• Pastels •
“Pastels are made from the same pigments used for oil paints. Instead of oils, a
binding agent is added to the pigments to create a chalk like stick, which is applied
to a textured surface, usually paper. Available in many vibrant colors, pastels maintain
their just painted look indefinitely, unlike oils, which can crack and darken over time.
(“It’s an unfamiliar medium to a number of people, and I ’d like to do my part to help
change that,” says Sierak.) ”
Pastel
paintings and sketches are created by stroking the sticks of dry pigment
across
the abrasive surface, embedding the color in the “tooth” of the paper,
sand board
or
canvas. If the surface is completely covered with Pastel, the work
is considered a
Pastel
painting; leaving much of the surface exposed produces a Pastel sketch.
Techniques
vary with individual artists. Pastel can be blended or used with visible
strokes.
There is no drying time, and no allowances need to be made for a change
in
color
when dry, unlike oil paint or acrylics.
A
Brief History...
Pastels
originated in the16th century and still exist today, as fresh as the day
they
were painted...no restoration needed, ever! “Pastels”
does not at all refer to
pale
colors, as is commonly thought, but comes from the French word “pastische”
because
the pure, powdered pigment is ground into a paste, with a small amount
of
gum
binder, and then rolled into sticks. The infinite variety of colors
in the Pastel palette
range
from soft and subtle to bold and brilliant.
Its
invention is attributed to the German painter Johann Thiele. A venetian
woman
artist,
Rosalba Carriera, was the first to make consistent use of Pastel.
Chardin did
portraits
with an open stroke, while LaTour preferred the blended finish. Thereafter
a
galaxy
of famous artists . . . Copley, Delacroix, Millet, Manet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec,
Whistler,
Hassam, just to list the more familiar names, used Pastel as finished work
rather
than preliminary sketches.
Edgar
Degas was the most prolific user of Pastel, and its champion. His
protégé,
Mary
Cassatt introduced the Impressionists and Pastel to her friends in Philadelphia
and
Washington, and thus to the United States. In the spring of 1983,
Sotheby Parke
Bernet
sold at auction two Degas Pastels for more than $3,000,000 each! Both Pastels
were
painted about 1880. Today, Pastel paintings have the stature of oil
and watercolor
as
a major fine art medium. Many of our most renowned living artists have
distinguished
themselves
with Pastels.
Note:
Pastel must never be confused with colored chalk. Chalk is a limestone
substance impregnated with
dyes.
Pastel is sometimes combined with watercolor, gouache, acrylic, charcoal
or pencil to create a "mixed
medium"
painting.
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All images © 1998 S. Thomas
Sierak