Pastels

Pastels are powdered pigment and a binder in stick form. There are soft, hard, pencil, oil and water-soluble pastels.

Soft pastels can be readily smudged and blended, which is great while working on a piece, but means they need a fixative afterwards.

Hard pastels aren’t as brilliant as soft pastels, but smudge less. Pencil pastels are great for adding fine detail. Oil pastels don’t require a fixative, but are slightly less easy to blend. Water-soluble pastels can be thinned using a water wash.

Artists on our site who use pastels include:
Ardith Starostka
Daggi Wallace
Miles Mathis

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