Pastel Artists: UpGrade Your Art Materials! Try These Better Pastel Brands for Exceptional Drawings and Paintings

If you are novice pastel artist, and find that you love this medium, it may be time to upgrade your materials to a better grade of pastels.

Cheap pastels are great for gaining initial experience with the medium, but compared to better brands of pastel, they are anemic, both in terms of intensity of color and are chalky and dry in texture. There is a whole world of fine pastels that far surpass those made for beginners. Rich and intense, they produce shimmering results. Though they are much more expensive, they will make a world of difference in your work.

It will also be necessary to upgrade to a true pastel paper. These are coated papers-- acid-free papers covered with a grainy substance similar to sandpaper. The coatings range from finely ground minerals to vegetable fibers. These papers are a true necessity when working with fine pastels. They make for better adherence of the pastel to the surface and maximize the intensity of the pastels' colors.

What accounts for the differences in pastels? Pastels are drawing sticks formed out of powdered pigments and a small amount of a binder, a liquid that holds the powdered mineral pigments together. Theses substances are mixed into a dough, and rolled, formed, or pressed in molds to make sticks. To save money, some companies add a filler to the mix, a calcium carbonate chalk-type powder. The addition of chalk not only whitens-down or dilutes the color, it causes the pastel to be more slippery and least able to adhere to the paper. The best pastels have little or no filler and as little binder as possible. Pastel art is sometimes called drawing and sometimes called pastel painting-- because though they held in the hand, pastels are, in substance like a solid version of paint-- a mixture of pigment and binder.

In addition, it is important to know that there are hard and soft grades of pastels. Hard pastels are used for making sharp edges and detail. Soft pastels can be layered and are good for broad luminous areas of color.

Which pastels are the best?

For hard pastels, the best brand I have used is also one of the oldest: NuPastel. They come in small rectangular sticks, a huge range of colors, and have excellent adherence to pastel paper. Because they are squared sticks, they are particularly handy for drawing small detailed areas.

For soft pastels. I recommend giving those made by Sennelier, Schmincke, BlockX, and Diane Townsend brands a try. The first three are imported, respectively, from France, Germany, and Holland; the latter is American. They are all soft and buttery and come in a plethora of superbly intense colors. These lines of pastels are free of fillers and are made with a minimum of binder. Also, new pastel artists may enjoy trying the handmade pastels by Diane Townsend, an active pastel artist. These irregularly hand-shaped sticks come in some novel colors as well as the standards hues. They produce elegant strokes and luminous surfaces on the right pastel paper.

Other small producers of handmade pastels include: Terry Ludwig and Unison Pastels.

Some of these companies offer small sample sets so that one can try them before committing to a large expenditure. Or, individual sticks can be purchased and tried for a small price.

All of these pastels should be available at most full purpose art suppliers.