Pastel Artworks

A Pastel is a small colored stick resembling a piece of chalk. With pastels, the pastelist obtains two effects. Either a drawing if he uses them as a colored pencil or a painting if he imitates the effect of painting by covering the medium entirely. The pastel range of colors is very extensive from the more intensive shades down to the softest ones. So, Pastel is an adaptable and rich technique. It is also a direct technique. When pastelling, you feel as if you are modeling clay because you express yourself on the medium with the small stick only, without the help of something else interfering like oil, water, a brush or a palette. However, nothing prevents you from using pastel in mixed media where it provides excellent results. On the other hand, the small stick of pastel being composed only of pigments, some talc and gummed water, the colored powders of a Pastel (the art work realized with that stick) keep fresh and resist the ravages of time. The most widely used type of pastel, these sticks contain a higher proportion of pigment and less gum, and yields brighter colors. Their smooth thick quality produces rich painterly effects, including better three-dimensional effects. Easy to apply, requiring little pressure to make a mark, they can be smudged and blended with a finger, rag or paper stump. However, due to their reduced binder-content, they tend to crumble and break more readily. Also, artists usually apply a fixative to their work, to minimize further smudging.