SOFT PASTELS

Soft pastels are a versatile and expressive medium in the realm of visual arts. Comprising pure pigment, chalk, and a minimal binder, these art materials deliver intense and vibrant colours. Soft pastels are known for their velvety texture, allowing artists to create rich, broad strokes or intricate details on various surfaces like paper or textured pastel paper. Their blendability and ease of layering make them conducive to creating nuanced shades and gradients. Artists often appreciate the immediacy and tactile nature of working with soft pastels, as they enable the exploration of a wide range of artistic styles, from impressionistic to more detailed and realistic renderings.

• Composition: Soft pastels are made of pure pigment, which gives them a rich and vibrant colour.
• Texture: Soft pastels have a powdery and easily blendable texture.
• Application: They are ideal for broad strokes and blending, making them popular for drawing and painting.

HARD PASTELS

Hard pastels represent a distinct category within the pastel family, characterised by a higher concentration of binder and less pigment compared to their soft counterparts. This composition gives them a firmer and more durable consistency, allowing for sharper lines and a greater degree of control. Hard pastels are well-suited for detailed work and precise lines, making them a preferred choice for artists engaged in technical or intricate illustrations. The range of colours and their ability to be layered make hard pastels a valuable tool for artists seeking precision and control in their pastel artworks.

• Composition: Hard pastels have a higher proportion of binder, making them more rigid than soft pastels.
• Conté crayons are a combination of pigment, clay, and a small amount of wax.
• Texture: They have a harder texture and are suitable for drawing and sketching. Hard pastels have a firmer texture, allowing for more controlled and precise lines.

PAN PASTELS

Pan pastels are a unique form of dry pastel medium that diverges from the conventional stick or pencil format. These pastels come in pans, resembling small, shallow containers, and are formulated with a finely milled, ultra-soft consistency. Unlike traditional pastels, pan pastels eliminate the need for direct application with sticks, allowing artists to use specialised tools like Sofft® applicators, sponges, or brushes for precise and controlled application. The result is a remarkable level of detail and a smooth, velvety finish. Pan pastels are favoured for their versatility, offering artists the ability to layer and blend colours seamlessly, achieving a wide range of textures and effects in their artwork. This innovative format makes pan pastels a valuable addition to the pastel artist's toolkit, providing new possibilities for creative expression.

• Form: Pan pastels come in small, sealed pans rather than sticks.
• Composition: Pan Pastels have minimal binder content compared to traditional pastels. The low binder content allows for a smooth and easy application.
• Application: Artists often apply pan pastels using special soft tools, like sponge applicators. They are known for their versatility and ability to cover large areas quickly.

PASTEL PENCILS

Pastel pencils are specialised drawing tools that combine the vivid pigments of pastels with the precision of pencils. Encased in a wooden barrel, these pencils contain compressed pastel material, allowing artists to achieve fine details and intricate lines with the ease of drawing. They offer a versatile and controlled approach to pastel art, making them a favoured medium for those seeking the expressive qualities of pastels in a more precise and manageable form.

Derwent Pastel Pencils

• Form: Pastel pencils have a pastel core encased in a wooden pencil-like barrel.
• Application: Pastel pencils offer greater precision and are useful for detailed work and outlining.

Pitt Pastel Pencils

• Composition: Wax-free leads; drawings can be wiped just as with pastel crayons, so need to be fixed afterwards.
• Texture: They have a soft, powdery texture and come in a wide range of colours.

• Blending Tools: Soft brushes, blending stumps, sponges or your fingers  can be used to blend and smudge pastels, creating smooth transitions and gradients.
• Fixative: A fixative spray is essential for setting your completed pastel artwork, preventing smudging and preserving the colours. Ensure you choose a fixative suitable for pastels.
• Surface: Use textured paper or pastel paper designed to grip the pastel pigments. A sanded paper surface particularly effective in holding multiple layers of pastels.
• Palette or Mixing Surface: If you're using soft pastels, having a palette or mixing surface is useful for blending and creating custom colours.
• Palette Knife: A palette knife is handy for scraping off pastel layers, creating texture, or applying pastel in a more controlled manner.

• Easel: An easel can provide a comfortable working angle and help prevent smudging by keeping your hands away from the surface.
• Cloth or Tissues: Keep a soft cloth or tissues handy for wiping off excess pastel from your hands or blending tools.
• Masking Tape: Use masking tape to secure your paper to a drawing board or easel and create clean borders for your artwork.
• Storage: Pastels can be fragile, so consider a storage solution to keep your pastels organised and protected.
  A wooden or foam-lined box is ideal.
• Workable Fixative: If you want to continue working on your pastel layers without disturbing the lower layers, a workable fixative can be applied between layers to set the current state without fully fixing the pastels.