Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

MATERIALS & METHODS - Pastels

Pastels - The Pastel Chalks - Manufacturing the Chalks - Table of chalks & Binders - Binders - Supports & Grounds - Paper for Pastels - Painting Procedure - Fixative - Care and Display

From: Kay, Reed. The Painter's Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.

Pastels - The Pastel Chalks
Excellent pastel sticks may be bought in art supply stores. Most manufacturers produce many shades of colors, some permanent, others fugitive. The chalks are sold in several degrees of hardness, from very soft to medium hard. At the beginning it is wise to avoid the huge prepared assortments, which may include as may as several hundred sticks in a box. About one dozen pastels, made of pigments of known permanence, is sufficient for a beginning. Since some dust of the chalks is almost inevitably inhaled, no poisonous colors should be used [check on the toxicity of the pigments].

Pastels can be made easily and inexpensively by the artist in the studio and can be produced in whatever grade of hardness the artist prefers, with a strength of color that is as great, or greater, than many commercial chalks. They can also be made in larger sticks if the artist wishes to work more broadly with heavy lumps of pastel. Finally, the chalks can be made up in combinations of pigments to yield any premixed tones that the artist may employ frequently. The following recipes will require a little adjustment and experimentation, since materials, particularly pigments, vary considerably. [pp. 205-206]

[Kay, Reed. The Painter's Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.]







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