The Process

I work mainly in dry pastel, although I do puddle a bit in acrylic. Pastel is a dry pigment that is pressed into stick form and is used by the pastelist to make pastel paintings or drawings. It is the same pigment used in water color, oil and acrylic. When pastel meets paper it deposits its” self in the pores of the paper where it resides until it is disturbed by something such as a shirt cuff (unintentional) or eraser (intentional). Thus, it is a good idea to protect a pastel painting soon after completion by framing it under glass. Many people think pastel is a difficult medium to control. In my home there are smears of pastel on my studio phone, light switches computer keys, clothing, coffee cup and anything else I normally touch, perhaps this is what these people are referring to. I must add though, the two Siamese cats have managed to stay pretty much pastel free.

My working surface of choice is Wallis sanded paper. It is a wonderful, strong heavy paper that will withstand an incredible amount of abuse and holds a ton of pastel. Other than folding it up and stomping on it, it is tremendously correctible. As Wallis paper is not cheap, I painstakingly complete a detailed layout on vellum paper before committing to a sheet of cherished Wallis inventory. Once I have the image from the vellum transferred to the Wallis, the fun begins. I usually“Turp” in the first layer of pastel. This is a process where pastel is applied as an under painting and a solvent, such as odorless turpentine or alcohol, is used to dissolve the pastel pigment into a paint to achieve an even undercoat and aids in hiding the white of the raw Wallis paper. The undercowill either contrast or blend with additional layers of pastel. This all works rather nicely. For example, you want to paint a tree against a blue sky. You underpaint the sky, turp, let it dry, which fixes it, then you can paint your tree right over the sky without trying to put in sky holes and other detail later. This is possible with the Wallis paper – not with most other papers though.

Once finished, the pastel is matted to keep it away from the glass of the frame; then framed – sometimes with a spacer to keep the pastel even more distant to the glass of the frame. Often, pastels will flake. This is a crappy little side affect that deposits little specks of pastel upon a nice clean off-white mat. This can be over come by spraying a thick layer of fixative on the finished pastel which basically turns it into an acrylic painting and eliminates all the luminosity you strived to achieve by using pastel. Thus, it is a far, far better thing you do, to clean a mat occasionally then to goop up your pastel with a can of sticky, foul smelling spray. Some collectors find fault with a flaking pastel. They are under the impression that a few flakes means the image is so fragile someone slamming a door might provide enough of a jolt to turn the entire image into a pile of pastel dust at the bottom of the frame. This is simply not the case. Pastels are extremely long lived. They are a pure pigment, they are extremely fade resistant. They do not crack, peel or chip. If kept dry they will last indefinitely; i.e., do not hang an original pastel painting in the bathroom.