2 Materials, Steps, Techniques

Pastel Painting: Lesson Two, Materials, Steps, Techniques

“Zinnias” RWS

The text and original artwork in this document are the property of Robert Stites, all rights reserved.

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Using Your Materials Hard Pastels Hard pastels are used mostly for underpainting and blocking in, but there are some fine pictures done entirely in hard pastel, so don’t be reluctant to give it a try (today’s example is done mostly in hard pastel). You can use stick corners for lines until they get dull, then you must sharpen them with a razor blade and sandpaper block. A chisel point provides a sharp, durable edge for lines, and a flat diagonal surface that is handy for broader strokes. When you need to cover a large area, break off an inch or so, round off the ends slightly (so they don’t leave lines), and make side strokes. Sometimes a NuPastel is too hard, right out of the box. Whether this is caused by varnish or a surface accumulation of binder, the way to get rid of it is to scrape all four sides of the stick lightly with a razor blade or to lay it flat and rub all four sides on a kraft paper grocery bagit doesn’t take much.

NuPatels (hard)

Chisel Point

Small pastel sets like the ones we’ll be using come in saturated colors, because you can always knock back a saturated color with white, but there’s no way to intensify a pale tint. Darkening a color calls for mixing with black, but take it easy. A little black goes a long way.

Soft Pastels You should have a set of 24 Goldfarb Studio (student grade), soft pastel half- sticks, made by Castell-Faber. The color you apply to paper is often rubbed in for backgrounds and other subordinate picture elements, but it is better to leave the top layer undisturbed as it is this color, resting on the surface, that gives pastels their unique “bloom”. Alas, this characteristic doesn’t show up well in photos (including the examples used in this course) or printed copies of pastels pictures. You must observe and original to see it.

Castell Faber Goldfarb half sticks (soft)

Fixative Some pastel artists are passionately passionately opposed to the use of fixative, arguing that it darkens the colors. They’re right, but when used in moderation, the darkening is negligible though the benefits are not. Use it out of doors only; tape the picture in a vertical position, and spray from a distance of about a foot and a half, as you

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keep the can moving. Three passes the short way, and four the long, is enough. Fixative substantially reduces the risk of smudging, gives you at least one more layer after the paper is loaded, and isolates the layers so you can apply a new one without stripping off color which is already laid down. There are two kinds of fixative; use “workable”, because it leaves a matte finish that will take more pastel. The other is called “final”, which leaves a glossy protective surface not suited to the further application of color. c olor.

Pastel Paper The list calls for three 19½” x 25½” sheets of Canson Mi Teintes, [me -ta(n)], which is smooth on one side and “pebbly” on the other. You can use either side. It is acid free, has moderate tooth, is available in many colors, and is reasonably priced at around $1.50 per single large sheet. This is the best way to buy paper, incidentally. Pastel paper in pads costs more per square foot, and comes in white and assorted colors. Pastel artists prefer toned paper to white, but the assortment includes some colors you’ll probably never use. A pad’s only advantage is it can be used as a mini-drawing board, provided you put something under the sheet you’re using to prevent grooving the ones below. You have enough paper to get you through this course, and that’s about all, but it’s generally available, and if you buy ten or more sheets from Blick they’re about a dollar a sheet (at the time of writing) plus shipping .

Drawing Board There are two boards in this picture; the one recommended is the smaller, which is not quite big enough to hold a half sheet of paper. The board is 15½ x 16½, and a half sheet is half sheet is 19 ¾ x12¾ which means that a long end will hang over by about 3 inches. Trim it, and save for color tests. One One advantage of a small board is that it’s easy to rotate as you work.

Drawing board, which can double as a portfolio

To use the drawing board as an easel, put it on a table and prop up the far end with some books or, rest the bottom edge on your lap and lean the upper part against a table, chair, whatever’s handy. Most Most artists work at an angle near vertical, but that’s up to you. Put an towel on your lap (under the bottom edge of the board) to catch dust. To make a poor man’s portfolio, cut a piece of corrugated cardboard about 16” x 20” square, and fold the 20” end over about 3 inches. This calls for some planning, because corrugated corrugated board won’t fold straight across the

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corrugations. corrugations. The fold makes a pocket to keep your masterpieces from falling out. The pocket should be opposite the hand hole. Put your paper or fixed paintings in the fold, open side next to the board, and slip the board under the clamp . Hold down the other end with the big rubber band that comes with it, or with a bungee cord). The clamp is strong and hard to open. If you have trouble, pry up with a screwdriver or other tool small enough to get in one of the holes. Masking tape holds your paper to the drawing board. Black and white charcoal pencils (soft): Charcoal is compatible with pastel, and erases easily. It is an oxymoron to speak of “white charcoal” but that’s what it’s called. The advantage advantage of using charcoal in pencil form is, the pencils can be sharpened to a fine point (a hand sharpener will work if you’re very careful) . Use white for highlights and black for shadow and rough drawing.

Pear

Kneaded and plastic erasers are for corrections. Use the plastic for large areas, and shape the kneaded eraser to a point or wedge to get into tight places where the plastic won’t fit.

The damp cloth or baby wipes are to clean your hands. It is surprising how dirty your fingers get, and unless you keep them clean, color will come off on everything you touch including the other sticks. The ruler is for measurements, and if rigid, you can lay one end on the paper as you hold up the other, to make a serviceable “mahl stick”, to keep you hand from smudging the picture as you work.

Pear Step 2; Blocked in underdrawing

The Sandpaper Block will bring your charcoal pencils to a fine point and can be used to clean stumps. When the sandpaper gets loaded, tear it off to expose a new strip. The Razor Blade is used to sharpen your pencils and pastels, and to scratch away color.

The Steps in Pastel Painting 1. Make a rough drawing to define the size and position of the larger shapes, and put them in proportion and perspective. Use charcoal or draw lightly in hard pastel. Avoid graphite pencils; pastel won’t stick to the marks (at least not very well). The drawing forms the basis for everything that follows, so take time to get it right.

Ruler used as a mahl stick

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2. “Block in” the values with their approximate colors. That means “show them in broad strokes without detail”. 3. Build up up the picture picture by adding layers layers of soft pastel. pastel. For corrections, remove pastel with a use a paper towel to before erasing. If you want to remove only part of the color, daub with the kneadable eraser. Its tacky surface will pick up color without the need to rub. Reshape the eraser often, folding in the color it picks up. Kneaded erasers don’t leave crumbs and last a long time, but eventually they get filled with color or dry up, and have to be replaced. 4. As mentioned mentioned earlier, a big difference difference between between pastels pastels and paint is that you mix pastel colors on the paper rather than on a palette, so the more colors you have, the less mixing is required. Pear,; Layered, Corrected (RWS 2010) Working with small sets like ours means we will do more mixing than usual. Sometimes, as in portraiture, it is necessary to match the subject’s skin color carefully, but for many other subjects (a barn, for example) you don’t have to be so particular. 5. To preserve the bloom and intensity unique to pastels, do no more rubbing than you can avoid as you near the final (outermost) layer. 6. Develop all parts of the the picture gradually, gradually, rather than than trying to finish finish one part before moving moving on.

Techniques For expert and beginner alike, a pastel painting emerges from the drawing and blocked-in underpainting, underpainting, with the application of additional layers and revisions, usually done in soft pastel. These are some of the techniques:

Layering As you move from blocked- in underpainting to finished picture, you’ll apply new layers of color over what is already there. Layering can also be used to blend and mix colors; apply the darker color first, overlay it with a lighter one and blend with a fingertip or a stump. If you don’t want the colors to mix, apply fixative between layers. SCUMBLING : Don’t be put off by the slangy name. The word is used variously but to me, it means a kind of layering, achieved by putting down a dark base color, fixing, and using side strokes, lay a lighter color on top, allowing some of the base color to show through (illustrations, next page). GLAZING is a special case of scumbling in which the overlay is applied as a veil so thin it is translucent (as in the McCoun apple).

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Bread Study; first layer, rubbed in

Bread Study, scumbled (bottom half rubbed in for comparison)

Hatching Hatch marks are thin parallel lines drawn close to one another. Shadow can be indicated by hatching in a dark color. When hatching a curved surface, let the hatched lines follow the direction of curvature. One of the most useful ways to use hatching is to mix color without blending. This involves “optical mixing” in which hatches act the same as dots used in pointillism. Alternate the hatched lines using the two or more colors you want to combine. Keep the lines close. The colors will be seen as one except close up. (see the hatching under the eyes in “Study for Mrs. C”) .

Another good use for hatching is in subjects which can be represented with many short lines, like the blades of grass or weeds in a landscape. FEATHERING is a special case c ase of hatching. Many slim parallel lines are drawn in more than one color, as in“Mrs C.”.

Blending

Study for “Mrs. C.” RWS

Blending is the most common way to mix colors; it is also used to soften the transition from one color to another. In painting a sunset, e. g. you want the varied colors of the sky to merge, changing gradually (we will do this in Lesson 7). Rub the different hues together at their junction. Brushes and rubber tipped tools are sold for this purpose, but your little fingers work fine. If space is too small for a finger, use a stump or cotton swab. Page 6


Broken Color Broken color is the opposite of smooth, color. Instead of a single consistent tone, it combines multiple hues and values, keeping them separate. “The Lounge” in Lesson Four uses broken color for the loveseat, and if we look carefully, we see that broken colors often are often seen in nature .

Highlighting This technique is used to indicate brightly lit areas and reflections, and are often the lightest parts of the picture. In portraiture, you may see a dot of reflected light in the eyes. If a subject is strongly lit from one side, brightly lit parts are highlighted. highlighted. Both Both uses are seen in the “Study for Mrs. C”.

Reference photo of a zinnia growing out of doors

Novelties There are a lot of other techniques, some some bizarre, including the use of liquids (baby oil or alcohol) to make a pastel wash; “sgraffito”, in which a thin but opaque layer of dark color is scratched away to form an image; and multimedia, which combines combines watercolor, acrylic, oils or pen and ink with pastel. You will be better off to leave these until you learn the basic techniques.

Underpainting and Blocking In For next week we will paint an arrangement of zinnia blossoms and greens in a china pitcher. We’ll do it from imagination, in hard pastel on a quarter sheet of paper, referring to the above photo of a growing plant for colors and shapes.

Exercise: Underpaint a pitcher with zinnias and greens, and block in the colors.

Steps: 1. The purpose of an underpainting is to size and position the major shapes and to put them in proportion and perspective, in preparation for the soft pastel which is used to finish the picture. Perspective can be ignored for this subject because it is all on one plane or nearly so, and proportions can be adjusted by eye. After defining the major shapes in white charcoal, block in the colors. 2. Apply two shades of blue to the “pebbly” side of the paper, forming a background for the pitcher, and inferring a table with a lighter wall behind. Run them all the way across the paper (we’ll erase where the pitcher goes). Draw the outline of the pitcher in white charcoal and rub in the color outside it. Then wipe off Page 7

Pastel Painting: Lesson Three, Buildings

the blue where the pitcher goes with a paper towel. Go over the area with your plastic eraser, and block in the pitcher with white. 3. Show only as much detail as needed to guide you in finishing. Apply rubbed black in the central area above the vase, so it won’t look empty. We do it now, because it would be tedious to work around the leaves later. Indicate the location of the blossoms with circles or ellipses.

Assignment On the underpainting prepared in class, paint an arrangement of zinnia blossoms with greens in a white china pitcher.

Steps: “Zinnias” Working from the underpainting, finish the picture with hard and soft pastels. Assume a soft light from above right.

Underpainting, Underpainting, blocked i n

1. Apply and rub in the background. 2. Paint petals to form blossoms in yellow, accented with orange. The centers are dark brown, and thimble shaped. Hard pastel sticks are about the right width for petals. 3. Add leaves leaves and stems, in two shades of green. 4. Add some baby’s breath, woodpeckering the tiny flowers. 5. Shade the pitcher; give it a shadow and highlights. 6. Touch up, and sign.

Revised 2/23/2011 “Pitcher with Zinnias” RWS

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2 Materials, Steps, Techniques

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