Pastel Painting DVD: Pastel Techniques by Barry Watkin

If you're looking for new pastel techniques to try, or prefer to see the results before you experiment, then watch Barry Watkins demonstrate a range of options in his Pastel Techniques DVD. This includes adding pastel to a watercolor painting and over ink, using broken color, and using fixative to secure multiple layers of pastel. Throughout the DVD you see the painting in progress and the scene or reference material being painted from, enabling you to compare the two.

This painting DVD is, as the name indicates, is based around a variety of pastel techniques, with the intention of encouraging you to attempt something new. As Barry Watkin says in his introduction: it's all too easy to get stuck in a rut, to always follow the same path and never trying anything new. In this DVD he demonstrates six techniques to encourage you to try something new.

The first is using pastel on top of watercolor. It's painted plein air, on a river bank. The DVD shifts between the watercolor/pastel in progress and the scene being painted, so you can compare the two.

The second technique is layering, using fixative to to build up multiple layers without the pastel sliding around on the surface. The third is using pastel in a linear method, building up a barn scene using line. The fourth is blocking in shapes of color, then using water and a brush to eliminate the white paper. It turns the pastel into a paste which, when dry, you can continue working on.

The fifth technique is broken color, demonstrated on a landscape. The sixth is working with pastel on top of a tonal ink painting.

While Watkins doesn't come across as having as much fun painting as Tom Coates, it's just a difference in approach and personality. He explains the technique he's going to demonstrate, tells you what he's doing as the painting develops, but at times is silent as he concentrates on painting. Watch this DVD one chapter at a time, stopping after each demo to try it for yourself.