One and Only

[snoball]

This is my one and only pastel. Pastels are too much like charcoal and I am too messy. But I had the pastels and had to try them. This is no one, just an imaginary little girl.

 

[joe1It]

glad you tried them even if only on that occasion, the result is incredible.
then working from the imagination I think it is another very difficult thing, which requires a lot of skill, so you wanted to make things a little easier, a new means and that ,,. the result is a
great piece.
passing from the sacred to the profane,
I agree that coal is quite restless as a medium (at the same time I love that medium but at the same time I can't stand it for dust)

sometimes I am tempted to try drawing with crayons, I took a box a couple of years ago, to try monochromatic drawings, I think that I should first do more chiaroscuro which is still something I like in itself.

same thing for coal, initially I thought of using the one more than the pencil (in the carbon pencils version) even if I am messy even without coal , but I haven't tried coal for a year, I had seen a tutorial on a work by Proudhon and to tempt you rightly I thought ... to grind some charcoal pencil tips that I had put in a box when I broke them in attempts to make the tip, great chaos,
a kind of indigestion I think, (even if not, I have not eaten it not voluntarily)

 

[Artyczar]

Wow Sno. Those eyes are amazing. great work.

I know what you mean about pastels. I can't stand the mess of them. but if you can make them result in this, maybe it was worth it for at least just this once!

 

[snoball]

Thank you Joe and Arty! I think pastel work is beautiful and I know St Luke uses it on huge works but it is just beyond me, as is charcoal. Even with just plain pencil I have to keep a clean sheet of paper to rest my hand on to keep from smearing it all over the place.

 

[Nufocus]

Wow Sno! Did I tell already that your technical ability is fantastic?..... no matter what media!

 

[snoball]

Nufocus, Thank you! I appreciate your comments.

 

[stlukesguild]

Do you remember what brand of pastel you were using, Sno? Also... what sort of paper were you using?

 

[snoball]

No, not really, I had a few different brands but I have since given them all away. Paper was sanded board. The sand helped hold the pastels on.

 

[stlukesguild]

Yes. I've toyed with purchasing a gesso with sand as obviously, I'm not likely to find any sanded pastel paper on the scale I've been working. I use sandpaper to sharpen my pastels at times and I can see how that would work great as a drawing surface. Then again, I work in a quite physical manner (like you couldn't tell from photos of my studio) and drawing rapidly and in a gestural manner, I have friction-burned my knuckles on regular paper... I don't want to think what I'd do on sandpaper... or how many $100 of dollars of pastel I'd go through in just one day.

 

[snoball]

Well, I bet you'd pull your punches after the first pass or two. If I were working large on sanded paper, I think I would sort of undercoat with the very cheapest pastels I could find and go back for the shading and detail work with the better pastels.

 

[stlukesguild]

I tend to use that approach for large areas of color... especially... wait for it... RED!!! The Sennelier goes on last. But then I did the same with oils. The underpainting would be done in Winton and then the real Cadmium Reds went on top. Honestly... you don't want to use the "worst" pastels. The "worst" or rather, the cheapest I use are quite decent: Rembrandt and Prismacolor Nu Pastels... and both have their place.

 

[snoball]

I had Nu Pastels but they were quite hard and also hard to use. I think I still have a few different kinds of pastels but don't even know the brand. I would think for final detail work that pastel pencils would be useful. Many times on underpainting of oils, especially larger works, I use acrylic paint to do the whole underpainting and that fills the canvas and I can work over it with oils in a more cohesive and easier way.

 

[Artyczar]

I love reading about this. I have a weakness for learning about people's process, even if it has nothing to do with my own. I love that you screw up your knuckles on your paper St. Luke, because that means you are working hard for it. I like that idea. Sometimes working, for me, is physically exhausting due to my physical limitations and in a lot of ways, it makes me feel good that I am bearing down and pushing through it. It's challenging and I get a sense of accomplishment afterwards.

 

[stlukesguild]

Sno... yes, Nu Pastels are very hard... compressed pastel... and as you suggest, I use them mostly for fine details: contours, hair, etc... I also use a brilliant Titanium White for the highlights.

 

[stlukesguild]

I love that you screw up your knuckles on your paper St. Luke, because that means you are working hard for it.

Thanks... I think. Still my knuckles don't enjoy the effort.

 

[Artyczar]

I guess I personally like physical challenges where I can get them. But that's me.