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Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques
Page 1The text and original artwork in this document are the property of Robert Stites, all rights reserved.
Zinnias RWS
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Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques
Using Your Materials
Hard Pastels
Hard pastels are used mostly for underpainting and blockingin, but there are some fine pictures done entirely in hard
pastel, so dont be reluctant to give it a try (todays example is
done mostly in hard pastel).
You can use stick corners for lines until they get dull, then
you must sharpen them with a razor blade and sandpaper
block. A chisel point provides a sharp, durable edge for lines,
and a flat diagonal surface that is handy for broader strokes.
When you need to cover a large area, break off an inch or so,
round off the ends slightly (so they dont leave lines), and make side strokes.
Sometimes a NuPastel is too hard, right out of the box. Whether this is caused
by varnish or a surface accumulation of binder, the way to get rid of it is to
scrape all four sides of the stick lightly with a razor blade orto lay it flat and
rub all four sides on a kraft paper grocery bagit doesnt take much.
Small pastel sets like the ones well be using come in saturated colors, because you can always knock back a
saturated color with white, but theres no way to intensify a pale tint. Darkening a color calls for mixing with
black, but take it easy. A little black goes a long way.
Soft PastelsYou should have a set of 24 Goldfarb Studio (student grade), soft
pastel half- sticks, made by Castell-Faber. The color you apply to
paper is often rubbed in for backgrounds and other subordinate
picture elements, but it is better to leave the top layer
undisturbed as it is this color, resting on the surface, that gives
pastels their unique bloom. Alas, this characteristic doesnt
show up well in photos (including the examples used in this
course) or printed copies of pastels pictures. You must observe
and original to see it.
Fixative
Some pastel artists are passionately opposed to the use of fixative, arguing that it darkens the colors. Theyre
right, but when used in moderation, the darkening is negligible though the benefits are not. Use it out of
doors only; tape the picture in a vertical position, and spray from a distance of about a foot and a half, as you
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NuPatels (hard)
Chisel Point
Castell Faber Goldfarb half sticks (soft)
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Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques
keep the can moving. Three passes the short way, and four the long, is enough. Fixative
substantially reduces the risk of smudging, gives you at least one more layer after the
paper is loaded, and isolates the layers so you can apply a new one without stripping off
color which is already laid down.
There are two kinds of fixative; use workable, because it leaves a matte finish that will
take more pastel. The other is called final, which leaves a glossy protective surface not
suited to the further application of color.
Pastel Paper
The list calls for three 19 x 25 sheets of Canson Mi Teintes, [me-ta(n)], which is
smooth on one side and pebbly on the other. You can use either side. It is acid free, has
moderate tooth, is available in many colors, and is reasonably priced at around $1.50 per single large sheet.
This is the best way to buy paper, incidentally. Pastel paper in pads costs more per square foot, and comes inwhite and assorted colors. Pastel artists prefer toned paper to white, but the assortment includes some colors
youll probably never use. A pads only advantage is it can be used
as a mini-drawing board, provided you put something under the
sheet youre using to prevent grooving the ones below.
You have enough paper to get you through this course, and thats
about all, but its generally available, and if you buy ten or more
sheets from Blick theyre about a dollar a sheet (at the time of
writing) plus shipping .
Drawing Board
There are two boards in this picture; the one recommended is the
smaller, which is not quite big enough to hold a half sheet of paper.
The board is 15 x 16, and a half sheet is half sheet is 19 x12
which means that a long end will hang over by about 3 inches. Trim
it, and save for color tests. One advantage of a small board is that
its easy to rotate as you work.
To use the drawing board as an easel, put it on a table and prop up the far end with some books or, rest the
bottom edge on your lap and lean the upper part against a table, chair, whatevers handy. Most artists work
at an angle near vertical, but thats up to you. Put an towel on your lap (under the bottom edge of the board)
to catch dust.
To make a poor mans portfolio, cut a piece of corrugated cardboard about 16 x 20 square, and fold the 20
end over about 3 inches. This calls for some planning, because corrugated board wont fold straight across the
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Drawing board, which can double as a portfolio
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Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques
corrugations. The fold makes a pocket to keep your masterpieces
from falling out. The pocket should be opposite the hand hole. Put
your paper or fixed paintings in the fold, open side next to the board,
and slip the board under the clamp . Hold down the other end with
the big rubber band that comes with it, or with a bungee cord). Theclamp is strong and hard to open. If you have trouble, pry up with a
screwdriver or other tool small enough to get in one of the holes.
Masking tape holds your paper to the drawing board.
Black and white charcoal pencils (soft): Charcoal is compatible with
pastel, and erases easily. It is an oxymoron to speak of white
charcoal but thats what its called. The advantage of using charcoal in
pencil form is, the pencils can be sharpened to a fine point (a hand
sharpener will work if youre very careful) . Use white for highlights
and black for shadow and rough drawing.
Kneaded and plastic erasers are for corrections. Use the plastic for large
areas, and shape the kneaded eraser to a point or wedge to get into
tight places where the plastic wont fit.
The damp cloth or baby wipes areto clean your hands. It is surprising
how dirty your fingers get, and unless you keep them clean, color will
come off on everything you touch including the other sticks.
The ruleris for measurements, and if rigid, you can lay one end on the
paper as you hold up the other, to make a serviceable mahl stick, to
keep you hand from smudging the picture as you work.
The Sandpaper Block willbring your charcoal pencils to a fine point
and can be used to clean stumps. When the sandpaper gets loaded,
tear it off to expose a new strip.
The Razor Blade is used to sharpen your pencils and pastels, and to
scratch away color.
The Steps in Pastel Painting
1. Make a rough drawing to define the size and position of the larger
shapes, and put them in proportion and perspective. Use charcoal
or draw lightly in hard pastel. Avoid graphite pencils; pastel wont
stick to the marks (at least not very well). The drawing forms the
basis for everything that follows, so take time to get it right.
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Pear Step 2; Blocked in underdrawing
Pear
Ruler used as a mahl stick
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Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques
2. Block in the values with their approximate colors. That means
show them in broad strokes without detail.
3. Build up the picture by adding layers of soft pastel. For
corrections, remove pastel with a use a paper towel to before
erasing. If you want to remove only part of the color, daub with
the kneadable eraser. Its tacky surface will pick up color
without the need to rub. Reshape the eraser often, folding in the
color it picks up. Kneaded erasers dont leave crumbs and last a
long time, but eventually they get filled with color or dry up,
and have to be replaced.
4. As mentioned earlier, a big difference between pastels and paint
is that you mix pastel colors on the paperrather than on a palette,
so the more colors you have, the less mixing is required.
Working with small sets like ours means we will do more mixing
than usual. Sometimes, as in portraiture, it is necessary to match the subjects skin color carefully, but for
many other subjects (a barn, for example) you dont have to be so particular.
5. To preserve the bloom and intensity unique to pastels, do no more rubbing than you can avoid as you
near the final (outermost) layer.
6. Develop all parts of the picture gradually, rather than trying to finish one part before moving on.
Techniques
For expert and beginner alike, a pastel painting emerges from the drawing and blocked-in underpainting,
with the application of additional layers and revisions, usually done in soft pastel. These are some of the
techniques:
Layering
As you move from blocked-in underpainting to finished picture, youll apply new layers of color over wh
is already there. Layering can also be used to blend and mix colors; apply the darker color first, overlay it
with a lighter one and blend with a fingertip or a stump. If you dont want the colors to mix, apply fixative
between layers.
SCUMBLING: Dont be put off by the slangy name. The word is used variously but to me, it means a kind oflayering, achieved by putting down a dark base color, fixing, and using side strokes, lay a lighter color on top,
allowing some of the base color to show through (illustrations, next page).
GLAZING is a special case of scumbling in which the overlay is applied as a veil so thin it is translucent (as in
the McCoun apple).
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Pear,; Layered, Corrected (RWS 2010)
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Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques
Hatching
Hatch marks are thin parallel lines drawn close to one another.
Shadow can be indicated by hatching in a dark color. When
hatching a curved surface, let the hatched lines follow the
direction of curvature. One of the most useful ways to use
hatching is to mix color without blending.
This involves optical mixing in which hatches act the same
as dots used in pointillism. Alternate the hatched lines using
the two or more colors you want to combine. Keep the linesclose. The colors will be seen as one except close up. (see the
hatching under the eyes in Study for Mrs. C) .
Another good use for hatching is in subjects which can be
represented with many short lines, like the blades of grass or
weeds in a landscape.
FEATHERINGis a special case of hatching. Many slim parallel
lines are drawn in more than one color, as inMrs C..
Blending
Blending is the most common way to mix colors; it is also used to soften the transition from one color to
another. In painting a sunset, e. g. you want the varied colors of the sky to merge, changing gradually (we
will do this in Lesson 7). Rub the different hues together at their junction. Brushes and rubber tipped tools are
sold for this purpose, but your little fingers work fine. If space is too small for a finger, use a stump or cotton
swab.
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Study for Mrs. C. RWS
Bread Study, scumbled (bottom half rubbed in for comparison)Bread Study; first layer, rubbed in
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Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques
Broken Color
Broken color is the opposite of smooth, color. Instead of a
single consistent tone, it combines multiple hues and values,
keeping them separate. The Lounge in Lesson Four usesbroken color for the loveseat, and if we look carefully, we
see that broken colors often are often seen in nature .
Highlighting
This technique is used to indicate brightly lit areas and
reflections, and are often the lightest parts of the picture. In
portraiture, you may see a dot of reflected light in the eyes. If
a subject is strongly lit from one side, brightly lit parts are
highlighted. Both uses are seen in the Study for Mrs. C.
Novelties
There are a lot of other techniques, some bizarre, including the use of liquids (baby oil or alcohol) to make a
pastel wash; sgraffito, in which a thin but opaque layer of dark color is scratched away to form an image;
and multimedia, which combines watercolor, acrylic, oils or pen and ink with pastel. You will be better off to
leave these until you learn the basic techniques.
Underpainting and Blocking In
For next week we will paint an arrangement of zinnia blossoms and greens in a china pitcher. Well do it fromimagination, in hard pastel on a quarter sheet of paper, referring to the above photo of a growing plant for
colors and shapes.
Exercise: Underpaint a pitcher with zinnias and greens, and block in the colors.
Steps:
1. The purpose of an underpainting is to size and position the major shapes and to put them in proportion
and perspective, in preparation for the soft pastel which is used to finish the picture. Perspective can be
ignored for this subject because it is all on one plane or nearly so, and proportions can be adjusted by eye.
After defining the major shapes in white charcoal, block in the colors.
2. Apply two shades of blue to the pebbly side of the paper, forming a background for the pitcher, and
inferring a table with a lighter wall behind. Run them all the way across the paper (well erase where the
pitcher goes). Draw the outline of the pitcher in white charcoal and rub in the color outside it. Then wipe off
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Reference photo of a zinnia growing out of doors
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Pastel Painting: Lesson Three, Buildings
the blue where the pitcher goes with a paper towel. Go over
the area with your plastic eraser, and block in the pitcher
with white.
3. Show only as much detail as needed to guide you in
finishing. Apply rubbed black in the central area above thevase, so it wont look empty. We do it now, because it would
be tedious to work around the leaves later. Indicate the
location of the blossoms with circles or ellipses.
Assignment
On the underpainting prepared in class, paint an
arrangement of zinnia blossoms with greens in a white
china pitcher.
Steps: Zinnias
Working from the underpainting, finish the picture with
hard and soft pastels. Assume a soft light from above right.
1. Apply and rub in the background.
2. Paint petals to form blossoms in yellow, accented with
orange. The centers are dark brown, and thimble shaped.
Hard pastel sticks are about the right width for petals.
3. Add leaves and stems, in two shades of green.
4. Add some babys breath, woodpeckering the tiny flowers.
5. Shade the pitcher; give it a shadow and highlights.
6. Touch up, and sign.
Revised 2/23/2011
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Pitcher with Zinnias RWS
Underpainting, blocked in
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