Soft Pastels & Pastel Pencil Reviews & Articles
Click on any of the images below to view the article of interest to you. New articles are added to the website every three months. We also like to keep current articles updated, sometimes changing the format of the page entirely to add more information or make it more aesthetically pleasing, so please do visit often. You can SUBSCRIBE to our quarterly newsletter if you want the latest articles sent straight to your email as soon as they are available. Not all articles below are currently available to view. A few may be in progress right now or will be created in the near future. I hope you find these articles very informative and should you wish to request a specific article, get in touch via our contact page.
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If you wish to support the growth of this website, which receives no funding, you can support us by 'Buying us a coffee' from just £3/$3, which helps us add even more free content for all artists around the world.
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Have you always wanted to give the soft pastels a go but unsure what you will need to start out, this helpful article offers you lots of information.
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Why are these Pastels so popular with many pastellists? Find out in this article that gives background information on the family run company in Northumberland, UK
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Looking for information on the Faber Castell PITT pastel pencils, find out about their abilities & lightfast qualities suited to all pastel artists, particularly pet portrait artists.
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The CarbOthello pastel pencils offer 60 vibrant colours and would make a great addition to the colour palette of any pastellist. Find out more about this range.
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Prismacolor Premier NuPastels feature rich, creamy pigments that allow for easy blending and shading. Perfect for creating illustrations or drawings, these pastels can be sharpened to a fine point for detailed work or dulled for full coverage.
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Derwent Pastel pencils have a unique highly pigmented fine chalk texture which creates a beautiful laydown of soft colour and are easy to blend. These pencils can be used dry or with water to create light washes. Find out more about these pencils.
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Papers & Canvas boards for Pastels
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An article offering information and a personal review by Karen on the textured paper known as Colourfix by Art Spectrum.
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For anyone who is a fan of the Colourfix paper, did you know that Art Spectrum, also has a smooth version too? Find out more about the Colourfix Smooth, compare between other surfaces and see where you can buy some.
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Are you a pastel artist looking for a top quality, rigid board for your pastel work? The Ampersand Pastelbord might pique your interest.
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A highly innovative and unique surface - this versatile, finely textured paper is perfect for pastel, charcoal, pencil, & acrylic artists and suitable for both dry and wet media techniques.
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How does this paper work with various mediums, take a look at this article to see. A universal paper suitable for many artists.
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The latest UArt dark sanded paper us ideal for soft pastels. Here I review coloured pencils on this paper however pastel pencils are more suited.
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Accessories for Pastel artists
Ghiant Transfer SprayThe perfect way to transfer outlines with less mess and wastage than carbon sheets. A popular product among artists. Find out how it compares.
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Pencil Storage ChestIf you have a collection of pastel pencils but cannot find a suitable storage unit, this may be the answer. Holds upto 250 pencils.
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SharpenersThis article gives information about different pencil sharpeners and how they can play a huge part in your art techniques too.
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Why not try one of our Soft Pastel Tutorials
If you are completely new to soft pastels, why not try one of our tutorials which will show you, in great detail and explanation, how to create any of the subjects below by following the directions beneath each progress image, you will learn how to to build up your base layers and create fine details to aid realism in your work. If you are new to acrylics, you may wish to start with the 'Beginners' tutorials, work through the 'All artists' ones and then go on to the 'Intermediate' tutorials which are more challenging.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
FOR BEGINNERS...Pastel Skies - Application & Blending Exercise - Soft Pastel Tutorial
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FOR ALL ARTISTS...Autumn Leaf
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FOR BEGINNERS - INTERMEDIATES...Swallow - Loose application and finer detail - 2 part soft pastel Tutorial
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FOR ALL ARTISTS...Violet Flower - Base layers and fine details - soft pastels and pastel pencils Tutorial
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