Pastels - Resources for Artists

Topics covered

All about pastels - the basics - what are they, how are they made, pros and cons of different types and whether they are used for drawing or painting

information about and reviews of different pastel brands and supports - with links to websites for all the different brands of pastels

two polls where you can vote for your favourite brand of soft or hard pastel

learning about how to use pastels - books about pastels plus lots of practical tips, tricks and techniques for working with and using pastels - plus links to the websites of artists and pastel societies offering pastel workshops and classes

links to the websites of pastel societies, pastel exhibitions and leading pastel artists,

links to information about famous artists and drawings in art history - and the museums where you can see the work

websites and blogs by pastel artists and links to pastel forums where you can discuss pastel matters with pastel artists

and much more!

You can find out about...............

.....just click a link to go straight to that topic

ALL ABOUT SOFT PASTELS
What is a pastel and how are they made?
Different types of pastels
Pastel Artwork - Pastel Paintings or Pastel Drawings?
ARTIST GRADE SOFT PASTELS - BRAND INFORMATION & REVIEWS
2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of soft pastels?
Pastel Colours
Brands of Soft Pastels
POLL: Which is your favourite brand of dark pastels?
Brands of Hard Pastels
2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of hard pastel?
Pastels: Technical data about their composition and lightfastness / permanence
How to make your own pastels
SOFT PASTELS - ART SUPPLIES
SOFT PASTELS IN ART HISTORY
CONTEMPORARY PASTEL ARTISTS
SOFT PASTELS - EDUCATION AND TUITION
Pastels - Tutors, Classes and Workshops
WORKING WITH SOFT PASTELS - TIPS & TECHNIQUES
Richard McKinley's Pastel Pointers
PASTEL SOCIETIES, EXHIBITIONS, COMPETITIONS and Forums
Pastel Societies by Geographical area
Pastel Society Exhibitions - in the UK
Pastel Society of America - Annual Exhibitions
SOFT PASTELS GENRE
Making A Mark - Resources for Pastel Artists
Comments and Suggestions

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Important!

ALL ABOUT SOFT PASTELS

What is a pastel and how are they made?

PLUS basic facts about the history of pastels

What is a pastel and how are they made plus some basics about the history of pastels

Pastels are pigment in stick form. In fact it could be said that the best quality pastels are almost pure quality pigment and have a higher percentage of pigment than other art media.

Dry pastels have historically used binders such as gum arabic and gum tragacanth. Methyl cellulose was introduced as a binder in the twentieth century. Often a chalk or gypsum component is present. They are available in varying degrees of hardness, the softer varieties being wrapped in paper.

Pigment is usually combined with a base of quality chalk and china clay to create the softness. (Historically pastels were called chalks.) A binder is then used to hold the powdered pigment and base together. The traditional 'glue' used to bind the pigment is a solution of gum tragacanth which is viscous, odorless, tasteless and water-soluble. The modern day equivalent is methyl cellulose which is a is a chemical compound derived from cellulose which is not digestible, not toxic, and not allergenic.

How pastels are made and the ratio of pigment/gypsum/binder will very between different manufacturers who are not prone to giving away their secrets! It will also vary according to the pigments used as some are harder or softer than others

The degree of softness or hardness of a pastel stick depends on how much gum has been used to bind the pigment. The softest pastels use only enough binder to enable them to function as sticks and no filler. Ranking different pastels in order of pastel softness is a favourite occupation of pastel artists and pastel artists will typically talk about how easily a pastel stick releases its pigment load when discussing relative degrees of hardness or softness.

Some manufacturers add in a filler to make the pigment go further and help make the pastel stick cheaper (or profits better!). The best pastels have very little filler.

Most pastels are conventionally made to look like like very small cigars however in practice pastels can be any shape or size.

Pastels can be made using a machine in a factory or by hand-rolling (typically used by smaller more specialist manufacturers). The word 'pastel' is derived from the Italian word pastello which used to mean little bread roll and now means 'pastel'! This presumably is because pastels were rolled out in a similar way to bread rolls. To be extruded from a machine a pastel will typically need more binder. Hand-rolled pastels can be be less precise in form

The pastel medium is also available in pencil form - although in value for money terms the pastel stick is far more cost-effective. You can sharpen a hard pastel stick to a fine point. The major benefit of pastel pencils is that your hands don't get covered in dust through handling the pastel!. The major problem is they can break inside the wood casing and you lose an awful lot of pastel while trying to sharpen the pencil.

The pigments used to make pastels are exactly the same as those used to make all form forms of coloured art media for painting. Lightfastness is therefore determined by the chemical constituent of the pigment. At present there is still no lightfastness standard for pastels but one is in preparation.

pastel Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about pastel: pastel , artists' medium of chalk and pigment, tempered with weak gum water and usually molded in the form of sticks; also a work done in this...
Pastel - by Wikipedia: Wikipedia entry for pastels
Oil Pastel - by Wikipedia: Wikipedia entry for oil pastel
pastel: Definition and Much More From Answers.com: pastel ( ) n. A drawing medium of dried paste made of ground pigments and a water-based binder that is manufactured in crayon form
about pastels by Conneticut Pastel Society: Information about pastels
The Pastel Medium: Flora B. Giffuni's summary of pastels
The Care and Preservation of Pastels: Copyright 2010 Pastel Society of America. All Rights Reserved
The Care and Preservation of Pastels by Marjorie Shelley
Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of Photographs and Works on Paper, The Metropolitan Museum of Art .
Reprinted from the PSA 33rd Annual Catalogue
Pastel Pointers With Richard McKinley | Pastel Stick Personality: What constitutes a pastel stick? The dictionary defines pastel as an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure pigment and binder. Pastel can manifest personality traits that are quite different than its wet siblings, depending on the pigment type, amount of binder, and additional inert materials used in manufacturing.

Schmincke Pastels are considered to be the softest pastels by many pastel artists

Download the Schmincke Pastel Catalogue (pdf file)

Different types of pastels

Pastels are a dry media which which come in different forms. Below you will find a summary of the different types of pastels with a summary of their pros and cons

SOFT PASTELS are the most popular form of pastels. Soft pastel sticks have more pigment and less binder than other forms of pastel. They are most popular with professional pastel artists

Advantages
* more pigment and less binder than hard pastels and pastel pencils. Consequently the colours can be brighter and more saturated.
* very easy to smudge and blend soft pastels
* the whole pastel can be used in a variety of ways to create a variety of marks and coverage of the paper
* drop the pigment load faster and consequently covers the support faster than any other type of pastel

Challenges
* more difficult to use with skill
* as with any media it's easy to produce "mud" colours if smudging and blending without a good knowledge of how colours work together
* more difficult to get a point or sharp edge
* depending on the support used, soft pastels can fill the tooth of a support quickly
* produces a higher proportion of dust; use of a dust mask or extractor can be useful if working indoors with pastels a lot.
* Finished drawings made with soft pastels require protecting, either framing under glass. Unless 'cured' they also need spraying with a fixative to prevent smudging.

HARD PASTELS: Pastel can be made harder by adding more gum binder. This tends to mean they have less pigment than soft pastels and are also .

Advantages
* Capable of being sharpened to produce a sharp drawing instrument
* Useful for fine details and
* Useful for adding accents
* Useful for sharpening up edges and linear aspects of a pastel work
* Cheaper to buy because they contain less pigment

Challenges
* Pigments tend to be less brilliant than soft pastels
* Does not release pigment load as quickly as soft pastels - hence more difficult to get good coverage quickly

PASTEL PENCILS
These are pencils with a pastel "lead". You won't find woodless pastel pencils.

Advantages
* They are useful for adding fine details or sketching in forms at the beginning of the development of an artwork
* They are good if you enjoy drawing
* People who don't like getting their hands dirty tend to prefer them

Challenges
* Extruding pastel into a long tin stick form - for encasement in wood - tends to mean the pastel needs more binder which can make pastel pencils harder and also more prone to break, either while being sharpened or if dropped

Dakota Art Pastels - Soft Pastels: Dakota Art Pastels have a list of pastels in order of softness (#1 being the softest)

Conte and Cretacolor (hard) pastels in the Sennelier shop in Paris

Conte and Cretacolor pastels in the Sennelier shop in Paris

Pastel Artwork - Pastel Paintings or Pastel Drawings?

A much debated topic is whether pastel artwork should be described as pastel paintings or pastel drawings. There's no right answer however here are my thoughts in the topic

* If every part of the support is covered then artwork can be described as a pastel painting
* If the artwork reveals more about the nature of the marks used to create the art and not all of the support is covered then the work might more accurately be described as a pastel drawing

Context and pragmatic considerations can be important too. If you're trying to sell your pastel art through a gallery which only deals in paintings you might well want to call it a pastel painting!

Pastel Painting or Drawing -- Do You Paint or Draw with Pastels?: Is an artist who's using pastels drawing or painting? Find out in this Pastel Painting Problem Solver.

BOOKS: The Pastel Book

The best introduction to pastels

The Pastel Book

by: Bill Creevy

Amazon Price: $14.73 (as of 02/12/2012)

This is the first pastel book I ever bought and it's one of the best.

In summary it provides an introduction to pastels which is methodical in its approach and comprehensive in its scope. It provides very high quality advice about materials and stimulating demonstrations of what can be achieved in terms of basic techniques, the use of colour and mixing pastels with other media. The explanations and images are excellent and the instruction is stimulating.

Suitable for: Beginners, intermediate and advanced artists using pastels who want to understand the medium better and to explore what's possible when using pastels. Likely to appeal to those who prefer a painterly approach to realism.

This is a book that has made a lasting impression on me and opened my eyes to what is possible using soft pastels. This book is a "standard" in art instruction which attracts positive comments from a variety of sources. So far as I'm aware its not yet been beaten in terms of the comprehensive nature of its coverage of different brands of pastels and the range of ways you can use pastels to make art.

Read my Book Review: The Pastel Book

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Important!

ARTIST GRADE SOFT PASTELS - BRAND INFORMATION & REVIEWS

This section has
- a poll about what is your favourite brand
- an index of reputable brands of soft pastels (manufacturers and brands)
- reviews of different brands. If you've done a review please leave a comment and a link.
Not all brands are available in every country and even leading art stores frequently only stock one brand.

All about different types of pastels

Click a link to go straight to that topic

Below you can find links to many different brands of soft pastels. If there's one that you think is missing but should be included please leave a comment at the end with a note of the website URL

2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of soft pastels?

This poll will run for the whole of 2011

Are you as intrigued as me to know which particular make of soft pastels is liked by most pastel artists in 2011? This poll focuses on artist grade soft pastels which are available at the beginning of January 2011.

You can find a second poll on hard pastels further down (and the archive versions of past polls at the bottom of the page)

Don't forget to check all the options before you vote. The pastels are listed in alphabetical order.

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naheedahsan Jan 1, 2012 @ 4:40 am | delete

nice lens...i love color

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brachko Dec 8, 2011 @ 1:59 pm | delete

I use just about every brand of soft pastel that there is (see the slide show at http://www.barbararachko.com/studio.html). Unison is the best in terms of the range and vividness of their colors. Plus, they feel so soft and buttery when you use them. No other brand comes close. Judging from Unison's big lead in the poll, this is not a secret.

Reply

GoAceNate Nov 10, 2011 @ 10:11 am | delete

I love both chalk pastels and oils. I have for a long time. I've been teaching my daughter how to use them. Great lens.

Reply

artyfax Sep 21, 2011 @ 12:50 pm | delete

I have a very mixed bag, well box actually, of soft pastels. They have been aquired over many years and are of varying quality and hardness. I do not differentiate between them except for hardness. I always start a painting with my everyday pastels and work it up until very nearly complete. I do fix at regular intervals but at a certain point when nearly complete, I use the brighter colours of the softer Rembrandt pastels which I keep in a separate box. these are not fixed in order to retain the colours, especially the lighter colours. I usually cover the ground with several layers ( fixed as I said, to avoid mixing on the paper). This allows me to build up a very particular textured appearance. This works particularly well with landscapes.

Reply

Bronny Wood Aug 21, 2011 @ 11:54 pm | delete

I started with Windsor & Newton and loved their soft texture, but since they have stopped being made, I was forced to try other brands. I find there is not a lot of variety available in Australia, but have now tried Rembrandts which I found okay, but my favourite now a close tie between Schminke and Sennelier with the latter winning but only just. I found them both the to beautifully buttery. I am yet to try Unison or Terry Ludwig. This is an expensive art!

Reply

Linda Feb 5, 2011 @ 4:46 pm | delete

It's difficult to choose a favorite because each of the brands I use has a different purpose. However, I would say Rembrandt is the workhorse of the brands. I did just purchase Sennelier super soft pastels and they very interesting to work with.

Reply

Diane Edwards Jan 19, 2011 @ 9:35 pm | delete

I like square pastels and I like pastels that ARE not covered with paper!

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Pastel Colours

Pastel Pointers With Richard McKinley | That Elusive Pastel Stick | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: For all the advantages pastel has as a medium, there is one drawback that can't be overlooked: there never seems to be the right color, value, or chroma of pastel stick for that certain mark in the painting when you want it.

Brands of Soft Pastels

Links to all the makers' websites for all the soft pastel brands on the Internet

Ever wanted to try different pastels? Did you wonder what the choice is like, what brands are available, what they looked like, what colours they come in, where you can get them - for all this and more try the links below

For technical data from manufacturers about composition and permanence scroll down to see the relevant module.

Making a Mark: Book review: Multi Brand Color Chart for Pastels: This is a completely innovative book (based on a known concept - the Munsell color space) which specifically addresses the needs of the pastel artist.

The colour analysis has a clear conceptual basis and, unlike some other books on the market, the analysis has been done in what appears to be a completely independent and rigorous way.

It provides information about pastels which should be of great help for those artists who are looking for help with understanding colour and value better - and developing the range of pastels they own and use. It will also help people to identify and plug the gaps in their current stock at the same time as avoiding duplications and near-duplications.
Making a Mark reviews......: Opinion Poll: Which is your favourite make of soft pastels?: This post tells you which make of soft pastel has been voted as favourite by artists visiting Pastels - Resources for Artists

Between 2006 and January 2010, I've had an opinion poll running on my information site Pastels - Resources for Artists which asks the question POLL: Which is your favourite make of soft pastel?

453 people have now voted on this poll. You can see the results of the poll by right-clicking on the image and opening it in a new tab.
Pastel Set Photos: Photos of various brands of pastels - in sets - contributed by members of the Wet Canvas Pastels Forum (and co-ordinated by the wonderful Sooz RIP)
Art Spectrum Soft Pastels: Australian soft pastels which come in two sizes but are not always easy to find. Their colour chart provides information about light fastness. The very best pigments are selected and triple milled at maximum concentration to produce smouldering darks, brilliant and intense pure colours and a range of subtle and delicate tints. All Art Spectrum pure pigment pastels are free from heavy metals, asbestos or other toxic substances.
Daler Rowney Soft Pastels: UK pastel. Soft round stick is smaller than most but is available in 194 tints. All colours come in tints of 1-4 (4 being the deepest) with each colour derived from precise blending of finest quality pigments. Each colour has the same pigment combination, which is then mixed with superior quality chalk & china clay to produce the different tints. All colours are non-hazardous with minimal tendency to crumble and dust.
Girault Pastels: A french pastel - one of the oldest handmade pastels in the world. Until the 1940s, Girault used to supply several fine arts manufacturers and important stores with pastels. Later the pastels were sold both at the workshop's shop and by Lefranc-Bourgeois. Known as Pastels Girault until 1987, they then used the trademark Quentin de la Tour until 1995.

Available in France and the USA - distributors listed on website. 4 colour charts and 82 main colours and 444 shades (mixed with white, with white and black, or with other colours) making 526 hues in total. Plein air case contains 300.
Mount Vision Pastels: USA based pastel company based in Mount Vision, New York state launched in 2000. Very informative website
Terry Ludwig Pastels: Very soft pastels with some amazing dark shades - which are also super soft
From the website
Pastelist Terry Ludwig has developed a comprehensive process for handcrafting an unprecedented array of exceptionally soft pastels. Described as buttery and velvet by the Pastel Journal, these pastels surpass the spectrum of color and quality of pastels manufactured for other art suppliers.
Winsor and Newton Soft Pastels: UK based pastel with 200 colours: 40 full strength colours also available in 3 lighter tints and 1 darker tint
Mt. Vision Pastels - Color Chart: Highest quality handmade pastels for the professional artist - displayed in all the colour sets
Great American Art Works - Soft pastels: Soft pastels at Great American ART WORKS, researching, refining and manufacturing soft pastels.
Conté crayons: Brief wikipedia description about the origins and composition of Conte crayons
Henri Roche - profile: Story of the background to Henri Roche Pastels
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > Natural Sanguine: Rich red chalk from Tuscany. Native iron oxide with clay. Use as a soft pastel for drawing (as did Leonardo da Vinci).
Diane Townsend Handmade Pastels: From their website: Townsend Pastels are hand made pastels for artists. Choose from three types of pastels; Soft Form Pastels, Terrages, a larger pastel with added pumice which enables the artist to open up the surface of paper and work in more color, and lastly our new Thin Line Pastel, a pencil-like pastel for detail and delicate work. Pastels are available individually and in box sets
P R I S M A C O L O R Soft Pastels: From the website: Artists' quality for every level of expertise
Rich, soft, creamy pigments for easy blending and shading
High quality, brilliant pigments create vivid colors
Available in rectangular length sticks provide the convenience of coverage as well as line definition
PanPastel Colors Ultra Soft Artists Painting Pastels: PanPastel Colors - professional artists quality soft pastels in a pan. Ultra soft, highly pigmented, low dust, lightfast. Paint straight from the pan

Unison Soft Pastels

These are the most popular soft pastels according to the Polls on this site

Unison Colour is based in the Northumberland National Park. The business began in the early 1980s, when artist John Hersey found that mass produced, factory made pastels simply did not offer the qualities he was looking for. He began an inquiry, to see whether, with the pigments available, he could construct some kind of mirror to the magic of colour. Unison Colour Soft Pastels are the result.

Despite manufacturing over half a million individual sticks a year the pastels are still completely hand made in Northumber;and and retain all the qualities of the originals. They are mixed to John Hersey's meticulous recipes and are based on traditional pigments such as cadmiums, cobalts and natural and synthetic earths.

There are nearly 400 colours ranging from subtle greys and earth colours to brilliant reds, blues, greens and yellows. The pastels are supplied in Mixed, Portrait and Landscape colours in boxes of 8, 18, 36 and 72 colours, but are also available individually. The pastels come in two sizes, an average chunky pastel size (Small) and a thumb size pastel (Large).

UNISON COLOUR Soft Pastels: Unison Colour Soft Pastels - hand made in Northumberland, England. For more information contact info@unisoncolour.co.uk
MAKING A MARK: Unison Pastels: the Darks and the Lights: Image of and commentary on the dark and light colour sets of Unison pastels
MAKING A MARK: Unison Pastels: Blues and Greys: Commentary on the bluer end of the Unison range plus three completed pastels to demonstrate what they look like
MAKING A MARK: Unison Pastels: Blue Greens and Blue Green Earth: I'm very attached to my Unison blue green and blue green earth sets. It might be something to do with my favourite colour being duck egg blue or it might be because they are just so useful when doing skies, water, trees etc. I know that it was these two sets which first got my plastic twitching!
MAKING A MARK: Unison Pastels: The Greens 1-36: All the greens - except the blue greens and the yellow greens! This is the third in the series of posts about my Unison Colour Value sets. The Greens come in two boxes 1-18 and 19-36.
MAKING A MARK: Unison Pastels - Yellow and Yellow Green Earth: Unison Yellow and Yellow Green Earth: pictures of the pastels and examples of them in use.
MAKING A MARK: Unison Pastels: Red, Red Earth and Brown Earth: Pictures of and commentary on three sets of Unison Pastels at the red end of the spectrum
Pastel: Unison Review: Casey Klahn reviews Unison pastels

Unison Pastels - Resources for Artists

Pan Pastels

These are a relatively new pastel - and a brand which is gaining in popularity. Rather than being a stick the pastel comes in a pan and needs an applicator

PanPastel Colors - Ultra Soft Artists - Painting Pastels: PanPastel Colors - professional artists' quality soft pastels in a pan. Ultra soft, highly pigmented, low dust, lightfast. Paint straight from the pan
PanPastel Colors – Ultra Soft Artists’ Painting Pastels: PanPastel Virtually Pure Pigment
Available in 80 rich, ultra soft, artists’ quality colors:
- 20 pure colors (mass tones)
- 20 tints
- 20 shades
- 20 extra dark shades PanPastel Colors can be mixed & blended for an infinite palette of colors. Colors are sold individually and in sets of 5 / 10 / 20 & 80 colors.
PanPastel Color Chart (pdf file): Pdf file of PanPastel Color Chart
Volume Comparison - PanPastel vs Soft Pastel Sticks: A link to a chart showing the length, diameter and volume of every soft pastel and their size relative to a Pan Pastel
PanPastel Colors – Ultra Soft Artists’ Painting Pastels: VIDEO: Learn how to use PanPastel Colors & Sofft Tools using these instructional videos. Deborah Secor teaches how to paint a vibrant sunset landscape.
PanPastel on Twitter: Panpastels (panpastel) is on Twitter. Sign up for Twitter to follow Panpastels (panpastel) and get their latest updates
Paint. Draw. Blend. - the PanPastel Blog: Paint. Draw. Blend. - Exploring the World of PanPastel Colors for Painting, Drawing & Mixed Media Art.
PanPastel Colors – Ultra Soft Artists’ Painting Pastels: List of store and online retailers of Pan Pastels
PanPastel Colors - Reviews in UK: * The Artist Magazine (UK) - March 2009: PanPastel Review by James Willis - Click to Download PDF
* Paint Magazine (UK) - May 2009: PanPastel Review by Sue Ford - Click to Download PDF
About.com Miniatures: Review of PanPastel Artists Chalk Pastels: PanPastels are a very fine chalk pastel packaged in pan rather than stick form. For miniatures and modelling these pastels are useful for weather large and small areas of displays or models, as well as coloring polymer clay and other miniatures.
WetCanvas - Pastel Forum - Having a BALL using Pan Pastels!!!: A very long forum post about the experiences of different artists using PanPastels. Started 2007.
Pan Pastels - Dick Blick video: See what distinquishes these high quality artists' pastels and tools from any other. Both products were invented for artists by artists and offer a new and unique way of painting with pastel. This video will show various applications, tips and techniques.

VIDEO: Pan Pastels

New format pastels by Pan Pastels

powered by Youtube

Henri Roché Pastels

Henri Roché Pastels were founded in 1720. They were used by famous impressionist artists including Degas,Whistler, Sisley. Roche pastels are hand-made in Paris.

Contact details: Isabelle Roché
La Maison du Pastel
20, rue Rambuteau
75003 Paris
France

Phone +33 (0)1 40 29 00 67
Email: isabelle AT lamaisondupastel DOT com

Isabelle welcomes you to her shop on thursday afternoons between 2p.m. and 6p.m. and by appointment.

La Maison Du Pastel: ©2011 La Maison du Pastel. All rights reserved
La Maison Du Pastel: Roche Pastels were founded in 1720 in France
La Maison Du Pastel: %uFFFD2011 La Maison du Pastel.
All rights reserved. Version française.This site was made by Antoine Leblond, http://donotcompute.jp.
La Maison du Pastel | Les produits... - individual sticks: List of available products in "One by one pastels"
La Maison du Pastel | Les produits... foam sets: List of available products in "Foam sets"12-piece set
- Lusciously Vibrant Colours12-piece set
- Intensely Rich Dark Colours12-piece set
- Plein Air landscape Set12-piece set - Subtle Portraiture Colours
3-piece introductory set - gradation
La Maison du Pastel | Les produits... Wooden Boxes: List of available products in "Wooden boxes"
Full set of 567 colours in a wooden chest
72- piece set - Bright Colours
72-piece set - Assorted Colours
72-piece set - Landscape
72-piece set - Portrait
72-piece empty wooden box
5-piece gift set - Collection "the 4 elements" - fire, earth, water, air
5-piece Gift Set - gradations
La Maison du Pastel | Les produits... Hand-made colour chart: "Hand-made colour-chart"hand-made colour-charthand-made colour-chart
190,00 EUR incl. VAT
La Maison Du Pastel: Roche pastels are hand made.
LA MAISON DU PASTEL: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED slideshow of the process of making the pastels
Jackie Naugelen photojournalist - set of photos of the Roche Pastels and shop
Karen F. Rose - My Painting Journey: La Maison du Pastel Paris: What an experience to meet Isabelle Roché owner of La Maison du Pastel, (founded in 1720) and to select a few handmade pastels for my studio.
La maison du pastel 02 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!: La maison du pastel 02
Henri Roché Soft Pastels | Soft Pastel News: Are you a soft pastel artist who still haven't tried the most famous pastels in the world? Well, join the club :).

Sennelier Extra Soft Pastels

The pastel brand with the largest range of colours - available in 525 shades and tints. All tones are made up of delicate shade gradients, tending towards white. These pastels are available in 3 sizes. The range of "Grand soft pastels à l'écu" includes 62 shades. They have a reputation for breaking up once the paper cover is removed.

It took over three years, at the turn of the 20th Century, to formulate the Sennelier range of Extra Soft Pastels and thus to create one of the largest chromatic range of pastels. Throughout the century, this range of tones has evolved, but the heart of its making remains unchanged. A Sennelier extra soft pastel is composed of high quality pure pigment grounded with a natural transparent binder.

The high quality composition of "à l'écu" pastels is the result of a perfect balance between binder and pigment. For gradient shades, increasing amounts of mineral filler are added, ultimately tending towards white. The exceptional brightness is the result of the pigment and of the natural mineral filler discovered by Sennelier in 1905 and that have been used ever since.

The manufacturing process of the Sennelier cylindrical pastel does not compress the paste and the pastel dries naturally in open air. The life span of a piece of work is guaranteed by the quality of the pastel, but also by the quality of the substrate. If a lot of overlapping is performed, it is preferable to fix between layers. Avoid, however, fixing the final layer too heavily, as the original vibration of tones will be lost

Sennelier - Soft pastels: It took over three years, at the turn of the 20th Century, to formulate the Sennelier range of Extra Soft Pastels and thus to create one of the largest chromatic range of pastels. This soft French pastel is now available in 525 shades.
All tones are made up of delicate shade gradients, tending towards white. These pastels are available in 3 sizes. The range of "Grand soft pastels à l'écu" includes 62 shades. They have a reputation for breaking up once the paper cover is removed.
Pastel: Sennelier Critique: Casey Klahn PSA - on why he likes Sennelier
Review Sennelier Pastels -- Review of Sennelier Extra Soft Pastels: My review of the extra soft pastels produced by Sennelier.
Making a Mark reviews......: Art shop review: Magasin Sennelier, Paris: A traditional shop which has been around for over 120 years and is likely to be around for a long time to come. I don't think you'll find a bargain but you will see the complete range of some products which are difficult to see elsewhere.
The Studio News - Archive - Sennelier Pastels: Lisa Bachman uses soft pastels from several different manufacturers, and their texture ranges from hard, to very soft. However her biggest collection of very soft pastels are made by Sennelier - which she writes about in this review

Schminke Soft Pastels

A popular brand of very soft pastel which is available around the world - I've bought them in 4 different countries on three different continents!

Schmincke's finest extrasoft pastels contain only the purest medium fine ground artists' pigments in the highest possible concentration. They contain no chalk and the binding agent content is kept to a minimum, which ensures a stable compound.

Artists frequently comment on how pigment rich they are, how they cover better than most and how soft and smooth they are in application

The manufacturing of Schmincke pastels avoids the use of machinery. 'Worm extruders' form the pre-kneaded dough into round skeins, which are then detached by hand and cut in a wirestrung frame. The damp sticks have to dry for around eight days before they can be labelled and packed by hand. This costly and time consuming process is the only way Schmincke can guarantee homogenous quality and smoothness in all the production cycles.

The complete assortment includes 400 colours classified in 80 rows with 5 colours each. The range contains also 5 additional pearl lustre effect colours. Schmincke Artist's Pastels are approximately 2-5/8" long × 7/16" in diameter (67 mm × 11 mm).

Schmincke fixative for pastels (No. 50 402) is recommended - to be used sparingly. No fixative is necessary when working on Schmincke "Sansfix" pastel board.

Schmincke: Schminke Pastels are pigment rich and very soft. There are 400 colours classified in 80 rows with 5 colours each.
Schminke Colour Chart (pdf): Schminke Colour Chart (pdf)
Why Schmincke's Pastels are not "pastel crayons": Brief overview of manufacturing process
Schminke Pastel primer: The new pastel primer (No. 50 503, available in 500 ml and 1000 ml) suits perfectly for priming individual substrates (canvas, canvas boards or art boards) quickly for use with pastels and charcoal. The new -acrylic based - primer is light resistant and provides an opaque surface.
Schmincke Catalogue: Details how Scmincke Pastels are made

Talens Rembrandt

A popular 'starter' pastel. It's medium-soft ie at the harder end of soft pastels. It remains a workhorse pastel in underpaintings for that reason.

Rembrandt Soft pastels are made on the basis of the finest kaolin, also known as china clay or pipe clay. In contrast to the binders of the paints, kaolin does not help in the adherence to the ground but holds the pigment in the pastel together. The ratio of pigment-kaolin helps to determine the consistency of the pastels.

Full sticks measure 2-3/4" long × 7/16" diameter (70 mm × 11 mm) , and are paper-wrapped.

Talens Rembrandt Soft Pastels: Popular medium soft pastel found in a lot of art stores.

Terry Ludwig

Very soft pastels with some amazing dark shades - which are also super soft

Terry Ludwig Soft Pastels and Supplies for the Soft Pastel Artist: Pastelist Terry Ludwig has developed a comprehensive process for handcrafting an unprecedented array of exceptionally soft pastels. Described as buttery and velvet by the Pastel Journal, these pastels surpass the spectrum of color and quality of pastels manufactured for other art suppliers.
Pastel Pointers | A Tour of Terry Ludwig Pastels | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: Recently, I was fortunate to be instructing in the Denver Colorado area and was able to tour, along with the workshop participants, one of the most popular pastel manufacturers in the United States: Terry Ludwig Pastels

Mount Vision Pastels

The Mount Vision Pastel Company began in fall 2000, on the top floor of an old general store in Mount Vision, New York. Highest quality handmade pastels for the professional artist - displayed in all the colour sets

"My pastels boast a wonderful, soft, almost "buttery" feel. The pigment lies down with little resistance, allowing several layers to accrue on paper without becoming too slick. The "feel," or how a pastel releases to paper, depends on the pigment and base it is mixed with. Pastels consist of chalk, talc or clay and binders. Various combinations will create different handling properties. Through consistent testing, I work to achieve the best "feel" and color intensity for each pastel. I use traditional and synthetic pigments, which make great substitutes for traditional painting colors that are unhealthy to use in pastels, such as cadmiums."

Mount Vision Pastel Company: pastels
Mount Vision - Reds: Describes red sets - with images
Blues: Describes blue sets - with images
Greens: Describes green sets - with images
Browns: Describes brown sets - with images
Yellows: Describes yellow sets - with images
Purples: Describes purples sets - with images
Whites/Greys: Describes white/grey sets - with images
Mt. Vision Pastels - Color Chart: Highest quality handmade pastels for the professional artist.

Your perspective on different Pastels

Your chance to have a say

This is an opportunity to say what you like or don't like about different brands of soft pastel. Please be as concise and precise as you can and highlight positives as well as negatives.

submit

Reply

Pain_Man Sep 27, 2011 @ 5:56 pm | delete

Very cool & helpful lens! I have several of the brands mentioned & the pastels I like working with are medium-soft by Mungyo. They seem to maintain a saturated color & hold up well over time. Thanks for creating this interesting lens!

Reply

artyfax Sep 21, 2011 @ 12:54 pm | delete

Very informative. I had become attached to my Rembrandt pastels but after reading the above reviews I hope to be trying one or two of the other brands. My only worry is that they may be too soft for my style of usage.

Reply

Close2Art Sep 13, 2011 @ 8:27 pm | delete

great source of information for pastels, thanks so much for sharing it...:)rwjr

Reply

ErnestBoehm Jun 24, 2011 @ 4:29 pm | delete

I am a big proponent of Oil Pastels I like the smear and the ability to build layers of color. They are wonderful because like oil paints you can layer transparent pigments over opaques. Also you can get great paper blending and rub effects. I love the Neopastel oil pastels for opaque pastels and Vangogh for transpenent colors.

Reply

Color_Expert Oct 12, 2010 @ 8:55 pm | delete

Love my 2 sets of Unison Grays 1-18 and 19-36. So beautiful and fun to use.

Reply

Gloriousconfusion Oct 8, 2010 @ 7:03 pm | delete

I have just discovered pastel pencils. They are really good for finer work than would be possible with pastel crayons, but the crayons are better for large areas of colour

Reply

Geoff Feb 6, 2010 @ 2:29 pm | delete

Just like to make brief comments on 2 or 3 brands I am familliar with. Will not linger too long on these as well commented upon, but overall (UK) affordable, extremely uniform and consistent range of excellent colours. Best everyday workhorses. Cover well, easily blended, good for layering, used carefully can make fine lines when needed.
Henri Roche, total agreement that possibly best in world, stunning colour, consistency and quality. Excellent for all purposes, spread well, blend well, fantastic selection shades.
Kremer, excellent expanding range of colours some almost unique. Very strong on earth colours. Let down by huge variation in soft hardness, some of the harder ones I find unusable.

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Soft Pastels - Dark and Light Sets

Darks and Lights present particular problems and challenge for the pastel maker. Pastel artists are forever swopping notes about their favourite brands. Below are links to some of the options and comments on the experience of using them

Making a Mark: Unison Pastels: the Darks and the Lights: These two are my most recent acquisition - the Darks and the Lights. They've not been used a lot as yet - but they are very well liked my me already - some of the shades are what I missed from the original range. The nice thing is that the darks are not at all scratchy - which often seems to happen with dark colours in some brands of pastel.
UNISON COLOUR | Pastels: Light Set
UNISON COLOUR | Pastels: Unison Dark Set
Terry Ludwig Pastels: 30 Intense darks #1: Intense Dark Set #1
Terry Ludwig Pastels: 30 Intense Darks #2: Dark Set #2
Diane Townsend Pastels - set of 12 dark soft form pastels: Soft Form. Dark 12 piece set. (SFDK12conts)
Each Soft Form is approx. 13/4" long and 3/4"thick
bone black 1
midnight blue green 50
midnight green 51
midnight red 52
midnight blue 53
dark green 55
dark blue dark 63D
prussian blue 35
dark olive dark 58D
dark umber 61
dark vi
Mount Vision Pastel Company Sets: Mount Vision Pastel include:
25 Piece Thunderstorm Greys
15 Piece Dark Earth
15 Piece Dark
Working with Color: Blacks: a possible way of making a black pastel using only black ingredients.

POLL: Which is your favourite brand of dark pastels?

How have you solved the dark pastel problem?

Soft pastels in very dark shades tend to be a bit of a problem.

Common problems are:
- Some brands can feel abrasive and scratchy. Dark shades and tints of soft pastels have a reputation for not being the softest of soft pastels.
- Other brands are 'too hard' and fail to release their pigment load easily
- It can also be very difficult to get hold of good rich dark shades of colours which are NOT black

Some manufacturers have addressed these problems by creating specific dark sets of soft pastels. These aim to balance the quality of pigment colour (ie colour not black!) with softness and the effective release of the pigment onto the support while also offering a good range of dark colours.

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Brands of Hard Pastels

These sticks are typically rectagular with hard edges. Different artists use them for different purposes - but many find them great for sketching in under-drawings and for getting a hard edge on top of soft pastel.

Brands which are included below are all those which have a fully functioning website independent of any one supplier.

POLYCHROMOS Pastellkreiden (Artists' Pastels): Polychromos Artists' Pastels
From the website:
POLYCHROMOS pastel open up an almost inexhaustible variety of colour. They contain a high proportion of light-fast quality pigments. These pastels have impressively bright colours and a fascinatingly silky "feel".....The characteristic square-cross section allows you to draw fine details with an edge, or shade extended areas with one face. The crayons have a uniform consistency, are economical in use, and adhere excellently to paper, card, wood, and stone. They need only a minimum amount of fixing for permanence.
Conté A Paris - Les Carrés Couleurs Conté: LEFRANC & BOURGEOIS used to distribute the CONTE à PARIS fine art range of pencils, crayons and pastels.
Conté now has its own website

There are 70 colours of Les Carrés Couleurs Conté offering balanced assortments for landscape, portrait, still life. They're often used to map out drawings
Conté A Paris - Carrés Esquisse Conté: Conté crayons are most commonly found in black, white, and sanguine tones, as well as bistre, shades of grey, and other colors and are particularly suitable for fine hatching, sketching and classical life drawing.

Carrés Esquisse Conté comprises 14 different and traditional colors: blood, gray, sepia and three gradations of white and black. The square sticks are made from natural pigments (iron oxide, carbon black, titanium dioxide), clay (kaolin) and a binder (cellulose ether)
P R I S M A C O L O R Nupastels: Nupastels®
From the website:
Artists' quality for every level of expertise
Rich, creamy pigments for easy blending and shading
Stronger than traditional soft pastels create less breakage and easier clean-up
Ideal for illustration or tightly rendered drawings
CRETACOLOR ART MATERIAL: Pastels: From the website: The square (carré in French) CRETACOLOR hard pastels have been recognized by artists all over the world for their brilliant colors and high pigmentation. Their square shape lends itself well to painting both large surfaces and small details. The Pastell carré hard pastel full range is 72 colors, including the Brown and Gray Chalks.
Daler Rowney - Hard Pastels: Artists' Hard Pastels Daler-Rowney Artists' Hard Pastels are characterised by a velvet smooth mark, which stems from the carefully prepared blend of pure pigments. Firm in consistency, these pastels can be used to produce broad, flat areas of colour and detailed line work with equal success. 24 colours
Talens Van Gogh - carré pastels: Van Gogh carré pastels fall into the category of dry pastels. They come in a square shape and are made of pigment, various types of clay. Only available in assortment sets.
Derwent - Semi-hard, square pastel blocks: From the website: For authentic pastel drawings with quick, easy colour lay down, these chunky pastel blocks are perfect. Their square shape and smooth, semi-hard texture means you can use the ends, sides or edges to produce both broad and fine lines. Although not as dusty as soft pastels, the effect is equally beautiful and perhaps a little more manageable. Derwent Pastels are available in a range of 36 vibrant colours, plus the unique Derwent Blender which allows easy blending without affecting the colour density.
Jack Richeson & Co., Inc. : Richeson Pastels : Semi-Hard Square Pastels: From the website: Professional, semi-hard pastels, perfect for underpainting.
General Pencil Company - General's® Classic Pastel Chalk Set: General's® Classic Pastel Chalk Set contains 31 pieces including

- 20 Multi-Pastel® Chalk Pencils
- 6 Compressed Pastel Chalk Sticks
- 2 Sponge Applicators
- 1 Tortillion
- 1 Little Red® All-Art Sharpener
- 1 ES-20 Extra Soft White Vinyl Eraser

2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of hard pastel?

Conte and Cretaacolor pastels in Sennelier Shop Paris

Are you as intrigued as me to know which hard pastels people like the best? Don't forget to check all the options before you vote. If there are any you haven't heard of before check the links to relevant websites in the above modules.

You can find a second poll on Soft Pastels (above) and see the archive versions of past polls at the bottom of the page.

The photo is of the display of Conte a Paris and Cretacolor Carre in the Sennelier Shop on the Left bank of the Seine in Paris

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Pastels: Technical data about their composition and lightfastness / permanence

What are your pastels made of? Are they lightfast?

What are your pastels made of? Are they lightfast? Increasingly artists want to know more about the technical data and performance of the media they buy - and pastels are no exception.
I'm currently checking websites for information and these are the ones I've checked so far can't find any information on either composition or permanence.
1) Pastels Girault
2) Terry Ludwig
3) Unison

I'll be including links to technical data here as and when I find it. Please let me know if you find any new data so that we can all share in the knowledge

Making a Mark: A Lightfastness Standard for Pastels: current status: This post is about the progress to date in developing a lightfastness standard for Soft Pastels. It highlights how pastel artists can get involved
Winsor & Newton - Artists's Soft Pastels: The table in this link provides technical information on the composition, permanence and characteristics of Winsor and Newton Artists' Soft Pastels.

* Permanence ratings will tell you how long your painting will last over the years...
* The Chemical description will tell you exactly what pigments make up your colour and...
* Transparency and Opacity ratings are key indicators to how your colour will perform when layering colour
Art Spectrum - Soft Pastles: Professional Quality Artists' Soft Pastels
Websites states that all Art Spectrum pure pigment pastels are free from heavy metals, asbestos or other toxic substances.
No fugitive (*) colours according to website.

Information on colour chart about lightfastness - as determined by Art Spectrum - and the details provided on the label.
Label states carries the ACMI AP seal indicating compliance with ASTM D4236 (health and safety labelling practice - ACMI AP seal means that products contain no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injurious to humans or to cause acute or chronic health problems.")
Daler Rowney - Pastel pigment listing: Pdf file of the pigments used in Daler Rowney soft pastels. This includes:
- colour name and tint designation
- pigment name(s)
- C.I. names and C.I. numbers
- degree of permanence (star rating)

Colour charts on the website also indicate lightfastness. Sets includes moderately permanent (**) and fugitive (*) colours.
Artists Network - Lightfastness Testing for Pastels: Lightfastness Testing for Pastels - The Artists Network

Lightfastness Testing for Pastels
August 31, 2007
by Michael Skalka
The Artist's Magazine - Anatomy of Art Materials by Michael Skalka: Why should artists be afforded the luxury to make objects without thought as to their longevity, leaving the difficult task of maintaining the artist's intent to a future generation of conservators?
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Lightfastness-a Matter of Longevity: Currently, pastel manufacturers are working to get their ASTM ratings. Soon the pastel public will have the same information that oil, watercolor and acrylic painters have been enjoying. Since certain pigments are less permanent than others, it will prove helpful to have this rating available when choosing individual pastels.

Reviews of Brands of Soft Pastels

What the pastel artists thinks about different pastels

Pastel artists periodically review their pastels. Below you'll find links to all the reviews I could find. If you've done a review, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Making a Mark: Unison Pastels: the Darks and the Lights: Image of and commentary on the dark and light colour sets of Unison pastels
Making A Mark: Unison Pastels - The Blues and Greys: Commentary on the bluer end of the Unison range plus three completed pastels to demonstrate what they look like
Making A Mark: Unison Pastels: Blue Greens and Blue Green Earth: I'm very attached to my Unison blue green and blue green earth sets. It might be something to do with my favourite colour being duck egg blue or it might be because they are just so useful when doing skies, water, trees etc. I know that it was these two sets which first got my plastic twitching!
Making A Mark: Unison Pastels - Greens 1-36: All the greens - except the blue greens and the yellow greens! This is the third in the series of posts about my Unison Colour Value sets. The Greens come in two boxes 1-18 and 19-36.
Making A Mark: Unison Pastels - Yellow and Yellow Green Earth: Unison Yellow and Yellow Green Earth: pictures of the pastels and examples of them in use
Making A Mark: Unison Pastels: Red, Red Earth and Brown Earth: Pictures of and commentary on three sets of Unison Pastels at the red end of the spectrum
Pastel: Unison Review: Casey Klahn reviews Unison pastels
Pastel: Diane Townsend Pastels Review: Casey Klahn reviews his favorite brand of pastel - Diane Townsend Artist's Pastels. These handmade jewels come in three styles: Soft Form, Terrages and Thin Line. By way of explanation, consider the Soft Form to be a classic shape, Terrage ("Earth Gesture") to be a large rectangular shape, and Thin Line to be as described by their name.
The Studio News - Sennelier Pastels: Lisa Bachman uses soft pastels from several different manufacturers, and their texture ranges from hard, to very soft. However her biggest collection of very soft pastels are made by Sennelier - which she writes about in this review
Pastel: Sennelier Critique: Casey Klahn PSA - on why he likes Sennelier
Barry Katz Homebuilding - Westport, CT Pastel Article- HOT ON THE TRAIL OF THE WORLD'S BEST PASTELS: HOT ON THE TRAIL OF THE WORLD'S BEST PASTELS A detective story by Barry Katz During a recent visit to Paris, he devoted a good deal of my time to tracking down what are reputed to be the world's best pastels - Henri Roche - and found the source!
Wet Canvas Product Reviews - Soft Pastels Product: WC members comments on different soft pastel products for professionals
Dakota Art Pastels - the list of pastel brands in order of softness: This is a classification of generally how soft different brands of pastel are. Bear in mind the hardness or softness of individual colours can vary due to the nature of the pigments used.
Censura Reviews: Pastels (Soft/Pro): Roche Soft Pastels: Rating and review of Roche Soft Pastels
PanPastel: Bringing Painterly Innovation to the Pastel Medium: Created in 2007, PanPastels are innovative pans of pastel pigment that are meant to be scooped, spread, and smoothed using specially-made Sofft painting knives and sponges.
Pastels « Pastel on Paper - Bryan McGurgan: Pastels - I love art materials and tools, and this page is dedicated to sharing some of my thoughts on the types of pastel I use. As with my passion for handmade papers, I'm very enthusiastic about those brands of soft pastel produced in small quantities by tiny, artist-owned firms.

VIDEO: Art Spectrum Pastels

Australian pure pigment pastels by Art Spectrum

powered by Youtube

BOOKS: The "Best of Pastel" Books

books on Amazon

How to make your own pastels

Useful links if you'd like to have a go at making pastels for yourself

Below you can find a number of links to the websites of different people who have made pastels - and who tell you how to do it

Making Professional Pastels by Paul deMarrais | Daniel Smith Art Supplies: Making Professional Pastels: Paul deMarrais discusses how to make your own soft pastels and the materials you'll need. A little know-how can lead to a lot of satisfaction.
Sinopia.com | How to make your own Pastels: A San Francisco pigment supplier discusses how to make pastels
Making Pastels - by Phyllis Franklin: Making soft pastels is a time-consuming messy job but well worth all the trouble when you are successful making that one special color that you have not been able to find anywhere else.
How To Make Pastels by Tony Johansen: A very detailed guide to making pastels
pastel making: Pastels are very easy to make and the savings over store bought pastels is enormous. Pastels are made by mixing a gum solution with pigment, shaping into sticks and allowing it to dry. That's all there is to it.
The Colorist: Get Busy Making Pastels: Have some fun, and save money on expensive pastels, by making some of your own sticks. It's easier than one may have heard. Some of the information online is positively frenetic with how complex and difficult it should be. Don't believe it!
The Colorist: Making Pastels - Continued: Yesterday, we gathered our tools, and I promised to show you how to make pastels with no expensive purchases, just to get you started. We are going to make a stick from your easel tailings (dust that fell off of your paintings in production). Then, we'll just briefly touch on repairing broken sticks, and then we'll talk about making your own authentic colors.

Important!

SOFT PASTELS - ART SUPPLIES

Pastel Art - associated art materials and supplies

Click a link to go straight to that topic

Using pastels as an art media doesn't stop with making choices about which pastels to buy. You then need to decide which type of support to work on, where to get it etc - plus all the other useful bits of kits which help a pastel artist. Look below to find out more about associated art materials and supplies

Pastel Supports - boards and papers
Paper and non-canvas supports for pastel artists
User perspectives on different Pastel Supports
Fixatives
Pastels Suppliers (UK)
Tools for working with soft pastels
Air Filters, Purifiers and Dust Masks
Pastels Suppliers (USA)
Lots of different ways to store all your pastels
Storage for Soft Pastels
Art Supplies - Resources for Artists
Making a Mark reviews......

Pastel Supports - boards and papers

Some are designed for pastels and some just work well with pastels

Which pastel to use is only half the story - what you use it on can have a major impact on the look of your artwork. This module considers supports you can buy and supports you can make for yourself.

Kitty Wallis Pastel paper: Wallis paper is a sanded paper available in two archival standard versions - 'professional' and 'museum'. Kitty Wallis's forum on Wet Canvas. Get a free sample and find out what you can and cannot do with this paper - available from all major art suppliers in the USA. See next link for UK supplier
Art Spectrum Colourfix: Colourfix provides a toothy surface which is not harmed by water. The manufacturer's informative webpage provides details and colour charts for Pastel Primer and Colourfix Paper. the paper is available in different weights and different sizes.
Canson Mi Teintes: Paper comes in 50 different shades - but what is available in reality will depend on country and supplier (EG Dick Blick lists 42 shades). Paper is: 65% rag (cotton), tub sized, antique wove, roller marked, variable grain direction and has a textured surface.

IMO this paper has a horrible chicken wire pattern on one side which can very apparent in artwork but the smoother side is great. It comes in sheets, rolls, and pads.

Beware - the colour of this paper is NOT lightfast.
Canson Mi-Teintes: which side and why?: The Wet Canvas Pastel Talk Forum discusses "Canson Mi-Teintes: which side and why?" and identifies some real concerns about lightfastness
Fabriano Tiziano: Marion Boddy's review of Fabriano Tiziano paper.
Ampersand Art Supply - Pastelbord: Pastelbord is a clay and gesso coated hardboard panel with a granular marble dust finish comparable to a sanded pastel paper except more durable and more versatile. It can be used with wet or dry traditional pastel techniques or with acrylics, and more! (I've used it with coloured pencils and fell in love with it!) The coating is pH neutral and non-yellowing, making it a truly permanent museum quality surface.Available in Gray, Green, Sand and White.
Making a Mark: Abrasive Supports for Pastels & Coloured Pencils #1: The first post in an overview of seven abrasive supports for pastels and coloured pencils. Includes links to more infomation.
Covers: Ampersand Pastelbord, Art Spectrum Colourfix and Ersta Sanded Paper.
Making a Mark: Abrasive Supports for Pastels & Coloured Pencils #2: Covers: Richeson Premium Pastel Surface (new product); Sennelier La Carte Pastel (Pastel Card) / Rembrandt Pastel Board; Schminke Sansfix Pastellkarton and
Wallis Paper
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Mounting Pastel Paper: One of the most frequently asked questions is about mounting pastel paper-especially Wallis pastel paper-to a support before painting, and whether or not this has to be done professionally. The purpose of having paper mounted is to add stability and to facilitate the use of water-based underpaintings.
Pastel Paper Review by Mary Herbert: Mary Herbert is an artist based in Leicestershire specialising in pastel portraits of horses and dogs. She's been painting pastel pictures on mountboard for many years. In the meantime, many new surfaces have come onto the market, and the time has come to try some of them out and see if any of them can help me produce better art. This review covers five papers, all with quite different qualities.
Neutral pH UART Sanded Pastel paper - from Dakota Art Pastels: NEW (Replaces Ersta)
Dakota Pastels are offering a new industrially produced sandpaper to replace Ersta. Uart has the same wonderfully consistent machined surface that characterized the Ersta papers - but it is produced on a neutral pH backing paper!

The papers are available in four grits ranging from P400-P800. Three size sheets and rolls available in all surfaces! The paper is a lighter, creamier color than the former Ersta.
Saint Armand Sabretooth Pastel Paper - from Dakota Art Pastels: he Saint-Armand Sabretooth paper is made in Montreal, Canada.
The rag base paper is archival, acid-free, very lighty textured and internally sized. The acrylic based sand coating is applied with a roller to achieve an incredibly even, subtle textured surface. The coating will take both water and solvent base washes and can withstand vigorous scrubbing and reworking. This is a great sheet for both soft and oil pastel. A range of nine colors is available in individual sheets of 22" x 30" or a pack of four sheets of a single color in 15" x 20".
The Pastel Pointers Blog - When Homemade Is Best by Richard McKinley: We're fortunate to be painting in a time when there are so many wonderful pastel surfaces commercially available. In the Dark Ages of pastel-not so long ago actually-it was a necessity to know how to make your own, especially if you required a sanded surface. But even with the proliferation of available surfaces today, there are times when a homemade surface fills the bill.

To create a homemade, sanded pastel surface, you'll need a substrate and the ground components (binder, grit and, optionally, a tone):
Support system by Maggie Price: A Pastel Journal Special report - on supports for pastels - available as a pdf file
New York Central Art Supply - ARCHES MBM INGRES (MICHALLET): ARCHES MBM INGRES (MICHALLET)
Originally designed by the mill for the artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, this type of paper set the standard for charcoal and pastel drawing and has been duplicated by many other mills around the world.

Michallet was the name given to a heavier version of this sheet that was prized by many artists, including George Seurat. Although Michallet is no longer made, the rougher surface of the 105 gsm. sheet replicates the original. The letters "MBM" refer to the owners, Morel, Bercious and Masure who introduced the first mouldmade machines in 1883.

Arches MBM Ingres has 2 natural deckles, 2 torn edges, is watermarked and neutral pH.

New York Central Art Supply stocks fine art and decorative papers from all over the world in sheets and rolls, and at times in pads and blocks.
The Pastel Pointers Blog - On the Surface: Views on working with different grades of UART paper
Clairefontaine - Pastelmat: PASTELMAT is a premium card surface (360gsm / 170lb) specially developed for pastelists. Its unique velvety surface, made from a fine coating of cellulose fibers, has the ability to grab and hold multiple layers of even the softest pastels.
* Unique velvety surface with excellent grabbing power
* Holds many layers of pastel
* Reduces the need for fixative
* Gentle on fingers & tools
* Premium card weight (360gsm/170lbs)
* Use with wet and dry media
* Available in 8 colors
The Pastel Pointers Blog - A New Surface for Pastels (Pastelmat): Richard McKinley's review of Pastelmat
Making a Mark reviews......: Product Review : Clairefontaine Pastelmat: Highlights:

* possible to get a really white 'white' on the black pastelmat
* possible to get a very sharp line / suits those drawing hair or fur
* manufacturer claims that there is no need to use fixative for soft pastels between layers
* work on sheets in pads protected by crystal inserts
* good quality saturation means less layers required
* possible to blend and smudge (unlike with velour)
* not abrasive (unlike Colourfix and Fisher 400)
* Creative Art Company states that it has a tough waterproof surface
The Pastel Pointers Blog - The flatter the better: One issue pastel painters often confront is the flatness of their painting surfaces. Many papers and surfaces are made from cotton rag for archival reasons. As superior as these are, they're also prone to wrinkling and warping when moisture is introduced.
ASW - Pastel Paper & Boards: Art Supply Warehouse - good range of pastel papers and boards - including:
* Ampersand Pastelbord
* Art Spectrum Colourfix Papers, Boards, Pastels and Primers
* Wallis Sanded Pastel Paper
Art Supply Warehouse - Wallis Sanded Pastel Paper: Wallis Sanded Pastel Paper is water and solvent resistant, making it the perfect choice for working with pastels and mixed media. Available in Antique White or Belgium Mist Grey, each sheet is made with aluminum oxide grit, providing one of the hardest and most re-workable surfaces available on the market.

Professional sheets are neutral pH and feature a 236g weight card stock.

Museum sheets are acid-free, buffered, and feature 100% cotton 300 g card stock. Rolls are 10 yards long x 46" wide. Pads are perfect for Plein Air techniques, and have 8 sheets ready for field use. All 18x24"and 24x36"sheets require a Minimum Purchase of at least 10 Sheets.
Handmade Paper - Pastel on Paper review by Bryan McGurgan: Handmade Paper Since paper is a real passion of mine, I've put together some notes and photos describing some of my favorite handmade varieties. I purchase most of my paper from New York Central Art Supply, and all of the papers listed below can be found there. These days, most of the papers I use are handmade and it begs the question, I suppose, of why that's the case.
Observe Closely: Eight Adaptable Pastel Supports: Recommendations as to eight surfaces which can be used as supports for colourfix primer
Creative Support Company - Fisher 400: Abrasive pastel support supplied by Tim Fisher
* 360 gsm pH7 neutral backing paper
* 720 x 510 mm sheets
* Electrostatically coated for perfect grit spacing
* Will hold more pastel than any other paper
* Superior multi layering of pastel
* Water resistant glue
* Pale buff, light fast surface can be tinted
* Reduced dusting when working
* Highly durable paper
* Ageing test saw no change in pH
Pastel Paper Review by Mary Herbert: Mary Herbert is an artist based in Leicestershire specialising in pastel portraits of horses and dogs. Commissions welcome, original artwork for sale.

I'd been painting my pastel pictures on mountboard for many years, because when I started, it was the most satisfactory surface that I could find for my technique. In the meantime, many new surfaces had come onto the market, and in 2007 I thought it was try some of them out and see if any of them could help me produce better art. This review covers five papers, all with quite different qualities.
Nicole Caulfield Art Journal: Portrait on Fisher 400 Paper: I like a lot of things about this paper. I think I probably did my very best head of hair on it because I could so easily go over medium/dark colors with lighter ones to add in hairs and highlights. I think the saturation and range of values you can achieve on it is amazing & with a little practice the fact that you can blend so easily I think is a good thing.
loriann signori's painting-a-day: abstract bands of color making distance and marble dust recipe: Loriann Signori's marble dust recipe
Canson Mi-Teintes Touch: An evolution in pastel papers. It is a very finely textured "sanded" pastel paper featuring a fine grit surface primer for holding intense dry media such as pastel pigments and allows for multiple layers. Available in an array of colors in both sheets and boards.
Canson Mi-Teintes Touch | jackie simmonds artyfacts: Canson, the maker of the well-known and popular Canson Mi-Teinte pastel papers, have now produced this new surface which can be used for pastel, oil pastel, pencil, charcoal and acrylics. It has a thinly sanded surface, which feels smooth with a slight texture, but will not shred your fingers like regular sandpaper!
Painting my World: Guess How Many Layers I got on Canson Touch?: It is a screen printed sanded surface that looks and feels a bit like Art Spectrum Colourfix. It feels soft and velvety and I didn't think it would hold too much pastel. I was wrong.
Painting my World: How Wet Can it Get? My Review of Canson Mi-Teintes Touch part 2: I love wet drippy underpaintings! So one of the reasons I was excited to try the new Canson Mi-Teintes Touch paper was it's ability to take a wash. It can handle both water and solvent based underpaintings.
Canson Mi-Teintes Touch Sanded Board - WetCanvas: Canson Mi-Teintes Touch Sanded Board Soft Pastel Talk
Painting my World: Have You Tried Pastelmat Yet? 6 Reasons Why You Should.: Pastelmat isn't exactly new but I haven't had the chance to use it much. This week I devoted myself to discovering all I could about Pastelmat. What did I discover? Like any surface it has pros and cons but what my work for my style may be perfect for yours so I encourage you to give it a try.

Paper and non-canvas supports for pastel artists

This site contains a lot of information of interest to pastel artists

If you want to look at different types of support this resource provides a very quick way of accessing the different websites and suppliers

User perspectives on different Pastel Supports

Your chance to have a say

This is an opportunity to say what you like or don't like about different brands of pastel supports/paper. Please be as concise and precise as you can and highlight positives as well as negatives.

(Note this also includes past comments about soft pastel brands - there is now a new feedback module for comments about pastels in the "All About Pastels" section about pastel brands)

submit

Reply

lestroischenes Feb 15, 2011 @ 8:53 am | delete

Goodness, I'm an artist but never knew there was so much to know about pastel. Many thanks for all this mass of info.

Reply

makingamark Feb 20, 2011 @ 6:45 pm | delete

You're welcome! Tell your fellow pastel artists about it too!

Reply

CJ Janus Aug 1, 2010 @ 9:58 am | delete

I'm looking for the multi-colored pad of Ingres pastel paper that used to be sold under the name of Grumbacher. Even in sheets would work. It is thin but very fine quality.

Reply

makingamark Aug 6, 2010 @ 9:43 pm | delete

I'm afraid I've not heard of this.

Grumbacher is an American brand and I note from their website http://www.grumbacherart.com that they no longer reference pastels as a product in current production - which may provide the answer for why you can no longer find this support.

Reply

Lene Jun 1, 2010 @ 2:13 am | delete

hi
did you have a link for a UK supplier of the Wallis paper / you referr to a link under the description of the support, but I cannot find it?
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Fixatives

There's much debate about fixatives for pastels. Some complain they change colours. Others use them because they change colours. Some prefer a more abrasive paper so that fixative can be avoided altogether. Youcan't travel on a plane with alcohol based fixtaive and trying to find fixative in a foreign country can be a total nightmare!

Here are some links to the more popular brands and some hints and tips about using fixatives.

Artists Network - Pastel Fixative Options: Learn different methods of fixing pastels-and the the pros and cons of those methods."
Pastel Painting Problem Solver -- Using Hairspray to Fix Pastels or Artist's Fixative?: Is it okay to use hairspray to fix pastels or should you use only artist's pastel fixative? Find a scientific answer to the debate in this Pastel Painting Problem Solver.
Pastel Lesson - Fine Art Instruction: Lesson in pastel drawing and painting - materials, techniques, color study, personal expression. Includes section on fixative
Sennelier - Soft pastels and application products - Fixative and Paper: "LATOUR" Fixative For Soft Pastels.
A clear fixative made from a resin and alcohol base.
Creates a totally transparent and matt film.
To be sprayed lightly and repeatedly, if necessary.
Winsor & Newton Fixative - Bottle: A colourless medium which provides protection of charcoal, pencil, pastel and chalk drawings. Specially formulated to reduce smudging and dusting. Dries rapidly.
Winsor & Newton Fixative - Aerosol: A colourless medium which provides protection of charcoal, pencil, pastel and chalk drawings. Specially formulated to reduce smudging and dusting. Dries rapidly. Aerosol can enables easier & even application.
SpectraFix Natural Non-Toxic Pastel Fixative: SpectraFix: The Original Non-Toxic, Natural, 100% Archival Casein Spray Fixative for Pastel, Charcoal, Watercolor, Gouache and Mixed Media. No Unhealthy Fumes! Perfect for Classrooms or Indoor Spraying. No Fumes!
AMIEN Forums - commenting on casein pastel fixative: A resource for artists dedicated to providing the most comprehensive, up-to-date, accurate, and unbiased factual information about artists' materials.

Pastels Suppliers (UK)

Who are the best retail and online suppliers for pastels and associated supplies in the UK?

These suppliers are either ones I've used and would recommend or ones which are personal recommendations of other artists

Heaton Cooper Studio - Art Materials Section: I bought my first colour sets of Unison Pastels at the Heaton Cooper shop in Grasmere, Cumbria, Since then I've used their very efficient online ordering system. They're great at packing!
They carry a very wide range of pastel brands and a good range of pastel supports.
Jackie Simmonds - sole UK supplier of Wallis Papers: Well known UK pastel artist Jackie Simmonds first discovered Wallis Paper through her connections in the USA and the Pastel Society of America, discovered WALLIS paper. Impressed with its performance Jackie Simmonds now works closely with Kitty Wallis to supply Wallis paper in the UK. This link also provides good quality information about Wallis paper.
Green & Stone Art Materials: Pastels, chalks and charcoal from Green and Stone, Chelsea
L Cornelissen and Son - Artists' Colourmen: Pastels: The widest range of pastels available in London and maybe the UK! Four full manufacturers ranges with all the colour variations in stock. Add to that the crayons and oil pastel ranges and you have an idea of the scale of our offer.
Our range includes:-

Soft Pastels - Schmincke;Sennelier, Talens & Unison, Conté Carré Crayons, Oil Pastels, Sets & Boxes, Fixative, Stumps, Pads, Pastel Cloth & Paper
A P Fitzpatrick - Catalogues and mail order: Kremer Pigments: As well as selling materials from our London art shop we offer a mail order service.
GreatArt - Pastel Paper: Canson Mi-Teintes Artists Paper, Hahnemuehle Pastel Paper, Fabriano Tiziano Pastel Blocks, Lana Coloured Paper, Colourfix Pastel Paper, Sennelier Pastel Paper
GreatArt - Pastels: Unison, Schmincke Pastels, Sennelier Extra Fine Artists Pastels, Winsor & Newton Artists Soft Pastels, Conte a Paris Carre Pastels, Jaxell Jumbo Pastels, Faber-Castell Polychromos Pastels
PanPastel Colors – Ultra Soft Artists’ Painting Pastels: UNITED KINGDOM Distributor:
West Design
West House
Shearway Business Park
Pent Road
Folkestone, Kent, CT19 4RJ
Tel: +44 (0)1303 297888
www.westdesignproducts.co.uk

Tools for working with soft pastels

tortillons, paper stumps, erasers, stick holders etc!

Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > Charcoal Stick Holder: Grips charcoal or graphite sticks from 4 to 6mm diam, enabling clean working and avoids waste of the end.
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > Stumps and Tortillons: Disposable rolled paper tools for blending pastel, charcoal and pencil work. Stumps are densely rolled, tortillions loosely.
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > Colour Shaper Pastel Blending Tool: For good control in blending, shaping and smudging. Double-ended tool, one end chisel tip shaper, the other a spongy blender. Silicon tips simply wipe clean.
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > Colour Shaper Pastel Set: Set of four tools comprising one silicon chisel tip shaper, one silicon tapered tip shaper, one nylon fan blender and one blender brush. For defining, blending and smudging. In two sizes - size 2 for detailed work and size 6 for detail and area work. Silicon tips wipe clean.
Artists Network - A Word about Drawing Tools by Butch Krieger: A Word about Drawing Tools by Butch Krieger (March 10, 2008)

You can find a host of drawing tools on the market. Here's some information, to help you choose the best gear for you.

Air Filters, Purifiers and Dust Masks

cleaning the air for pastel artists

All pastels produce dust during application. All dusts can be considered potentially harmful if you inhale the dust.

Many pastel artists swear by their air purifiers while others have never even seen on in action. It's a relevant bit of equipment which is worth investigating - and certainly should do so if you have any respiratory issues

Others have tips for catching pastel dust - such as :
* stand on a carpet piece that can be vacuumed or washed and, eventually, thrown out.
* an aluminum foil-lined tray beneath the painting to catch falling pastel dust
* mist into the air all around the room where you have dust and it will disappear as the mist falls to the floor.

HEPA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: A high efficiency particulate arrestor, or HEPA[1] (pronounced /%u02C8h%u025Bp%u0259/), filter is a type of high-efficiency air filter.
Dakota Art Pastels - ARTIST'S AIR FILTER SYSTEMAN EFFECTIVE STUDIO AIR PURIFIER!: The Artist's Air Filter System is designed to attach directly to your easel (however it can be used either vertically or horizontally on a table) - right where pastel dust and other airborne materials or solvents accumulate!
Painting With Pastels : Dealing with Pastel Dusts: Painting with pastels inevitably creates a certain amount of dust. Inhaled or absorbed over a long period, this can cause serious health problems. By following the precautions on this page, you can enjoy painting with this medium without sacrificing your health.
ARTIST'S AIR EASEL ATTACHMENT Air Purifier: An affordable, new system that quietly collects pastel dust and oil solvents at your easel and filters them from your studio environment
Free shipping for all ARTIST'S AIR products within the US contiguous 48 states.
Air Purifiers for artists | oil paint pastels wood or sculpting health risks.: Artists should consider air purifiers. Exposure to chemicals, heavy metals, fumes and particulate can create serious health problems and health risks to artists.
Wet Canvas - what to do about pastel dust? (2002): a review by artists of their different approaches to containing and clearing pastel dust

Pastels Suppliers (USA)

A mini-directory of suppliers of pastels and associated art materials and supplies

Looking for the best price or to source a particular item. This list presents a short cut to suppliers in the USA - some of whom will ship overseas.

Dakota Art Pastels: A site totally dedicated to being the leading resource in the USA for pastels and premium pastel papers.
FineArtStore - Pastels: Complete range of supplies for the pastel artist from this art supplier based in Rochester, New York.
Jack Richeson Catalogue for Unison Pastels: Jack Richeson is the approved distributor of Unison Pastels in the USA. This catalogue provides a good overview of the pastels, the process of production and a detailed colour chart for the different sets.
Rochester Art Supply - Pastels: Rochester Art Supply
150 West Main Street, Rochester, New York 14614 USA

This store has a great range of pastels - including what are reputedly some of the finest in the world - Henri Roche soft pastels. You can also order a Pastel Catalogue.
Italian Art Store - Professional Pastel Sets for Pastel Artists: Pastels stocked include:
Art Spectrum, Maimeri, Mount Vision, Schminke, Sennelier and Unison as well as Golden Acrylic ground and Lascaux reworkable fixative
Pastels - soft pastel - oil pastel - water soluble: Quality oil pastels, including Winsor and Newton, Rembrant, Schmincke, Unison, Mount Vision, Blockx, Girault pastels and grumbacher
Utrecht - Pastels from Conte, Faber-Castell, Prismacolor, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Sennelier from Utrecht.: Browse Pastels from Utrecht, your source for Pastels and art supplies. Bring the beauty of pastels to life with our wide selection of soft/chalk pastels , oil pastels , pastel pencils , soft/chalk pastel sets , and oil pastel sets .

Lots of different ways to store all your pastels

Where to put them all; how to carry them around

People store their pastels in different ways. They also vary in the storage they use depending on whether the pastels are used in the studio, for plein air work - or both. Take a look below to find out about some of the options

Making a Mark: Can you ever have enough pastels?: Most pastellists would snort at this completely rhetorical question since the answer is emphatically 'No'. Read on........
A new form of storage for pastels: These new pods provide a new and more flexible form of storage for pastels
Artbin Pastel Storage Box: I've got two ArtBin storage cases for pastels and they've proved extremely robust for travelling by air (in a case) and carrying around for plein air work. However the size of the slot will not take larger pastels (eg Unison). So check whether it will take your favourite pastel before you buy.
ArtBin Pastel Tote: This is the ArtBin storage which is the best one to use if you have odd shaped and/or larger pastels. Plus the transparent cases are useful for seeing easily which pastels to get out.
The Heilman Pastel box: Available in Three sizes; all sizes have Tripod receptors
BACKPACK Box: 10-1/2"x13"x2-1/4", 3.25 llbs
Original Box: 12-1/2"x 16"x 3-5/8", 6.5 lbs
Large Box: 14-1/2" x 17"x 3-5/8",8.75 lbs.

Designed with input from Pastel Artists and Instructors who wanted a handy, secure box.
Used and recommended by artists Albert Handell, Anita West, Richard McKinley, Maggie Price, Margaret Evans, Lorenzo Chavez, Glenna Hartmann, Stephanie Birdsall, Alan Flattmann,Richard McDaniel and many others who use it in the field and studio.
Richeson Roz Box: I've never seen this - but I guess if it's from Richeson then it will be designed especially to accommodate Unison Pastels for artists in the USA.
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > 'Langset' Wooden Pastel Box: Well finished good quality wooden box, with four lift-out trays, 2 with foam inserts. Could hold 200+ pastels. Brassed fittings and leather carry handle. External size 36x26x14cms, weight 2.75kg.
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > 'Epworth' Wooden Pastel Box: Well finished good quality wooden box, with two lift-out trays each divided into 10 sections with foam inserts. Brassed fittings and leather carry handle. External size 36x26x8cms, weight 1.75kg, will accommodate up to 80 standard size pastels.
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Keeping Things Clean: How to keep your pastel palette and storage container clean
Making a Mark reviews......: Storage for Unison pastels: Transparent boxes which are capable of storing Unison Pastels easily
Making a Mark reviews......: Product Review: Really Useful Boxes (for art media and crafts): Robust transparent boxes which provide storage when transporting pastels and pencils.
Question about pastel containers: Donna Aldridge shows how to make foamcore boxes to store and transport pastels
WetCanvas - View Single Post - Question about pastel containers: WetCanvas: Cyber Living for Artists | Forums & Community for Fine Artists

Storage for Soft Pastels

available on Amazon

These pastel boxes are available on Amazon. There are also good ones available from specialist suppliers

Art Supplies - Resources for Artists

Making a Mark reviews......

a consumer's guide to quality and value in art books, art supplies and services to artists

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Important!

SOFT PASTELS IN ART HISTORY

Famous Artists who used soft pastels

Links to websites about pastel artists

Articles about Past Masters of Pastels

If you come across a good article about a Pastel master do pleae let me know about it - so we can share...

Pastel Masters article by Naomi Ekperigin published by American Artist: Published in the June 2008 edition of American Artist and on their website.
It covers Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Wlliam Merritt Chase, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699 - 1779) and Jean-François Millet (1814-1875).
Metropolitan Museum - Eighteenth-Century Pastel Portraits: Notes on their Rising Popularity, Materials, Techniques, and Preservation: The current exhibition Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-Century Europe opens a window on one of the most popular art forms of the Rococo and Enlightenment eras.
The Eighteenth-Century Pastel Portrait | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art: By the eighteenth century, color, not line, became dominant as pastels moved aesthetically closer to painting.
Pastel Drawing | Subject Index | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | Pastel Drawing - links to relevant artists
Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Painting and Drawing | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Degas had a lively, scientific interest in a wide range of media, including engraving, monotype, and photography. Before 1880, he generally used oils for his completed works, which were based on preliminary studies and sketches made in pencil or pastel. But after 1875, he began using pastels more frequently, even in finished works

BOOKS: Pastels in the past

Leading artists who have used pastels

Museums with significant pastel art

You can find Chardin in the Louvre and Degas in the Musee dOrsay

Famous pastel drawings

Musée d'Orsay: Edgar Degas The Tub: Presented at the eighth Impressionist exhibition in 1886, this pastel is one of a series of seven pictures produced by Degas in the mid 1880's on the theme of women at their ablutions
Louvre - Chardin - Self-portrait with Spectacles: Jean-Siméon CHARDIN (Paris, 1699-1779)
Self-portrait with Spectacles
1771
Pastel
H. 46 cm; W. 38 cm
Jean-Augustin de Sylvestre collection; François-Louis Gounod collection; Bruzard collection; purchased by the Louvre in 1839.
INV25206
Prints and Drawings
Signed and dated at bottom right: "chardin / 1771"
Louvre - Full-length portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour: Maurice-Quentin Delatour
(Saint-Quentin, 1704-Saint-Quentin, 1788)
Full-length portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour
1748-55
Pastel on gray-blue paper with gouache highlights, the face is cut out and mounted on the paper
H. 1.77 m; W. 1.3 m
Offered by Lespinasse d'Arlet to the Museum central des arts which refused it; sold publicly July 11, 1803; purchased by Paillet and sent to the Musée spécial de l'École française in Versailles, 1804
INV27614
Prints and Drawings
Louvre - Question de la Tour - Self-portrait Pointing or Self-portrait at an %u0152il-de-Boeuf Window: The latter, which soon became famous for its convincing portrayal of the artist's temperament and character, was engraved by Georg Friedrich Schmidt and much copied by La Tour's pupils. Five different versions of the work are now considered autograph.
Thanks to the Friends of the Louvre, the museum has acquired this pastel self-portrait, whose provenance and quality distinguish it as the original version.
Louvre - Leonardo da Vinci - Portrait of Isabella d'Este: Leonardo DA VINCI
Portrait of Isabella d'Este
1499-1500
Black and red chalk with stump, ochre chalk, white highlights on the face, throat, and hand. Original black chalk lines are visible in several places: face, hair, veil on the forehead, neck, garment covering the breast, left shoulder. Paper prepared with white in the upper left and right parts.
H. 61 cm; W. 46.5 cm
Bartolommeo Calderara (b. 1747); Vittoria Pelulso, the widow Calderara; Domenico Pino (c. 1760-1828); acquired in 1829 by Giuseppe Vallardi, 1855 catalogue, p. 66 n°2, among the framed pieces; Chevalier A.D. de Turin, Paris sale, December 10, 1860, n° 72; acquired by the Musée Impérial.
MI753
Prints and Drawings

Important!

CONTEMPORARY PASTEL ARTISTS

Pastel Artist wins £25,000 Threadneedle Prize 2010

Patricia Cain - Building the Riverside Museum, Pastel, 110 x 170 cms

Building the Riverside Museum, Pastel, 110 x 170 cms, SOLD
Patricia Cain stands in front of her prizewinning work which won the £25,000 Threadneedle Prize 2010 at the Mall Galleries in London

(photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell)

Contemporary Artists who work in Pastels

Websites of contemporary pastel artists

Wolf Kahn: Wolf Kahn is one of the most important colorists working in America today.
Albert Handell: Albert Handell is a Master Pastellist who delivers Pastel Workshops
Sally Strand Pastels & Mixed Media: Sally Strand Pastels and Mixed Media work and workshops
Margaret Glass - painter in oils and pastels: The paintings of Margaret Glass demonstrate her ability in both Pastels and Oils. Her subjects are varied and include many from Venice, Italy and from her home county Suffolk, UK
Dianna Ponting: Dianna Ponting has won many awards for her pastel work. She is a Master Pastellist of the Pastel Artists of Canada and is current President of the Federation of Canadian Artists
Mark Leach: Mark Leach PS - award winning UK artist specialising in contemporary landscape painting. On-line gallery.
Making a Mark: Mark Leach PS, President Elect of The Pastel Society - an obituary: On 29th March this year Mark Leach was elected to be the next President of The Pastel Society in 2009. Last Friday, on 4th July 2008, he passed away.

In this post I'm going to comment on his work, point you to places where you can see it still and intersperse my comments with extracts from Mark's own manifesto which is featured on his website.
Jackie Simmonds: Pastel painter, gallery of original pastel paintings, limited edition prints, books and videos, art instruction
Frances Treanor: Frances Treanor (her entry in The Bridgeman Art Library entry - one of the World's most comprehensive source of fine art images for reproduction)
Bridgeman Art Library - work by Felicity House: Felicity House is a Council Member of The Pastel Society
The landscape paintings of M. Katherine Hurley.: Colourist art - landscape paintings in oil and pastels by artist Katherine Hurley - a student of Wolf Kahn
Kitty Wallis: Pastel paintings by Kitty Wallis (courtesy of the Harris Gallry in Houston). Many are views of the water garden at Giverny in France.
Click to see a a larger version in a separate window
Barbara Benedetti Newton: Now works primarily in soft pastels but started initially with coloured pencils. Author of the Colored Pencil Solution Book.
Sheila Evans - Anisotrope Studio: Sheila produces wonderful pastel paintings of landscapes, trees, leaves, succulent, flowers and ambient light ©2005 Anisotrope Studio
Richard McKinley, fine art: Painter in pastels and oils and instructor in plein painting with pastels
Bill Creevy Pastels: Bill Creevy Pastels
Michael Chesley Johnson, PSA - Landscape En Plein Air Painter in Pastel, Oil: Michael Chesley Johnson offers a a lot of very good information about pastels on his website - including pastel demonstrations
Jimmy Wright, Artist: Jimmy Wright, juror for the Still Life and Floral section of the 8th Annual Pastel 100 competition 2007. Details of Classes, Exhibits, Works on Paper, Paintings, Biography and essays
International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) - IAPS Ninth Juried Exhibition: Artists accepted into the 9th Juried exhibition of IAPS
Eric Aho - Pastel Drawings: Contemporary artist - Eric Aho draws landscapes in pastels
Hosner Fine Art - Plein Air Pastel: A collection of plein-air works by Bill Hosner created by painting figures and scenes from life. I feel that this way of working is the only way to convey the nature of light, and emotional connection between myself and the subject.
Pastel 100 Juror 2008
The Art of Ron Monsma: The Official Site of Ron Monsma. Ron is the head of drawing and painting at IUSB, and an internationally acclaimed artist. In 2008 he won the 9th Pastel 100 Jack Richeson/Unisons Pastels Best of Show Award
:Casey Klahn: Casey Klahn Fine Art - Colorist American Landscapes
:Bill James-American Impressionist: Bill James - American Impressionist
Bill works in pastels, watercolour and oils and has won many awards. He excels at heightening colour within landscapes.
Susan Ogilvie: SUSAN OGILVIE Entire site copyright © 2007 Susan Ogilvie. All rights reserved.
All content on this website is the property of Susan Ogilvie, and is protected under United States and International copyright laws. The images on this site may not be reproduced, stored, or manipulated, without the written permission of the artist.
Arts and Stuff with Susan Borgas: Australian artist Susan Borgas - paints the Flinders Ranges of South Australia in pastel
Kim Lordier Web Site: Kim Lordier Fine Art
Pastel Paintings in the Plein Air Tradition

BOOKS: More books about Pastels

books on Amazon

Artists who blog about Pastels

There are a few art bloggers who regularly comment about working with pastels or share information about pastels

Making A Mark: My blog - click the pastels category (RH column) to bring up all my blog posts about pastel brands / supports / workshops / artists - and my art too!
The Pastel Pointers Blog - with Richard McKinley: Richard McKinley's Blog. The opinions expressed herein are his own personal opinions.
The Pastel Journal Blog: News from the Pastel Journal staff
Small Pastel Studies by Margaret Dyer: Margaret is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America. She has been featured in The Artists Magazine, American Artist, International Artist, Pastel Artist International, The Pastel Journal, "How Did You Paint That?-100 Ways to Paint People & Figures, Vols. 1 and 2", and "Pure Color: The Best of Pastels".
Michel Chesley Johnson: Signature member of the Pastel Society of America and Contributing Editor to the Pastel Journal - this is his plein air blog (pastels and oils). he has another weekly painting blog.
loriann signori's painting-a-day: Pastel Landscapes - Loriann's work has been described as poetic realism. She paints that moment of beautiful light, the one that stays in one's mind evoking emotions past.

An outdoors person at heart, Loriann has always relished plein air painting as it's the perfect combination of her love of nature and painting. After many years of balancing painting and a teaching career she now paints full time. Taking part of the Painting -a-Day movement since 2007 Loriann continues to paint at least one small painting outdoors each day. Her studio works are often on a grand scale and imbued with light.
The Colorist: Casey Klahn aims to provide a newsletter for patrons of colorist art without the artspeak
Casey Klahn - Pastel: A blog about all things pastel. The backstory on the "medium of pigment," interviews, technique, featured artists, and my own art.
"Pastel" is a new box of eye-candy, full of possibilities and waiting for the creative touch of the artist.
Painting My World: Original Pastel Paintings created daily by Karen Elizabeth Margulis
bigcatheads: Life as an artist who paints cats - in charcoal and pastel
barbara benedetti newton paintings: Barbara is a Signature Member of the Northwest Pastel Society, a juried member of Women Painters of Washington, a Charter Member, Signature Member and past president of the Colored Pencil Society of America.
Daily Paintings by Ria Hills: Ria Hills is a pastel painter born in The Netherlands, raised in New York and living in Massachusetts. She has discovered the satisfaction of completing a painting a day by joining the daily painters movement on the web.
Daily Pastel Painting - Mike Beeman: Based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Mike regularly shares new pastel works
Pastel and Paint - Lesley Finn's Art: New Zealand artist Lesley Finn writes about the influences on her art - and shares pastel works as well as work in other media
Pastel: In Praise of Henri Roche, Pastel Maker: Casey Klahn comments on the pastels of Henri Roche
PA Ford Pastelist: Paula Ford, Tennessee
Brenda Boyylan - Dusty Fingers: The job as an artist allows me to play around with my many friends in the Northwest Pastel Society, and the Portland Plein-Aire & Studio Painters. My work has been published in the Best of America Pastel Series II and am represented by the Earthworks Gallery on the Oregon coast.
Nancy Poucher - Pastel Painting: Nancy Poucher | Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States
Astrid Volquardsen - Pastell-Blog: Pastel artist - Astrid Volquardsen Buchholz, Germany
Gesa Helms - paint and pastel: Gesa Helms - ideas, thoughts and experiments on painting: in pastel, oil, mixed media and more.ideas, thoughts and experiments on painting: in pastel, oil, mixed media and more.
Maryland Pastel Society, Monthly Drawing Challenge: All Maryland Pastel Society members are welcome to join in on the monthly drawing challenge. Please submit images of your paintings by the first of each month to be posted on the MPS blog

BOOKS: On painting with pastels by Albert Handell

books from Amazon

Albert Handell is a Master Pastelist of the Pastel Society of America, and was the third living artist to be inaugurated into the Pastel Hall of Fame. Since 1961, he has had over 30 one-man shows, and has received over 70 prizes and awards. Handell's work is in numerous private, public, and museum collections. He is the author of several books on pastel and oil painting, including Oil Painting Workshop and Intuitive Light, and teaches several workshops annually. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I have the first two of the books listed below and recommend them to people wanting to take their pastel work 'up a gear'

Important!

SOFT PASTELS - EDUCATION AND TUITION

Sally Strand Colour of Light workshop Cape Cod Pastel Society September 2006

Cape Cod Pastel Society: Sally Strand workshop - my 'beach' set-up

Pastels - Tutors, Classes and Workshops

The Pastel Society - Workshops: The Pastel Society | Founded London England 1898
The Society holds a variety of workshops throughout the year to encourage and promote drawing skills in all dry media. The workshops cover a wide range of subjects and are tutored by members of the Society.
Pastel Society of Australia - List of members offering workshops: Pastel artists in different states
Albert Handell - Workshops: Demonstrations will be in pastel and oils. Every day during the workshop, Mr. Handell will give a demonstration. Every afternoon, he will give individual help to each artist while painting at one of several special locations. At the end of the day there will be a daily critique.
Sally Strand Pastels & Mixed Media | Workshops Information: Sally Strand Pastels and Mixed Media work and workshops

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TUTOR Sally is an excellent tutor - see link immediately below for an insight into one of her five day courses
Making a Mark: The best ever workshop - pastel painting with Sally Strand: A synopsis, with photos, of a Sally Strand workshop about painting the colour of light. Highly recommended for both advanced and aspiring pastel artists.
Susan Ogilvie - Workshops: All of Susan's workshops stress the fundamentals of design and composition, while encouraging a personal approach to color. Students can expect to work both in the studio and on location (weather permitting), painting from value and color studies as well as plein air. Each day includes a demo/discussion to clarify the day's assignment. Students receive individual attention as they work.
Richard McKinley - Calendar of workshops: list of workshops in different states
Dianna Ponting - Pastel Workshops: Pastel workshops in North America, Europe and the UK
Dianna Ponting is an award winning Master Pastellist an ex President of the Federation of Canadian Artists.

RECOMMENDED TUTOR - see link immediately below
Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: Dianna Ponting Pastel Workshop weekend - 15th-16th July: On my first weekend in California I took a pastel workshop up the coast in San Clemente with Dianna Ponting SFCA, PPC, MPAC, PSA. Dianna is the current President of the Federation of Canadian Artists. She has also been awarded the status of Master Pastellist by Pastel Artists Canada and Premiere Pastellist by the Pastel Society of Canada.

The class had been booked out for some time with a number of pastellists in the southwest USA anxiously trawling for a cancellation.
Michael Chesley Johnson - Landscape En Plein Air Painter in Pastel , Oil: Michael Chesley Johnson, PSA - Landscape En Plein Air Painter in Pastel , Oil
2010 Plein Air Workshops
Felicity House: Felicity House teaches Life Drawing and short courses in pastels and watercolour, and works as a freelance illustrator. Drawing is fundamental to her art work . She draws and paints directly from the subject using a spontaneous expressive line.

She is an an elected member of the Pastel Society and serves on the Council. She has been awarded prizes at the Discerning Eye, New English Art Club and the Pastel Society .

RECOMMENDED TUTOR - see link below
Making a Mark: A pastels workshop with Felicity House: Yesterday I did The Pastel Society Workshop on drawing a clothed figure at the Mall Galleries. Felicity House PS was the tutor. It was a real delight to be able to take the workshop as I've long been an admirer of Felicity's work.
Felicity is an experienced art tutor, provided good guidelines for people new to drawing the clothed figure and was extremely well prepared.
Kim Lordier -- Workshops: Inspired by the turn of the century California Impressionists and Tonalists, Kim paints in the plein air tradition. Fascinated with California's unique atmospheric qualities, Kim strives to capture the beauty, depth and energy of the land and sea. She is currently a Signature member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters, the Pastel Society of America, a Distinguished Pastelist in the Pastel Society of the West Coast, and Artist Member of the California Art Club.
Pastel Workshops with Karen Margulis: Karen offers:
- small group and private lessons in pastel in her Marietta, Georgia home studio.
- a variety of one day workshops in pastel with some unique and fun themes. See the current schedule below for details.
Pastel Workshops by Renowned Pastelist Terry Ludwig: Pastelist Terry Ludwig has developed a comprehensive process for handcrafting an unprecedented array of exceptionally soft pastels. Described as buttery and velvet by the Pastel Journal, these pastels surpass the spectrum of color and quality of pastels manufactured for other art suppliers.
Pastel workshops - UK Wolf Conservation Trust: The UK Wolf Conservation Trust is a non-profit organisation working to keep wolves in the wild.
Join award winning British wildlife artist Vic Bearcroft on this special pastel workshop, where you will learn how to paint wolves in pastel on velour paper.
La Conner Art Workshops - with a focus on pastels: List of instrucors and classes scheduled

Felicity House pS - demonstration at The Pastel Society Workshop

Felicity House doing a mini-demo

BOOKS: Pastels for Beginners

books from Amazon

NEW BOOK: Pastel Pointers: Top 100 Secrets for Beautiful Paintings

BY Richard McKinley

Pastel Pointers is compiled from Richard McKinley's Pastel Pointers popular blog (http://pastelpointersblog.artistsnetwork.com) as well as Pastel Journal columns and new material. You will enjoy painting with pastel, from getting started to finishing techniques and everything in between.

This book is loaded with key insights into the whole process, illustrated by large, beautiful art and gallery pieces throughout. You will also enjoy an informative bonus 30-minute DVD workshop by Richard McKinley on painting landscapes in pastel.

Pastel Pointers: Top 100 Secrets for Beautiful Paintings

by: Richard McKinley

Amazon Price: $14.00 (as of 02/12/2012)
List Price: $26.99

Richard written for Pastel Journal since 2003. His work is shown in galleries, and he's a signature member of the Pastel Society of America, Pastel Society of the West Coast, Northwest Pastel Society, Oregon Pastel Society, Plein-Air Painters Northwest Society, Oil Painters of America and Southern Oregon Society of Artists. He has also been published in A Painters Guide to Design and Pure Color, the Best of Pastel and Focus Santa Fe.

I regularly feature his blog posts on my blog

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BOOKS: About pastels by Jackie Simmonds

books on Amazon

Jackie Simmonds is an award-winning pastel artist, author and teacher in the UK. Her beautiful light-filled paintings have been exhibited by some of Britain?s leading art institutions. She is one of the foremost authors on pastel painting, and also teaches and makes videos on the subject.

Different ways of learning about Pastels

Videos, DVDs and online classes

When you need tuition this is where to look. New sites will be added as this site is built. Please let me know if there are you recommend.

Making a Mark: The best ever workshop - pastel painting with Sally Strand: A synopsis, with photos, of a Sally Strand workshop about painting the colour of light. Highly recommended for both advanced and aspiring pastel artists.
Sally Strand - The Color of Light: Take a workshop with Sally Strand if you'd like to know how to work with pastels using watercolour underpaintings and how she achieves wonderful light effects in her work.
Daniel Greene - Painting Videos: Observe the techniques and learn the procedures of master painter Daniel Greene
Jackie Simmonds - Art Instruction books and videos: Art instruction books and videos from best selling author and award winning UK pastellist Jackie Simmonds
Jackie Simmonds Art Class: Access to free tuition from jackie Simmonds
Artshow.com - Pastel workshops: A list of workshops - all of which should be about learning about pastels - but check the description carefully as sometimes they're mixed media rather than pastel specific
American Artist: Albert Handell's Pastel Paintings: A Retrospective Exhibition: American Artist's preview of a retrospective exhibition of paintings by Albert Handell and an outline of how he works taken from one of his books
A History of Pastels: Madlyn Woolwich's history of lens from the "Associated Patellists on the Web" site.
Making a Mark: Pastel with Ponting - an online pastel class: A review of Dianna Ponting's pastel workshops and online class
Basic 102: Class 12---Pastel with Ponting - WetCanvas!: Wet Canvas Drawing and Sketching Forum's Classroom - an online pastel class by a premier pastel artist Dianna Ponting. Basic 102: Class 12---Pastel with Ponting is hugely informative about pastels, supports and methods and is a 'must read' for all those people who want to use pastels for realism and/or still life.
The Unison Story - Rex Art Supplies: Rex Art Supplies - Unison Handmade Soft Pastels - The Unison Story

Out of a frustration with the pastels available, British artist, John Hersey began making handmade pastels. Developed to be superior in colour, texture and response, Unison Soft Pastels are unlike anything on the market today. John Hersey worked out his unique colour formulations over a decade of experimentation, creating intense, vibrant colours, blended almost exclusively from pure pigment and water.
he making of Mount Vision Pastels: Highest quality handmade pastels for the professional artist.

The first step in the making of pastels is getting the right formula. Aside from blind luck, this is usually done with trial and error, and since we have very little luck here in Mount Vision we rely on lots of trial and error. Finding the right color is the starting point. Combining pigments can bring out the inherent beauty of each, enriching the undertones and making the colors sing. The tricky part, like a conductor, is to get them to sing in the same key.

VIDEO: Pastel Workout with Jackie Simmonds, Part 1

In this ArtistsNetwork.tv video, Pastel Workout, Part 1, artist Jackie Simmonds helps you build a knowledge of how pastels work in order to create great paintings. Youll start out with playful exercises designed to get you familiar with the different types of pastels, strokework, layering, blending, underpainting and more. You'll then move on to apply these techniques as you create single subjects in pastel, then finish up with three complete painting demos-a lush landscape, vibrant floral and fun veggie still life.

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VIDEO: Pastel Workout with Jackie Simmonds, Part 2

Capture Light and Color in Pastel

Artistsnetwork.tv favorite, Jackie Simmonds, starts out this video workshop, Pastel Workout, Part 2, with exercises on the color wheel to help you understand how the pastels you choose can manipulate the viewer's eye. She then demonstrates how light affects the colors you see by painting a tree and a flower. Jackie finishes up with a full painting demo from start to finish-follow along as she paints a little corner of a Greek village with white steps and wonderful shadows, using a complementary color scheme to help set the quality of light in the scene.

In this preview, watch how the colors you choose affect the light as Jackie paints two trees, one in overcast light and one in bright sunshine

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DVD - Learn to Paint Flowers in Pastel with Jackie Simmonds

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Important!

WORKING WITH SOFT PASTELS - TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Working with Pastels - Tips, tricks and techniques

Information and advice from pastellists around the world

Various Tips and Tricks for working safely, cleanly and exhibiting work: From the website of Pastel Artists Canada
Pastel Journal - questions and answers: questions e-mailed to the pastel journal with answers
WC Pastel Forum Library - Soft Pastel index: a range of useful threads covering a variety of topics
Pastel Pratfalls: Twelve common mistahes and how to avoid them by Margot Schultze for APOW
Pastel Talk - how to mat, frame and ship a pastel painting: Deborah Christensen Secor shares the results of a panel discussion held at the Fourth Biennial IAPS Convention held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 11, 2001.
Studio Tips for the Pastel Painter - ©Aldridge: Studio Tips for the Pastel Painter by Donna Aldridge PSA. Donna covers new pigments and new colours; keeping clean in the studio; HEPA filter fans; masking edges; masking slides; applying fixative; storing pastel works; choosing frames and shipping work to shows
Pastels Troubleshooter: Jackie Simmonds has a page of tips on her website
10 things about using pastels: Brief and to the point - tips from the lornamatic Blog
Wet Canvas Pastel Talk: How To Make A Simple Dust Catcher: Peggy B and WC members share their ideas - with photos of how to make a simple and effective dust catcher for studio or plein air work
International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Dry Pastel: Answers to frequently asked questions about pastels and pastel paintings by the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) - Representing pastel societies uniting in a common cause - to demonstrate the validity and quality of pastel fine art around the world.
FAQ on pastel fixation, pastel protection and pastel framing: tips on pastel fixation, pastel protection and pastel framing provided by Marie Lydie Joffre
American Artist: Drawing With A Powdered Pastel 'Wash': August 13, 2007 - Drawing With A Powdered Pastel 'Wash' by Robert T Barrett
Jackie Simmonds: Painting Shadows: There is much more to a shadow than simple absence of light. It is not just a grey shape. Shadows are often full of color, and shadows give the artist an opportunity to add drama and interest to a painting in a variety of ways.
Wet Canvas Pastels: Marc R. Hanson: Pastel Demo from a Plein Air Oil Sketch: Mark Hanson demonstrates the development of a pastel on Walli paper using gouache for the underpainting
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Pastels and Planes: an overview of what to do when travelling with pastels on planes
The Use of Fixative | ©Aldridge: Notes on Fixative for Pastel Paintings from a 1999 IAPS Program on Conservation by Ross Merrill. Head Conservator of the National Gallery, Washington, DC
With additional comments and illustrations on sprayingby Donna Aldridge PSA M-MAPS
Painting a pastel portrait step by step with Mary Herbert: Mary Herbert is an artist based in Leicestershire specialising in pastel portraits of horses and dogs. This is a step by step demonstration of pastel painting on a smooth surface using pastel pencils.
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Pushing Around Pastel by Richard McKinley: To rub or not to rub is a personal artistic choice. Different surfaces, pastel brands and tools will create varied results. Experimentation is always recommended. When choosing a tool, many simply use the most convenient-the hands. If you do use your hands, you should employ some precautions.
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Turning the World Upside Down by Richard McKinley: To clean up our mental hard-drive and allow our internal computer to work efficiently, try this simple trick-look at things upside down. By observing subject matter in this way, the mind is unable to quickly associate its prejudices to the visual symbols the eyes are sending. This allows us to see the simple shapes, values, and colors, leading to a stronger painting that relates better to the natural world. When painting from printed reference material, turning the reference upside down easily facilitates this. Working on location, or from life, is harder unless you're able to bend over and look through your legs for prolonged periods of time (something I gave up years ago). This is when a mirror comes in handy.........
The Pastel Pointers Blog - The importance of Neutrals: A review of the importance of neutrals/greys to relieve fully saturated colour
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Dealing with Dust: minute pastel fragments are often toxic and can be hazardous to your health. Use caution to avoid inhaling the pigment particles.
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Underpainting With Oil Paints: Starting pastel paintings with a thin, wet, loose underpainting is something many artists enjoy. It sets up a foundation on which to respond with the subsequent application of pastel.
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Preparing the Pastel Stick: ...peal the paper off and break those beautiful pastel sticks into usable sizes! Think of them as brushes. If you don't do it now, some instructor will insist on it in the future.
Pastel Lesson - Fine Art Instruction: Lesson in pastel drawing and painting - materials, techniques, color study, personal expression.
Diane Townsend Handmade Pastels: Diane Townsend Handmade Pastels - how to work with pastels
Making a Mark: Working with Pastels - Tips #1: Whenever you go to a Private View I find that you always end up swapping tips about what media and supports people use and the various ways of working and framing. Here are a few about working with pastels that I picked up recently.
Practical Painting - Tips when using Pastels: Tips about a range of issues relating to Pastels
Donna Aldridge Studios | Techniques for Removing Pastel: Techniques for Removing Pastel
from Art Spectrum Colourfix Papers and Other Sanded and Regular Papers
Donna Aldridge
PSA M-MAPS © 2001 Donna Aldridge
Colourfix Primer tips needed - WetCanvas Soft Pastel Talk: Colourfix Primer tips needed - and given!
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Pastel Pointers | The Effects of Alcohol: Many pastelists swear by the method of wetting a layer of pastel with alcohol. It is to be noted that since many of the binders employed in preparing a sanded grit pastel surface are acrylic polymer based, and alcohol is capable of softening acrylic, surface texture can be potentially compromised.
6 steps to better Pastels - How To - Artists & Illustrators: Artists and Illustrators magazine
Pastel is an exciting medium and, when used creatively, results in dynamic stimulating paintings and drawings. It is the intention of the Pastel Society UK to preach pastel to the nation.

Richard McKinley's Pastel Pointers

Pastel Pointers With Richard McKinley | Pastel Stick Personality | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: What constitutes a pastel stick? The dictionary defines pastel as an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure pigment and binder. Pastel can manifest personality traits that are quite different than its wet siblings, depending on the pigment type, amount of binder, and additional inert
Pastel Pointers | The Pastel Keyboard | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: The most frequently asked questions during painting demonstrations concern the make-up of an artist's palette. It may be artistic inquisitiveness or subconscious insecurity that prompts the inquiry but most of us are curious nevertheless.
Pastel Pointers With Richard McKinley | That Elusive Pastel Stick | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: For all the advantages pastel has as a medium, there is one drawback that can't be overlooked: There never seems to be the right color, value or chroma of pastel stick for that certain mark in the painting when you want it. No matter how many pastels I have in front of me, there is that moment when I pause and hesitate over the palette in search of that perfect tone
Pastel Pointers | Visual Bridging | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: In last week's blog post on pastel palette choices, I discussed how important it is that a palette represents a full spectrum of color in a value range from light to dark with a degree of weaker grayed tone. This allows the pastelist the means of painting in any situation.
Drawing or Painting With Pastel | Which Is It? | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: The definitions of drawing and painting have evolved over the years. Most working artists today associate the act of drawing to mark/line making with a dry media like charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, chalk or pastel and the act of painting to shape configurations that consist of value and color applied wet with paint on a brush.
Pastel Technique | Getting Wet | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: Most pastelists have wet pastel in the initial stages of their paintings. Various liquids can be used. The three most popular are: water; alcohol; and OMS.
Pastel Pointers With Richard McKinley | The FIX Is In | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: One of the advantages of utilizing a wet underpainting is that it opens doors to serendipitous drips and runs that can expand creative possibilities. This is where SpectraFix enters the picture.
Pastel Pointers | A Tour of Terry Ludwig Pastels | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: Recently, I was fortunate to be instructing in the Denver Colorado area and was able to tour, along with the workshop participants, one of the most popular pastel manufacturers in the United States: Terry Ludwig Pastels.
Pastel Pointers With Richard McKinley | Being Plein Air Prepared | Fine Art Instruction, Articles, Art Videos & Art Resources | Artist's Network: If you're a plein air enthusiast, you never know when a certain scene is going to grab your attention. Many artists prepare by always having a camera with them for quick reference photos. Others take it further by having a sketchbook at ready for that quick thumbnail sketch and note taking.

Making A Mark - blogging about pastels

Here are my blog posts about pastels - although I may have some more still to add....

Making a Mark: Working with Pastels - Tips #1: Whenever you go to a Private View I find that you always end up swapping tips about what media and supports people use and the various ways of working and framing. Here are a few about working with pastels that I picked up recently.
Making a Mark: 5 guidelines for beginning to use soft pastels: This post outlines 5 ways that people new to soft pastels - or maybe contemplating using them for the first time - can get both a good grounding in soft pastels and avoid wasting their money.

I know I always have a lot of questions when starting to use a new media. A while ago I contributed some thoughts in another place about different approaches to getting started in soft pastels for the first time. It was based on the range of approaches I adopted when I started to use soft pastels for the first time. This is an updated version of that piece.
MAKING A MARK: Top tips for travelling artists - pastels: This is the second in my mini-series of posts about travelling with different media. This post focuses on travelling with pastels.
Making a Mark: Exhibition review: The Intimate Portrait: This is the first major exhibition to have been held in the UK which focuses on Georgian and Regency portraiture in terms of the smaller works created in pencil, chalk, pastels, watercolour and miniatures on ivory - all the sorts of works of art which I love looking at! It includes nearly 200 works from the collections of the National Galleries of Scotland and the British Museum.
Making a Mark: Change of dates for Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2009: The Pastel Society has changed the date of its Annual Exhibition for 2009. This year the Annual Open Exhibition will take place in June (rather than March) at the Mall Galleries. The aim is to present a vibrant exhibition of paintings and drawings which reflect the extremely diverse nature of the use of the pastel medium by artists working today. The annual exhibition is open and consequently features works by both members and non members.
Making a Mark: Mark Leach PS, President Elect of The Pastel Society - an obituary: On 29th March this year Mark Leach was elected to be the next President of The Pastel Society in 2009. Last Friday, on 4th July 2008, he passed away.

In this post I'm going to comment on his work, point you to places where you can see it still and intersperse my comments with extracts from Mark's own manifesto which is featured on his website.
Making a Mark: Book review: Multi Brand Color Chart for Pastels: The Multi-Brand Color Chart for Pastels by Marie Meyer was published yesterday by Huechroval. I've been sent a pdf preview copy of it - on which this review is based - and a hard copy is on its way to me from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The idea behind this new publication is that it should help all pastel artists when choosing their pastels.
MAKING A MARK: Review: The Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition - Colour 2011 (updated): This is a review of Colour 2011 - the 112th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society. It includes images of some of the artists' work included in the exhibition.
MAKING A MARK: A Lightfastness Standard for Pastels: current status: This post is about the progress to date in developing a lightfastness standard for Soft Pastels. It highlights how pastel artists can get involved
MAKING A MARK: A pastels workshop with Felicity House: Yesterday I did The Pastel Society Workshop on drawing a clothed figure at the Mall Galleries. Felicity House PS was the tutor. It was a real delight to be able to take the workshop as I've long been an admirer of Felicity's work.

BOOKS: Creative Pastels

The Pastel Journal Videos

F&W publications have started making videos for the various websites of their art journals. This module lists their videos relating to The Pastel Journal.

The Pastel Journal - Albert Handell: Orchestrating with Contrast: The Pastel Journal Blog (13.08.07) describes the visit made to Albert Handell's studio in Santa Fe. In this video he talks about working with contrast and the juxtaposition of transparent and opaque in his work.
The Pastel Journal: Albert Handell - Plein Air Painting Trip: Albert Handell describes a typical plein air painting trip to Taos.
The Pastel Journal - Albert Handell's Plein Air Set-Up and Supplies: In this video Albert Handell shows us the components of his supplies and set-up for plein air work - including the brand of pastels he uses and the support he works on.
The Pastel Journal - Albert Handell - managing colour with value: Albert Handell shows he works with pastel colours in terms of values. You also get a chance to peek inside his box to see how he organises his pastels.

Important!

PASTEL SOCIETIES, EXHIBITIONS, COMPETITIONS and Forums

All about Pastel Societies, Exhibitions and Competitions

Pastel Societies

the most complete list of soft pastel societies on the Internet

Pastel Societies by Geographical area

click the links below to pastel societies all over the world

National Societies of Artists working in Pastels

These are the Societies of Pastel Artists at the national level. Let me know if you know of one that is not listed

International Association of Pastel Societies: This is the society that most pastel societies belong to.
The Pastel Society: The main Pastel Society in the UK, It was founded in 1898 and aims to promote the medium. It has over 50 members - who are elected by their peers.
Pastel Society of America: Founded in 1972 to set standards and promote and encourage the use of pastel in the USA
Pastel Society of Australia: This society was founded (in Brisbane) in 1985 and now has over 200 members
Pastel Artists Canada: Founded in 1989, it now has some 200 members from coast to coast
Associated Pastellists on the Web: A group of professional pastellists - membership by juried application only
Les Pastellistes de France: This is the national society for French pastellists
IAPS Member Societies - maps the location of member societies: International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) - Representing pastel societies uniting in a common cause - to demonstrate the validity and quality of pastel fine art around the world.
Pastel Guild of Europe: Pastel Guild of Europe
ASPAS - Pintores Pastelistas Españoels: In July 2007 a group of Spanish Pastel painters created and legally registered our association ASPAS. Our intention is that this association will fulfil in Spain the important role that in other countries other similar associations have been developing for years, in the promotion and development of Art of Pastel

Pastel Society Exhibitions - in the UK

The aim of the exhibition is to present paintings and drawings produced by contemporary artists which reflect the extremely diverse nature of dry media - which is classified as covering pastels, including oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, conté, sanguine or any dry media.

If you'd like to read/see more about past exhibitions click any or all of my posts listed below. These are my reviews of the exhibitions and contain:
* information about artists winning awards
* images and notes about artists who caught my eye
* what has stayed the same and what has changed - including observations about what I observed in terms of trends in work submitted and how work was presented for exhibition.

This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members, International artists can also submit work.

MAKING A MARK: Call for Entries: Pastel Society 112th Annual Exhibition in 2012: This post summarises:
* the change in the pre-selection process - which this year is:
- applicable to all work and not just large work
- digital - with online entry
* the change in date for entry and submission to the 2012 Exhibition - and the fact that pre-selection closes on 21 November 2011
MAKING A MARK: Review: The Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition - Colour 2011: This is a review of Colour 2011 - the 112th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society. 266 works are exhibited in the West and North galleries of the Mall Galleries
MAKING A MARK: How to enter the Pastel Society's 112th Annual Exhibition: For those of you who are tempted to submit work here is a summary of the conditions for entry.
MAKING A MARK: The Pastel Society - Annual Exhibition 2010: A review of the 111th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society.
Most of the members work is being displayed in the Main West Gallery while most of the work in the North Gallery seemed to be by non members.
MAKING A MARK: Exhibition review: The Pastel Society's 110th Annual Exhibition: A review of the 110th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society
MAKING A MARK: The Pastel Society UK - 109th Annual Exhibition: A review of the 109th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society
MAKING A MARK: "Pastels Today" - The Pastel Society Exhibition (#1): "Pastels Today" is the annual exhibition of The Pastel Society at the Mall Galleries. This blog post is about the 108th exhibition in 2007 which had 346 works exhibited by members and non-members. This post is about the exhibition as a whole.
MAKING A MARK: "Pastels Today": The Pastel Society Exhibition (#2): This post focuses on artists featured in The Pastel Society annual exhibition in 2007 at the Mall Galleries whose work I particularly liked. I'm only including those which have websites I can point readers to - as narrative without images isn't very satisfying. 'PS' after their name means that they are members of The Pastel Society.
MAKING A MARK: The Pastel Society - Annual Exhibition 2006: A review of the 106th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society

Pastel Society of America - Annual Exhibitions

The Pastel Society of America (PSA) holds an Annual Eexhibition of works by the most accomplished of pastel artists in the U.S. and abroad. The Annual Open Juried Exhibition for Pastels Only is held during the month of September in the main gallery of The National Arts Club, a historic mansion located in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan.

Pastel Society of America - The Annual Open Juried Exhibition for Pastels Only: Annual Exhibition - Exhibition for Pastels Only
A primary mandate of the Pastel Society of America (PSA) is to provide a forum for the exhibition of works by the most accomplished of pastel artists in the U.S. and abroad.
Pastel Society of America - Exhibition Prospectus: Exhibition Prospectus - what you need to do to enter
Typical entry - more than 1,000 entries
Number accepted - less than 200 (c. 170-200)
Pastel Society of America - Hall of Fame Honorees: Pastel Society of America - Hall of Fame Honorees

Pastel 100 and Other Pastel Exhibitions and Competitions

Information about the Pastel 100 and other past, current and future pastel exhibitions and competitions - in galleries, journals and online. Let me know if you hear of one that is suitable for listing

Making a Mark: 2005 Pastel 100 competition: My blog review of the 2005 Pastel 100 competition associated with the Pastel Journal
The Pastel Journal - 8th Annual 100 Competition: 2006 Pastel 100 Competition - details here. Deadline 1st September 2006 - entry by slide or digital file
Making a Mark: The Pastel Journal and the Annual Pastel 100 Competition: Read about the Pastel 100 competition
Making a Mark: The 9th Annual Pastel 100: The Pastel 100 is an annual competition which is run by F&W Publications, the publishers of North Light Books and the Pastel Journal. The 9th Annual Pastel 100 results were published in the April edition of the Pastel Journal.
10th Annual Pastel 100: Details of the competition - closing date September 1st 2008
American Artist: International Association of Pastel Societies Announces Award Winners: The International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) recently held their 11th Annual Juried Exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art, in Youngstown, Ohio, and award winners were selected by jurors Duane Wakeham and Urania Christy Tarbet. Among the artists receiving awards were Sharon Will, who won the Prix de Pastel for Painting Projects; Richard Lundgren, who won the Gold Award for his painting Reed Crescent; Claudia Seymour, who won the Silver Award for Mandarins & Morning Glories; and J. Kay Gordon, who won the Bronze Award for The Blue Motorcycle.

Framing and matting pastels

The Pastel Pointers Blog - Framing Without a Mat: Many pastel artists are abandoning traditional mat and frame presentations and replacing them instead with wide wood frames. This allows the pastel to look less like a print or poster, which commonly have a wide surrounding border. These works are attracting the attention of the canvas-buying public. Commonly, oil and acrylic paintings are displayed with a wider wood frame that may or may not have a small liner. A pastel presented in a similar fashion demands the same respect often afforded these canvas media.
The Pastel Pointers Blog - Trimming a Finished Pastel Painting: Pastel surfaces often need to be trimmed to fit framing requirements or to improve the overall composition of the painting. Once pastel has been applied, this becomes a more delicate matter and requires added precautions so as not to alter the appearance of the painting.

Forums for artists working in pastels

Websites offering forums for pastel artists to display and discuss their work....and pastel brands, pastel supports, pastel framing etc etc etc.

Wet Canvas Pastel Forum: The main page for a large and very active Pastel Forum for artists from all over the globe
Wet Canvas - Soft Pastels Studio: The place to post and discuss artwork in soft pastels on the Wet canvas website
Wet Canvas - Pastel Talk: Drop in for the 'weekly scumble' and general chat about pastels and any 'off-topic' discussions by members of the Pastels Forum
Artist Daily - Pastel Forum: Including both soft and oil pastel

Important!

SOFT PASTELS GENRE

BOOKS: On Plein Air and Landscape Pastels

Books on Amazon

BOOKS: Portraiture in Pastels

books on Amazon

There is fine tradition of using pastels for portrait work. These books provide some insight into doing portraits of animals, adults and children

Portraiture - Resources for Artists

Pastels and Pencils - Fine Art by Katherine Tyrrell

Pastels and Pencils: Original fine art by Katherine Tyrrell. Galleries of paintings and drawings of landscapes, still life and floral subjects in pastels and coloured pencils; drawings and sketches in pencil and pen and ink of landscapes, flowers, interiors, people and cats. Information about art materials resources and supplies
Pastels and Pencils - Art Materials & Other Resources - pastels, pencils, paper and pen and ink: A summary of information about the art materials used by pastels and pencils artist Katherine Tyrrell and other resources for all artists using pastels and pencils
MAKING A MARK How to Sketch - advice and information by Katherine Tyrrell: Learn how to sketch. Information and advice on how to draw a sketch of people, interiors and landscapes. Tips, techniques and toolkits for travels with a sketchbook by pencil artist Katherine Tyrrell
Pastels and Pencils - Making A Mark Publications by Katherine Tyrrell: Making A Mark Publications for artists. Publications available as pdf files which can be downloaded for free for personal educational use only.

Making A Mark - Resources for Pastel Artists

MAKING A MARK Soft Pastels: Information, advice and art instruction books: Pastels - information for artists about brands of soft and hard pastels, lighfastness, pastel supports, art instruction, books, paper and support, useful tools, art societies, exhibitions and the pastels community
MAKING A MARK: Resources for Artists and Reviews: Links to resources for artists sites created by Katherine Tyrrell providing information and advice about art materials and other art topics
MAKING A MARK How to Sketch - advice and information by Katherine Tyrrell: Learn how to sketch. Information and advice on how to draw a sketch of people, interiors and landscapes. Tips, techniques and toolkits for travels with a sketchbook by pencil artist Katherine Tyrrell
MAKING A MARK Making A Mark Publications - Making A Mark Guides for Artists: Making A Mark Publications by Katherine Tyrrell - Check out FREE articles providing advice and information for artists - and aspiring artists. Free for personal use; download pdf files

Making A Mark

Artist and author Katherine Tyrrell draws and writes about art for artists and art lovers.

Topics include: artists, art exhibitions, art blogs; art history; art techniques and tips; art business and marketing; art economy and making a mark with pastels, coloured pencils and pen and ink.

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curious0927 Feb 6, 2012 @ 3:27 pm | delete

Cannot wait to get my Pastels out and play! Thanks for the treasure trove of information and links. Blessed!

Reply

brachko Dec 8, 2011 @ 1:19 pm | delete

As an artist who has worked in soft pastel for 26 years, I would like to add my website to your list of artists who work in pastel. Please check out www.barbararachko.com

Reply

cffutah Nov 25, 2011 @ 7:12 pm | delete

my wife enjoyed viewing this lens with me, we enjoyed it, earned a squidlike from us.

Reply

artyfax Sep 21, 2011 @ 1:07 pm | delete

wonderful and so much detail and information, will definitely need to read this a number of times and then keep it bookmarked for reference. Thanks

Reply

dilipsvarma Aug 23, 2011 @ 11:20 am | delete

Truly informative lens

Reply

LizMac60 Aug 11, 2011 @ 3:58 am | delete

Great resource. Blessed by a squid angel.

Reply

Momsbusy247 May 8, 2011 @ 10:06 am | delete

Great Lens. I am a fan to pastel too. I think they blend very nicely and the texture is great too. It's kind off hard to master since its like there's no turning back once you use it. Wonderful Lens!

Reply

makingamark Jan 16, 2011 @ 1:08 am | delete

This comment was left on for publication on this lens but does not seem to have been published so here it is again. Apologies to whoever left it as their name was not included in the email I got to approve!
__________

I have prepared my own boards using some methods which I later realized were not archivally sound. Were I to do it again, I would use a hardboard that is not impregnated with oils and either coat it with Golden Ground For Pastels, or ArtSpectrum Pastel Primer which is available in a wide array of colors or is tintable. I might also use a slightly dilute mixture of acrylic gesso or acrlyic medium to adhere cotton muslin to the board. These surfaces can be more coarse than a sanded paper such as Wallis, or ArtSpecrum, and they will use up your pastel sticks alarmingly fast, but also allow endless layers.

Reply

Springbok Dec 29, 2010 @ 1:05 am | delete

Another great lens that is packed with great information

Reply

Steve-SEO-UK Dec 13, 2010 @ 4:22 am | delete

Have saved this Lens for my son who has good artistic tallent. Many thanks for a great resource.

Reply

makingamark Dec 13, 2010 @ 5:06 am | delete

Thanks Steve - tell your son to leave questions here if he has any

Reply

Gloriousconfusion Sep 12, 2010 @ 8:41 pm | delete

By a strange coincidence I was only today looking for pencil pastels, and put a bid on eBay for them. I have just started going to art classes and am mainly using pastels, so this article is very useful, and I have bookmarked and favorited it - thanks a lot.

By the way, how about adding a section about pencil pastels - I had never even heard of them until my art teacher suggested using them. He's a brilliant teacher, and I have been amazed by my own improvement in just a few weeks.

Reply

makingamark Sep 13, 2010 @ 12:43 am | delete

Thanks! :) Funnily enough I've been thinking about doing a lens about the pros and cons of pastel pencils. I've been testing some recently for one of the manufacturers and started to think they needed one!

Reply

Barbara Benedetti Newton Dec 22, 2008 @ 8:18 am | delete

Thanks very much for including me in the list of People who blog about Pastels. Finding this little blurb was a nice surprise during these snowbound days in Washington state. I'll be back to blogging next month.

Reply

RolandTumble Nov 11, 2008 @ 1:28 pm | delete

Five stars, favorited & lensrolled--also Dugg.

Reply

Miss_Dacapo Oct 19, 2008 @ 7:00 pm | delete

This is a very informative lens for pastels! I love pastels too, and conte has to be one of my favourites. I wish you had a choice for Alphacolor and Leow Cornell pastels because those are great too, as are the Reeves soft pastels. Those sets can be used to make some good pictures, and I've used the Reeves pastels to make a very realistic picture of my sister's cat.

Reply

beachbum_gabby Jun 16, 2008 @ 4:49 am | delete

one of my favorite medium when drawing. Great resources! Keep it up!

Reply

CleanFace May 17, 2008 @ 7:16 am | delete

Nice lens! 5 stars given! :)

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The Best Art Books about......

resources for artists and art lovers

Who is Making A Mark?

ARCHIVE POLL: Which is your favourite make of soft pastel?

This poll ran from 2006 to 2009 and has now been archived

Which is your favourite make of soft pastel? (2006-2009)

453 people voted on this poll. You can see the results of the poll by right-clicking on the image and opening my blog post about it in a new tab.

In order of preference, the top five soft pastels are

* Unison 19.6%
* Sennelier 15.9%
* Terry Ludwig 13.5%
* Schminke 11.7%
* Talens Rembrandt 8.2%

The wisdom of crowds says that Unison is the favourite make of soft pastel.

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ARCHIVE 2010 Poll: What is your favourite make of soft pastels?

This poll ran for the whole of 2010

This poll shows which particular make of soft pastels was most liked by most pastel artists in 2010? This poll focuses on artist grade soft pastels which are available at the beginning of January 2010. All pastels are listed in alphabetical order.

361 people voted in the 2010 Poll: What is your favourite make of soft pastels?

The top five soft pastels favoured by those voting in the poll are as follows:

1. Unison - 21.9%
2. Schminke - 15.2%
3. Sennelier - 13.3%
4. Talens Rembrandt 9.4%
5. Terry Ludwig 6.1%

The poll has now been cleared and the image is of the results as at the beginning of January 2011

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ARCHIVE 2010 POLL: Which is your favourite make of hard pastel?

This poll ran during 2010

This poll shows which particular make of artist grade hard pastels was most liked by most pastel artists in 2010.

This poll focuses on artist grade hard pastels which are available in 2010. All pastels are listed in alphabetical order.

The four brands of HARD PASTELS were ranked asfollows by the 310 people who voted in the 2010 Poll: What is your favourite make of hard pastels?

1. Prismacolor Nupastel 51.9%
2. Conte a Paris 23.5%
3. Faber Castell Polychromos hard pastels 19.4%
4. Cretacolor Carre 5.2%

The poll has now been cleared and the image is of the results as at the beginning of January 2011

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A complete list

just in case you missed anything!

Topics covered
Bookmark This Site
ALL ABOUT SOFT PASTELS
What is a pastel and how are they made?
Different types of pastels
Pastel Artwork - Pastel Paintings or Pastel Drawings?
BOOKS: The Pastel Book
ARTIST GRADE SOFT PASTELS - BRAND INFORMATION & REVIEWS
2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of soft pastels?
Pastel Colours
Brands of Soft Pastels
Unison Soft Pastels
Unison Pastels - Resources for Artists
Pan Pastels
VIDEO: Pan Pastels
Henri Roché Pastels
Sennelier Extra Soft Pastels
Schminke Soft Pastels
Talens Rembrandt
Terry Ludwig
Mount Vision Pastels
Your perspective on different Pastels
Soft Pastels - Dark and Light Sets
POLL: Which is your favourite brand of dark pastels?
Brands of Hard Pastels
2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of hard pastel?
Pastels: Technical data about their composition and lightfastness / permanence
Reviews of Brands of Soft Pastels
VIDEO: Art Spectrum Pastels
BOOKS: The "Best of Pastel" Books
How to make your own pastels
SOFT PASTELS - ART SUPPLIES
Pastel Supports - boards and papers
Paper and non-canvas supports for pastel artists
User perspectives on different Pastel Supports
Fixatives
Pastels Suppliers (UK)
Tools for working with soft pastels
Air Filters, Purifiers and Dust Masks
Pastels Suppliers (USA)
Lots of different ways to store all your pastels
Storage for Soft Pastels
Art Supplies - Resources for Artists
Making a Mark reviews......
SOFT PASTELS IN ART HISTORY
Famous Artists who used soft pastels
Articles about Past Masters of Pastels
BOOKS: Pastels in the past
Museums with significant pastel art
Famous pastel drawings
CONTEMPORARY PASTEL ARTISTS
Pastel Artist wins £25,000 Threadneedle Prize 2010
Contemporary Artists who work in Pastels
BOOKS: More books about Pastels
Artists who blog about Pastels
BOOKS: On painting with pastels by Albert Handell
SOFT PASTELS - EDUCATION AND TUITION
Cape Cod Pastel Society: Sally Strand workshop - my 'beach' set-up
Pastels - Tutors, Classes and Workshops
Felicity House doing a mini-demo
BOOKS: Pastels for Beginners
NEW BOOK: Pastel Pointers: Top 100 Secrets for Beautiful Paintings
BOOKS: About pastels by Jackie Simmonds
Different ways of learning about Pastels
VIDEO: Pastel Workout with Jackie Simmonds, Part 1
VIDEO: Pastel Workout with Jackie Simmonds, Part 2
DVD - Learn to Paint Flowers in Pastel with Jackie Simmonds
WORKING WITH SOFT PASTELS - TIPS & TECHNIQUES
Working with Pastels - Tips, tricks and techniques
Richard McKinley's Pastel Pointers
Making A Mark - blogging about pastels
BOOKS: Creative Pastels
The Pastel Journal Videos
PASTEL SOCIETIES, EXHIBITIONS, COMPETITIONS and Forums
Pastel Societies
Pastel Societies by Geographical area
National Societies of Artists working in Pastels
Pastel Society Exhibitions - in the UK
Pastel Society of America - Annual Exhibitions
Pastel 100 and Other Pastel Exhibitions and Competitions
Framing and matting pastels
Forums for artists working in pastels
SOFT PASTELS GENRE
BOOKS: On Plein Air and Landscape Pastels
BOOKS: Portraiture in Pastels
Portraiture - Resources for Artists
Pastels and Pencils - Fine Art by Katherine Tyrrell
Making A Mark - Resources for Pastel Artists
Making A Mark
Love This Site?
Comments and Suggestions
The Best Art Books about......
Who is Making A Mark?
ARCHIVE POLL: Which is your favourite make of soft pastel?
ARCHIVE 2010 Poll: What is your favourite make of soft pastels?
ARCHIVE 2010 POLL: Which is your favourite make of hard pastel?

Squidoo

Pastels - Resources for Artists

Information, advice and links about pastels, pastel art and pastel artists

Topics covered

You can find out about...............

.....just click a link to go straight to that topic

Bookmark This Site

New links are being added to this site on a regular basis.

ALL ABOUT SOFT PASTELS

What is a pastel and how are they made?

PLUS basic facts about the history of pastels

Schmincke Pastels are considered to be the softest pastels by many pastel artists

Different types of pastels

Conte and Cretacolor (hard) pastels in the Sennelier shop in Paris

Pastel Artwork - Pastel Paintings or Pastel Drawings?

BOOKS: The Pastel Book

The best introduction to pastels

The Pastel Book

ARTIST GRADE SOFT PASTELS - BRAND INFORMATION & REVIEWS

All about different types of pastels

Click a link to go straight to that topic

2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of soft pastels?

This poll will run for the whole of 2011

Thanks for voting! Now invite your friends to vote.

Pastel Colours

Brands of Soft Pastels

Links to all the makers' websites for all the soft pastel brands on the Internet

Unison Soft Pastels

Unison Pastels - Resources for Artists

Pan Pastels

VIDEO: Pan Pastels

New format pastels by Pan Pastels

Henri Roché Pastels

Sennelier Extra Soft Pastels

Schminke Soft Pastels

Talens Rembrandt

Terry Ludwig

Mount Vision Pastels

Your perspective on different Pastels

Your chance to have a say

Soft Pastels - Dark and Light Sets

POLL: Which is your favourite brand of dark pastels?

How have you solved the dark pastel problem?

Thanks for voting! Now invite your friends to vote.

Brands of Hard Pastels

2011 POLL: Which is your favourite make of hard pastel?

Thanks for voting! Now invite your friends to vote.

Pastels: Technical data about their composition and lightfastness / permanence

What are your pastels made of? Are they lightfast?

Reviews of Brands of Soft Pastels

What the pastel artists thinks about different pastels

VIDEO: Art Spectrum Pastels

Australian pure pigment pastels by Art Spectrum

BOOKS: The "Best of Pastel" Books

books on Amazon

How to make your own pastels

Useful links if you'd like to have a go at making pastels for yourself

SOFT PASTELS - ART SUPPLIES

Pastel Art - associated art materials and supplies

Click a link to go straight to that topic

Pastel Supports - boards and papers

Some are designed for pastels and some just work well with pastels

Paper and non-canvas supports for pastel artists

This site contains a lot of information of interest to pastel artists

User perspectives on different Pastel Supports

Your chance to have a say

Fixatives

Pastels Suppliers (UK)

Who are the best retail and online suppliers for pastels and associated supplies in the UK?

Tools for working with soft pastels

tortillons, paper stumps, erasers, stick holders etc!

Air Filters, Purifiers and Dust Masks

cleaning the air for pastel artists

Pastels Suppliers (USA)

A mini-directory of suppliers of pastels and associated art materials and supplies

Lots of different ways to store all your pastels

Where to put them all; how to carry them around

Storage for Soft Pastels

available on Amazon

Art Supplies - Resources for Artists