No one prepares you. That’s the real issue. You enter an art supply store, see the pastels in their neat little rows and think, this is not that bad. After only three sessions, your fingers will be permanently violet, your dining table will be like a crime scene, and somehow the cat will have traced blue chalk through three rooms of the house. And yet– you see you are already thinking of the next piece. The pastels are doing just as they should. Discover more here!

A right start off course soon cleanses the initial mess. The guesswork disappears. You know how some methods start to fail before they harden to the point of bad habits and how quickly you can bridge the difference between the beginner who is frustrated and the learner who feels confident.

The natural point of entry is soft pastels. They are plush, tactile and integrate nearly without difficulty. The snare that almost all beginners get caught up with during the first week, however, is paper. Normal pages of sketchbooks lack teeth, pastels glide off them like they are nothing more than committed. The one upgrade that makes it all work is the switching of the paper to a sanded one or a proper pastel board. It’s not a shortcut. It’s just the right tool.

The other aspect that is easily overlooked during the early lessons is the layering order. Darks first, lights on top. Invert that order and you will waste much time scratching out a piece of writing you never had to lose. It is an education that once taken up grows within you and truly never goes away.

The mixing of it rightfully requires a discussion of its own. As opposed to paint, there are no palettes on which colors are mixed, but rather, the surface is the palette. Transitions are soft with fingers making them. A tortillon gives you the accuracy where it is required. The free flowing, overlapping strokes maintain texture and life. Three methods, three absolutely opposite outcomes. It is the knowledge of when to use which one that makes a muddy painting and a luminous painting.

Another product that is misused with almost no exceptions by beginners is fixative spray. Majority of the population only resorts to it at the last resort. Between layers use it – just that one thing will save hours of hard work being washed away by an inconsiderate sleeve.

On subject matter, begin simple and remain there longer than is needed. A ceramic mug. A weathered book. Some fruit in the light of the window. Huge shadows and coarse lines are also used to teach the values and proportion without the criticism of the flaws.

Pastels are a reward to peace-makers of the mess. Pink dust on your forearms? That is just testimonial that you appeared.