Pastel Information & Questions
Pastel Project
Drawing with pastels goes back to the 16th century and was used by many famous masters including Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Whistler and Degas to name but a very few. There are several qualities and brands and it is a widely respected art form in its own right. Pastel sticks and pencils can produce intense, vivid colors not always possible with other media. Or they can be used for soft dream-like works by subtle blending and overlaying of related shades. As drawing instruments they need no drying time and can be used equally effectively for loose, impressionist work or very detailed compositions.
There are three types you need to be aware of initially…
1. Soft and hard pastels – the most common. Chalk like
2. Pastel pencils – similar to hard pastels.
3. Oil pastels – the same pigments but bound in waxes and oils. Oil pastels are rich pigments bound with non-drying oils and waxes, giving them a much smoother and creamier feel and texture. They are very pigment rich and the waxes enhance
the vibrancy of the colors.Although a close relative of and intermixable with oil paints, they tend not to dry out completely and are less prone to accidental smudging than soft pastels.Having said this, you must exercise care as small flecks of pastel can get on the ‘wrong’ areas of your picture and put an unsightly smear where it isn’t wanted.
Using oil pastels provides a dust-free way of drawing and painting with vibrant colors on a wide variety of surfaces. They can be used on their own or with other media.Their versatility allows you to use them thickly, like heavy, impasto oil paints.Mixed with turpentine or other oil paint thinners, they can produce a delicate wash or glaze. Or they can be combined with say, oil paints or watercolors, where their particular qualities can complement or contrast with the other media.
Oil pastels can be used directly; when done lightly, the resulting effects are similar to pastel chalks. Heavy build-ups can create an almost impasto effect. Once applied to a surface, the oil pastel pigment can be manipulated with a brush moistened in white spirit, turpentine, linseed oil, or another type of vegetable oil or solvent. It should be noted that some of these solvents pose serious health concerns.
Oil pastels are considered a fast medium because they are easy to paint with and convenient to carry; for this reason they are often used for sketching, but can also be used for sustained works. Because oil pastels never dry out completely, they need to be protected somehow, often by applying a special fixative to the painting or placing the painting in a sleeve and then inside a frame. There are some known durability problems: firstly, as the oil doesn’t dry it keeps permeating the paper. This process degrades both the paper and the colour layer as it reduces the flexibility of the latter.
Abstract art uses a visual language of pattern, form, color, shape and line to create a composition which exists independently of visual references to the world.[1] Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, based by the logic of perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of visible reality. The arts of cultures other than the European had become accessible and showed alternative ways to the artist, of describing visual experience (see:Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh). By the end of the 19th century many artists felt a need to create a ‘new kind of art’ which would encompass the fundamental changes taking place in technology, science and philosophy. The sources from which individual artists drew their theoretical arguments were diverse, and reflected the social and intellectual turmoil in all areas of Western culture at that time.
This Project- Oil Pastels
You may hold your paper either landscape or portrait, but you must cover the entire paper.
Your piece may be representational or completely abstract.
You must use a pattern. It may either be a repetative shape, form or color.
Think about your use of color and how you will divide up your paper before you start. Sketch your ideas on plain paper first. Try several different things before you start. Your finished project may change as you are working it, that’s ok, but you should have a strong idea of where you want it to go before you start.
Pastel Project Worksheet
Name Per
Name one artist who worked in pastels. Tell me about him or her.
What are the Three types of Pastels? How are they different?
Define each of the following as it pertains to this project.
Oil Pastel
Impasto
Portrait
Landscape
Abstract Art
Pattern
Form
Shape
