Pastels, an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder, have been used by artists since the Renaissance. They gained considerable popularity in the 18th century when notable artists such as Rosalba Carriera made pastel their primary medium. Pastels can exist in various forms, including sticks, squares, pebbles, or pans of color. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those used in other colored visual arts media, such as oil paints, and the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
The Art Media Pastel
Pastels, an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder, have been used by artists since the Renaissance. They gained considerable popularity in the 18th century when notable artists such as Rosalba Carriera made pastel their primary medium. Pastels can exist in various forms, including sticks, squares, pebbles, or pans of color. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those used in other colored visual arts media, such as oil paints, and the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation.
Types of Pastels
Dry pastels have historically used binders such as gum arabic and gum tragacanth. Methyl cellulose was introduced as a binder in the 20th century. Often, a chalk or gypsum component is present. They are available in varying degrees of hardness, with softer varieties being wrapped in paper. Some pastel brands use pumice in the binder to abrade the paper and create more tooth.
Soft pastels have a higher portion of pigment and less binder, producing a sharp drawing material that is useful for fine details. These can be used with other pastels for drawing outlines and adding accents. However, the colors are less brilliant and are available in a restricted range compared to soft pastels.
Pastel pencils are pencils with a pastel lead and are useful for adding fine details.
Oil Pastels
Oil pastels have a soft, buttery consistency and intense colors. They are dense and fill the grain of paper and are slightly more difficult to blend than soft pastels but do not require a fixative. They may be spread across the work surface by thinning with turpentine.
Water-Soluble Pastels
Water-soluble pastels are similar to soft pastels, but contain a water-soluble component such as polyethylene glycol. This allows the colors to be thinned out to an even, semi-transparent consistency using a water wash. Water-soluble pastels are made in a restricted range of hues in strong colors and have the advantages of enabling easy blending and mixing of the hues, given their fluidity, as well as allowing a range of color tint effects depending upon the amount of water applied with a brush to the working surface.
Pastel Artworks
At ArtsDot.com, we offer a selection of pastel artworks by various artists, including
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky's Pan,
Zinaida Serebriakova's Nude reading, and
Hans Andersen Brendekilde's Juleaften Uden for Frue Kirke. These artworks showcase the versatility and beauty of pastels as an art medium.
Pastel Artists
Some notable pastel artists include
Emilio Grau Sala, a Catalan painter known for his use of color, and
Wolf Kahn, a German-born American painter who combines Realism and Color Field in his pastel and oil paint works.
Pastels in Museums
Pastels can be found in various museums, including the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, which houses
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky's Pan. Pastels are a unique and beautiful art medium that has been used by artists for centuries to create stunning works of art.
Conclusion
Pastels offer artists a versatile and expressive medium for creating artwork. With their wide range of colors, textures, and forms, pastels provide endless possibilities for artistic expression. Whether used in dry or water-soluble form, pastels continue to be a popular choice among artists today.