Three Must Haves When Using Pastels

The use of pastels has been around for a few centuries. These painterly devices allow one to create beautiful pictures whether it is on board, paper or canvas. You can find lists upon lists of what can be "must haves" in using pastels. Although these lists may vary, three constants are a must these days. These are a mask to cover your nose and mouth, good ventilation, and a way of storing lost particles for later usage. Some may disagree with the latter of these.

Why these three? You could say that having paper towels are a must, but that is pointless if you prefer another method of cleaning your hands. You could also say that a knife is needed to cut for sharp edges. This is easily replaced with sandpaper or snapping off a piece of pastel. Is your health not a concern to you, and are you really going to put others at risk? Do you have an unending supply of money to replace those tidbits of color that long to be used?

This is not to say you need to save up to buy an oxygen mask and look like you just came out of a gas chamber. The inexpensive nose and mouth masks at retail stores will work as well. The idea is to keep from breathing in those air born particles and damaging your lungs over the years to come. Nobody wants to be known for dieing from pastel inhalation. Be safe, and put on your mask before using pastels.

Good ventilation is a must in any art environment. Charcoal can be nearly as bad as pastels. Make sure there are a few windows that are open for clean oxygen to reach you. If you need to, place a box fan in the window to blow out instead of in so that the particles in the air are greatly reduced. You may need to have a ventilation system installed if you have recently opened your own studio. Good ventilation is definitely a must have when using pastels.

Storing granules of pastels may seem silly, ridiculous or off-the-wall to new artists or mainly to those who do not use them at all. No matter which technique one utilizes to depict their artwork in pastels, granules from the pastels will either fall away from the piece or be shaken off. Why not save these granules for later usage? It would only make sense to do so rather than throw them away.

Pastels can get very expensive in the long run. The better made pastels will cost so much more, too. As you become more adept at mixing pastels, you will find those granules can make up your own variations of colors when they are mixed together. Otherwise, you can simply have more of a certain color ready on the fly for use with brushes, q-tips or any other method to apply them to the surface of your choice.

Pastels are fun to paint with, and can be a joy to view when a work of art is finished. Keep that joy in your life by being safe to you and those around you. Your color assortment may start to look like that of an airbrush artist. That is quite all right. It will pay off in the long run, and you will develop a new respect for pastels.

Sources:
Personal Experience
"Painting with Pastels - Easy Techniques to Master the Medium" by Maggie Price