|
|
|
| Cirque Tents by Terri Ford, pastel painting. |
|
|
|
|
|
It's what I thought to myself when I started to look into
how to get layers of pastel to build up. It just didn't seem possible, or
easily possible. But I did my research, and that dog
will hunt! Here are a few
tips on how to get the layered effects you want when pastel painting.
Major build-up.
To get a vibrant glowing surface when painting pastel works, start by putting
down a layer of color with the side of a soft stick of pastel. Then spray
fixative over the area. Then apply another layer of color, and so on. You can
lay down as many layers as you want, fixing in between each one. You can also
allow the fixative to dry or experiment with your surface while it is wet.
Feather light.
With pastels, it is easy to inadvertently blend or rub in areas, whether by
resting your hand on the surface or as a result of too much blending and
overlaying of color in a given passage. To brighten up an area again with
visual interest, take a hard pastel or pencil and make vertical strokes over
the area. It will allow the surface beneath to show through, but will no longer
be a flat passage of color as it is built up with the addition of these
feathered strokes.
|
|
 |
|
|
Architectural Remnants
by Charles Timken, pastel painting. |
|
|
|
Show us your teeth.
The paper that you work with in any pastel painting or drawing should have a
good deal of texture if you want it to hold successive layers of pigment. And
you'll want to use the side of soft pastels so that large swaths of area are
covered in color that can be layered upon with additional colors.
If you really want to explore all the layering possibilities
that pastel painting has to offer, painting portrait painting is the way to go.
There's nothing more dynamic than the human face, and using pastel to capture
it can be an exciting challenge. Portrait artist Wende Caporale is just the
artist to lead us through the process. Her new DVD Children's Pastel Portraits is a
wonderfully in-depth and gives a solid foundation for understanding this
beautiful medium and how to apply it to portraiture. Enjoy!
P.S. Do you have any strategies on layering pastels? Please
share and leave a comment!