How To Make Pastels
Save by making your own There’s no shortage of commercially available pastels. You only need to walk into an art supply store to see the vast range of colors, values, sizes and manufacturers. So why would you want to make your own? There are mainly two reasons. The...
Cheap Picture Frames
Is it worth putting your paintings into cheap picture frames? A comment on my Facebook page the other day said that the artist would love to get into pastel painting, but the cost of framing the painting was too high. Now I can relate to that 100%, as taking your...
Tips for Creative Inspiration
Getting yourself motivated to paint. There are times when you just don't feel inspired at all, and it can be quite demoralising. Here are some tips for creative inspiration that I use, and they work for me. 1. Stand at the easel with a large surface, close your eyes...
Choosing the Right Pastels for Painting
Choosing the right pastels can turn a blank canvas into a vibrant masterpiece. When painting with pastels, the journey begins long before the first stroke touches the paper. Selecting the right pastels is a crucial step that can significantly influence your artistic...
Framing Pastel Artwork
A dilemma facing pastellists is the framing of their pastel artwork. One of the many attractions of soft pastels as a medium is that they age very well. They don't crack or fade, so when treated well, they can look just as vibrant after decades or even centuries as...
How to Draw With Pastels
One of the attractions of working with pastels is that there’s nothing stopping you from just diving in. If you have paper and some pastel sticks, you can get started immediately without needing to learn any ‘correct’ way of doing things. However, once you’ve gotten...
How to Paint Using Oil Pastels
You might have heard of artists using oil pastels. They’re the younger, cooler kid brother to regular soft pastels, and they differ from soft pastels in that they use an oil and wax binder instead of a gum one. The pigments they contain are the same though, so...
Pastel Painting Techniques
You can use several pastel painting techniques to get the most out of your pastels. Once you master them, you can work the medium with perfect confidence and very good results. Below are some pastel painting techniques that seasoned artists use in their interesting...
Materials Needed For Pastel Painting
Pastels are a great medium for an artist who loves to mainly use stroke work to create a masterpiece. If you are a beginner in this style of painting, you must have a good idea of what you will need for pastel painting. Pastels are an excellent medium for an artist...
How to Layer Pastels
I was asked a question the other day about how to layer pastels and what exactly it means. Simply put - Layering is putting one layer of pastel on top of another. I see a lot of artists who are new to pastels only ever putting on one or two layers of pastel....
