhesive.

You can write directly on the fabric or coat it with an acrylic primer. If you want to make an oil underpainting, a primer is required, because Oil paint can damage ("burn") the fabric.

Pastel for beginners: tools and accessories

With the possible exception of a vacuum cleaner, pastel tools are simple and inexpensive.

• Drawing board, sticky tape and pins

Pastel paper should be well supported on a solid surface, such as a drawing board, to which the paper is attached with adhesive tape or tacks. Sometimes they take soft cardboard (like Homosote), which fits buttons well.

• brushes

Brushes can also come in handy when working with pastels. For example, an elastic bristle brush can easily remove an unnecessary fragment of a study (if it is not fixed). A watercolor brush is suitable for mixing paints, creating a smooth transition from one color to another. Brush, if necessary, moisten areas of paper.

To remove paint, correct mistakes in pastels, pieces of soft cloth are used: it can be suede, pieces of velvet, but cotton rags are the best for this, they should always be at hand.

• Sandpaper

Attach next to the work piece sandpaper to sharpen a crayon or pencil from time to time (it is better to put it in a glass so that the sawdust falls to the bottom). If you use pastel pencils, you will need a sharpener. You can take a knife or a razor, but a sharpener is more convenient; just be careful not to break the fragile core of the pastel.

• Feather, eraser

An ink stick is a tightly rolled paper cylinder, pointed at both ends, necessary to create a smooth transition from one color to another. To remove pastels, artists use an eraser, lightly pressing and tapping it on the surface of the paper (rubbing with an eraser, as when correcting mistakes in a pencil, is undesirable!).

• Vacuum cleaner, masks

Do your best to prevent pastel dust from entering your respiratory tract and lungs. Artists who constantly work with pastels usually install special filter systems-hoods in the workshop.

At the very least, you can use a vacuum cleaner, placing the hose at the bottom of the sketchbook, for this they take a very long hose, placing the vacuum cleaner in another room so as not to hear the sound of a running motor. Authors who work with pastels only occasionally will be fine with a portable handheld vacuum cleaner.

Sometimes they use a mask, which can be purchased at pharmacies and art salons. It is a paper filter attached to the head with an elastic band. Masks are very effective, although they take some getting used to.

• sketchbook

Almost any sketchbook will do, provided that it is possible to tilt the work towards itself - in this case, pastel particles will crumble onto the floor or into the tray. You can also strengthen the paper in a horizontal position, but do not forget to vacuum pastel dust from time to time, which can contaminate the colors of the study.

• Transport box

To work in the open air, you will need a special box with many compartments for storing pastels. Artbin pastel boxes can hold anywhere from two dozen to over 100 pastel crayons. In addition, they are quite light, have locks and a handle. If you buy boxes with compartments for pastel crayons, pay attention to the size of the compartments.

Some types of pastel crayons, such as Schmincke, are thicker than others. Make sure that the box is equipped with a good lock, otherwise the pastel may simply crumble. Although a huge selection of pastels is very tempting, I advise you to start with a small selection of basic crayon colors.

After completing a few sketches, you will have a flair for the missing pastel (and stamp) color tones.

So, let's sum up.

The most complete list of materials for painting with pastels!

1. Soft pastels - a set of 25 - 30 crayons.
2. Hard pastels - a set of 24 crayons.
3. Pastel pencils - a set of 12 pieces.
4. Paper: 45 x 60 cm sanded, 30 * 45 cm colored pastel paper in a set.
5. A drawing board large enough to hold the largest piece of paper.
6. Adhesive tape.
7. Cloth, paper towels.
8. Brushes - a pair of bristled or resilient synthetic brushes for removing pastels.
9. Sticks for shading, tortillons.
10. Rubber eraser.
11. Sandpaper.
12. Sharpener.
13. Bandage mask. A vacuum cleaner.

Materials to choose from:

1. Soft pastel - one or two crayons of each brand - for comparison of manufacturers' products.
2. Spray can of matte fixative in aerosol.
3. Soft brushes - for moisturizing pastels.
4. Sketchbook (for work outside the workshop)
5. Latex gloves.

However, before you go to the art store, remember that for a start it is quite possible to get by with one set of pastels, paper and ... the desire to draw :)

I will be grateful to you per questions and responses to the article. Leave in the comments your wishes for the topic of future pastel master classes!

more interesting and useful information about drawing
from the artist Marina Trushnikova
You will find in the electronic magazine "Life in Art".

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