Starting Out With....

Soft Pastels

If you are thinking of trying soft pastels (dry pastels) out for the first time but have no idea where to begin or what you need to start out, this page offers lots of pointers for pastel newbies. There are many different types of soft pastels out there and knowing what to choose for your maiden voyage can be rather overwhelming. Soft pastels come in a variety of forms: half stick, full stick, thin pastels, thick pastels, soft pastels and hard pastels, all this adds to the confusion of where to begin and with which one. Pastels are pure pigment with added binder which helps to hold them together and this pureness of pigment is what appeals to many artists around the world, adding to their popularity.

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What can you achieve with soft pastels?

A Pastel portrait on Fisher400 by A. Tingay

Pastels are vibrant and bold offering fast results and easy blending abilities. You don't need any solvents or mediums, there is no drying time and pastels can be erased or simply covered over if you make a mistake which make them an ideal medium for almost any artist starting out. Pastels are ideal for creating vibrant works of art and a background like a bright, blue sea on this Puffin portrait can be created within minutes using just two or three colours which can be blended perfectly offering smooth transitions and no hard edges, it is this simplistic nature of Pastels that allows you to have fun whilst learning!. Alongside the pastel blocks are the pastel pencils, creating minimal mess and allowing you to achieve high detail in your pastel portraits if you enjoy the challenge.  There are numerous papers out there suitable for pastels but if you have yet to attempt a portrait with this medium, I would recommend the perfect paper for your initial trial which is PASTELMAT, a finer grit than many other pastel papers and holds the pastel well. A very popular paper which can be used with other mediums too.

So, what do I need?

You don't need a lot to get started with pastels, nor do you need to spend a fortune when starting out. Of course buying extremely cheap pastels could actually put you off ever working with them again as they tend to be chalkier, dull in colour and less pliable than the expensive ranges, so do bear that in mind when you buy your first set. Here is the minimum product requirements for this medium. There are a whole load of other products out there for pastel artists but you can extend your collection once you feel this is the medium for you. 

Set of Soft Pastels - Half size or full size? The choice is yours.
Textured paper - Why not purchase a pastel paper trial pack
Easel - Floor or desktop depends on preference
Damp cloth - If you use fingers to blend colours, wipe excess off with a damp cloth between colour changes to avoid muddying colours
An old Towel - Simply to dry hands after using the damp cloth 
B grade pencil - to apply your initial outline
Putty rubber -  Hard or soft? A hard putty eraser may be the better choice to begin with, the soft eraser is very pliable, a lot like blue tac.
Masking Tape - Used to attach your paper to your easel board and keep the paper flat. Remove upon completion of the artwork for tidy edges.

Additional products

Pastel Pencils - If you enjoy creating highly detailed art, pastel pencils are a must
Pan Pastels - Soft pastel in compact form. Perfect for covering large areas such as backgrounds and base tones (an article will follow on these)
Blenders - Saves using your fingers
Sandpaper - For shaping the edges of pastels
Fixative - Most toothy papers do not require the use of fixative so this is more of an personal preference than necessity, some feel that fixative can change the colour tones of the portrait or even leave tiny speckles (please, NEVER use hairspray)

Buying your first set of Pastels

Buying your first set of pastels does not have to be overwhelming, the trick is not to spend a fortune buying a top quality range if you are completely new to pastels as you could find that they are not the medium for you leaving you with a huge hole in your bank account and pastels that end up collecting unwanted dust. Visit any art store and you may see packs costing between £3.00 - £60.00 (and well beyond that) Below you can read up on a product recommendation and further down the page, I explain the differences between three pastel ranges which may help you make a choice on your first set when you are happy to splash out on a larger range.

Inscribe (UK) - A great range for Pastel newbies

Mungyo (USA/NZ) Very similar to Inscribe - likely to be the same under a different name

Inscribe are a good brand to start out with without breaking the bank and are available in both half sticks and full sticks' offering a wide variety of colours in sets of 12, 24, 32, 48 and 64. (Around £11.00 for 64 half sticks) The pigments are not as strong as a brand like Unison but will allow you to create some great pieces of Art and decide if Soft Pastels are for you. Outside the UK, you may find these pastels are rebranded as Mungyo although I do not know if they are exactly the same pastel with a different name, but the box and colours seem to match perfectly (see above) The thin white and black sticks in the top of the box are hard pastels which allows you to use them for fine lines or even blend them with other colours to change the colour tone.

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Although the pigments in these Inscribe pastels are more translucent than those from a professional brand, they still apply and blend well. Applying the white over the top of other colours is the best way to lighten your colours, useful if you only have a small range of pastels (like the set above) Apply a lighter colour over a black base which will create a muted tone of that colour.

Owning a huge range of colours initially may not be needed as you may have a subject preference that denotes the colours you use and need. Before splashing out on any brand, ensure you are able to access them locally/online and that you are able to buy open stock (individual pastels) so you only buy the colours you need rather than spending a fortune on the full set, this will save money and minimise waste and cupboard space.

Related articles that may be of interest

Unison soft pastels - read why they are one of the best!

Read about the Ampersand Pastelbord - suitable for pastel artists

View all our other articles for soft pastel artists including step by step tutorials

Looking to become a commission based artist? This article may offer some useful pointers to get you started.

Differences between Soft Pastel ranges

Student or Professional? What is the difference?
Professional pastels are made from pure pigment with a little bit of binder added to keep them together in stick form. Professional brands such as Unison are pure pigment, made from natural sources and hand made. Due to the way they are made, they are more expensive, however the quality, application and strong pigments is notable making them well worth the cost. Cheap pastels tend to be a mixture of chalk & binder with a smaller amount of pigment and these can appear more translucent in application. Student grade pastels are also pigment & binder but some pigments are man made rather than of natural origin to keep costs low, which can affect lightfast qualities. Cheap pastels are great for doing quick art projects (these brands are the ones that are most often used as hair chalk) and as they tend to be non toxic, are ideal for kids. Prismacolor NuPastels are classed as student grade as they have not been tested for lightfastness and so longevity cannot be guaranteed. Some artists have complained online of colour fade having placed the pastels in a sunny spot for a period of time and the pastel itself has actually faded, so I would recommend you do some research before buying a different brand.

Low value range

Student Grade

Professional Quality

Hints & Tips

• For best effect, work dark to light and background to foreground
• ​Full sized sticks are ideal for covering larger areas of paper, smaller half size sticks can be used for creating finer detail - break a full sized stick in half keeping one side sharp for fine lines and using the other half for base tones.
• Do not blow dust from your paper, ideally work from an upright easel so dust can fall naturally - minimise pastel drop spoiling your art by working from top to bottom 
• Using more tones of the same colour family will enable you to achieve more depth
• Applying heavy layers on fine grit paper will saturate the paper far quicker than on heavy grit paper.
• Heavy grit paper can be sharp, if you use your fingers to blend do so with caution or use a blender and avoid the need for plasters!

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Pastel dust and safety

Although the dry (soft) pastels are loved by many artists due to their ease of application and blendability as well as their vibrancy and effectiveness, they can also be rather messy. If you work with pastels in block form particularly the softer brands, it is impossible to avoid getting them on your fingers unless you wear gloves, there is also pastel drop and the fact that this dust will be hanging around your environment and so it is important to ensure your workspace is well ventilated and areas of dust are cleaned regularly as well as pastels being put in a box or a cupboard to minimise you breathing in these dust particles. Ideally, keep animals away from the room/studio especially birds.

Why not try one of our pastel step by step tutorials

Why not give one of our pastel tutorials a go. The pastel skies tutorial offers you a very simple technique on tonal application to create an effective background for your pastel art and if you are looking for something more challenging, try the autumn leaf tutorial which teaches you about Pastelmat as a paper and how to create detailed art in soft pastels. if you fancy a challenge, the Swallow shows you how to create both the base layers and the fine details.

FOR BEGINNERS...

Pastel Skies
Soft Pastel Tutorial 
Click the image to view the tutorial

FOR INTERMEDIATES...

Autumn Leaf
​Soft Pastel Tutorial
Click the image to view the tutorial

FOR INTERMEDIATES...

Swallow
​Soft Pastel Tutorial
Click the image to view  the tutorial

VISIT THE DEDICATED SOFT PASTELS PAGE FOR ALL OUR ARTICLES ON PASTELS AND ACCESSORIES
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