Exploring the Versatility of Pastel Art Techniques

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Generally speaking, pastel, as a technique, can be used for both drawing and painting. The artwork is referred to as a pastel drawing if the paper is only partly covered in pastel; if the surface is fully covered, then it is termed a pastel painting.
Pastel streak is soft and velvety. Soft pastels are more convenient for tonal gradations, filling in of the surfaces and three-dimensional effects. On the other hand, hard pastels are often employed for sketching, to outline the basic design of the composition or to add details in the final stages. They are often combined with other drawing/painting media, such as pencil, charcoal and different paints.
Unlike acrylics and watercolors, which are mixed and blended before being applied to a painting surface, pastel is applied dry, directly to the paper, without any tonal preparation. This results in a sense …show more content…

They are held together with a liquid binding solution, such as gum tragacanth, gum arabic, or methylcellulose. From this mass a stiff paste is formed, which is then cut into sticks and allowed to harden. Even though these sticks look similar to chalk, they are not be confused with each other, since colored chalks are nothing more than a limestone impregnated with dyes.
The ground pigments used in pastels are the same ones used in acrylic or oil paints. However, pastels contain a higher pigment concentration than any other painting medium, so they produce rich, luminous colors. Also, since a very weak inert binder is employed, it does not affect the color of the pigment.
The precipitated chalk is, actually, the essential constituent of pastels. It is obtained from finely ground limestone, which is allowed to settle in the water. When the water is poured off, the resulting powdered paste is left to dry. Different amount of pigment blended with this chalk paste will create different color intensity.
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