I am so stoked! I have been working on a few watercolor paintings and they just haven’t worked out for one reason or another. I was getting frustrated. I decided to put the last watercolor away for awhile and do some pastels. I am a very new beginner to the pastel world. I love the colors and the richness of the paintings. So, I took out a book I have called “Light in Pastel” by Paul Hardy. This book is published by Search Press. It is a small paperback with some of his paintings and some demonstrations to follow. I have actually tried some of these demos in the past and just needed to do them again. The whole learning curve thing. In the beginning of the book he talks about different pastels as far as hard and soft and pastel pencils. Then he goes on to show a few ways to mix colors on the paper. The first demonstration is a landscape. He set out a list of soft pastels I would need, as well as a white hard pastel a white pastel pencil and a charcoal pencil for the initial drawing. I used the following soft pastels: Great American Artworks, Art Spectrum, Blockx, Mount Vision and a couple of my inexpensive Mungyo pastels. I actually had all the colors I needed! My Great American Artworks pastels is a set of 39 for the North American Landscape. The Art Spectrum is a set of 30 for seascapes and the Blockx is a set of 12 grays and the Mount Vision is a set of 15 darks. The Mungyo is an assorted set. I was happy that what I couldn’t find in one set I had in another one. I also am figuring out what colors I need more of. This is so much fun! Below you can see the beginning of the painting. I made the initial drawing with a charcoal pencil. The support is a 9×12″ colorfix paper by Art Spectrum. It wasn’t quite the color I wanted. In the demonstration the background color is a rosy beige color. The one I used is a warm sand color. It was the closest one I could find amongst my supplies. I first blocked in the distant hills and the sky. That is in the first pic of the painting. I also have a pic of my set up with the table top easel on my desk and the supplies around me. There is also a pic of my Great American Artworks pastels with a few missing. These are my favorite pastels so far. They are so creamy. I have yet to try Unison, and several others, but I tell you, these pastels are wonderful. Don’t get me wrong, I think all of the pastels that I own have their own particular advantages. The Blockx ones were very soft and creamy, but didn’t crumble at all. The Art Spectrum were not quite as soft, but they also didn’t crumble(the Great American… did crumble during some of the work. I was using the end of a yellow and pieces just fell off. I still love them though!) The Mount Vision Pastels are a bit harder. Still soft, but they are sturdier. I’m not sure if it is because I had the darks and those pigments are harder, or if it is the way all of their pastels are. They are a little bigger than the rest of the pastels too. Chunkier. Oh, I have fallen in love with pastels! The bottom picture shows the finished painting. I know it is a copy and from a demonstration, but, I think it is pretty good! I’m very proud of myself. I see many more hours working with pastels. I still love my watercolors, but, for right now, Pastels have my heart:)
I love it! I don’t know a lot about pastels either…but I love playing with them. I use them in my oil paintings all the time, but I have to admit that I am little scared of using them to do a whole work. You did a great job, depth, light, diminsion, color…I am full of envy (in a good way). Can’t wait to see what you do next.
Thank-you Heather!
What made me so happy is that I did it in one day. I know I should be able to do watercolors in that time, but haven’t quite gotten to the point where I can. I end up getting too detailed every time. It was so nice to have a completed painting by mid afternoon!
I always found pastels to be like playing in the sand… They move where you want them and are sensitive to the elements.
You did a beautiful piece here… I love it!
Thank-you Michelle!
I am proud of this piece. I did a seascape today that I will post later. It isn’t as good. But, I’m learning. It is amazing to me how different pastels react differently when putting them to paper. I think this is my biggest challenge. Just getting to know how they all work. These exercises are fun, and definitely a learning experience.
very nice blog!
I’ll come back soon.
Thanks tarawit!
I’m glad you like my blog:)
Just beautiful. It gets my creative juices going for sure. Keep it up dear. you are really doing great!
Love you,
Joanie
Thanks Joanie,
Have you ever worked with pastels?I have all this creative energy and it is filling up my head. I lay down and close my eyes and see colors and shapes and values. It is wild. I’m on the brink of a change in my art. I can feel it, but I can’t yetfigure out what or where it is taking me. Pretty cool.
Love You!
Hello Sara,
Congratulations for this landscape, it is a nice start, well done !
I work with Sennelier, Rembrandt and Unison pastels. Maybe some of my notes could help you, here is the link to the pastel category on my artblog (each article is written in French and English) : http://walkonwater.canalblog.com/archives/les_carnets_du_pastelliste___the_pastel_painter_s_notes/index.html
Thank-You Catherine,
I’m sure I can learn a lot from you. I have your blog on my blogroll now so I won’t miss any posts! Thanks for all of your comments. they mean a lot to me:)
Catherine,
I forgot to add that I now have some Rembrandt pastels, some Schminke, Sennelier half sticks, and I just ordered some Ludwig. I still want to try Unison. I know they are very popular and I plan to purchase some in the near future. I want to get some more Rembrandts. They are nice for the beginning of the painting. I do love my Great American Artwork pastels and I like the Mount Vision, they are quite large. I also have a set of Art Spectrum, and they are a bit harder like Rembrandts. I would also like to try the Diane Townsend Terrage pastels. I love art supplies:) i also have a set of gray pastels by Blockx. They are very soft and nice. I’m realizing that you can’t have enough grays! Mount Vision has a wonderful set of grays for the sky. I’ve started to dream in pastel! hehehe!
I would like to know more about the Mungyo pastels
Anyone have further info?
Pat,
I have some Mungyo semi-hard pastels and use them in the first stages of the painting. Many pastelist use Nupastel or faber castell polychromos, but I bought these mungyo at a hobby lobby and they are a bit softer than the Nupastels.
i did have a set of the softer square shaped pastels from Mungyo but I think I may have given them to my step daughter. They are pretty good for a starter set. They are student grade though and I’m not sure about the light fastness of them. They are softer than say a Rembrandt, and a little more “sandy” in texture. but not as soft as say a Scminke or Great American or Terry Ludwig. I think their gallery line is supposed to be of better quality. Dick Blick just came out with some new Artist’s pastels and so far I’ve heard they are good with good lightfastness ratings and they are a really good value. They are made in England by a very popular manufacturer over there. They are of a medium softness. softer than rembrandt, but not as soft as the real softies. I think they would be great for the beginning of a painting when you don’t want to clog the tooth of the paper. I will order some of them at some point when I do my next Dick Blick order. I want some of the medium soft pastels and am not happy with the Rembrandts I have. The reds/violets/pinks/roses fade to almost white when left out in the light. this is not outside light but just the light inside the house. It happened in about 6 months time so I won’t be buying them anymore!
Sara