Do you have recommendations for someone switching mediums? I don’t want to spend money on items that or inferior or that I will end up disliking or not needing." -- Christine
The answer to this really comes down to what kind of resources you have locally – is there a good art shop, how much are you prepared to spend. Pastels are a wonderful medium to use, there is nothing which gives the sense of immediacy as pastels, no waiting for things to dry, relatively easy to correct mistakes, etc.
For someone wanting to start with pastels the easiest thing to do is by a set of quality pastels (read my recommended pastel brands). Don't be tempted to buy cheap pastels on the basis that you may not enjoy pastel painting and just want to try it out. The quality of pastels significantly influences the result.
Ultimately you will use a range of pastels from different manufacturers; one of the joys of pastelling is the discovery of different textures and softness/hardness variations in the different brands. For a beginner, the slightly harder soft pastels, such as Rembrandt are good.
If you have a good art shop near you that stocks several brands of pastel then the alternative is to select a collection of sticks yourself. This can be a good way of getting to know the range of colors available, and will make you think about the kind of paintings you are going to create with your pastels. (You will want a different selection for doing portraits or still lifes or landscapes.) If you just want a general, all-purpose set of colors then this article on selecting pastel colors will give you a shopping list.
You'll notice in some of the photographs in the articles I've referred to that the pastels are broken; don't worry too much about this. You will want to have short sections of pastel to use, dragging across the paper on their sides rather than using the tip. Also notice that I tend to take the wrapping paper off, this is a purely personal decision, some people prefer to take off just small strips of wrapping at a time to help keep their fingers clean.)
Once you have the pastels you need to get hold of some paper. Fabriano is a good make, but there are many different makes out there. Just like selecting the pastels the choice of paper is very personal. You will also see that there are different kinds of tooth (the roughness of the paper which allows it to keep the pastel) and an incredible range of color. Take a few sheets of different paper brands and try them out, you'll soon get a feel for which one is best for you.
Lastly there are the sundries you will need:
- Gloves This is a personal choice, whether or not to wear protective gloves. I personally don't wear gloves and believe it really depends on whether you use pastels with contain toxic pigments. But many pastellists wear them all the time.
- Wet Wipes: Your hands will get dirty from pastel dust and you will need to clean them regularly to avoid contamination. Even if you wear gloves you will need to clean the fingers regularly (or go through many individual gloves!).
- Putty Rubber: Good for lifting pastel form the paper.
- Razor Blade or Craft Knife: For (carefully) removing sections of 'mistakes'.
- Paper Stump and Torchons: You can just use the tip of a finger to blend, but paper stumps and torchons allow you a greater level of accuracy, especially along edges.
- Fixative: Once you have finished a pastel painting you may want to give it a light spray of fixative, it helps to keep the pastel powder in place, but some pastellists don't use it. If can darken the picture.
Once you have all your supplies, it will be time to try out a pastel painting. You may want to practice different techniques first or just get stuck into a painting (see step-by-step demo). Either way, enjoy!
