Lessons and Materials

 

Here are my realtime pastel tutorials, starting at just $3/month. Hope to see you there!

My Art Supplies:

(These are affiliate links, I receive 1% of the amount of your purchase at no cost to you, please use the links!)

Paper:

• Clairefontaine Pastelmat - This is a complete game changer, there's truly nothing else like it.

  • A more affordable option: Hahnemuhle Velour Paper

  • I do not recommend any other "pastel paper" regardless of how reputable the brand.

Pastel Pencils:

• Stabilo Carbothello Pastel Pencils (set of 60) - Smooth, recommend buying this first.

• Faber-Castel Pitt Pastels (set of 60) - Easier to keep sharp, better for details.

• Caran D'ache Pastel Pencils (set of 40) - Pricey, better for vibrancy and blending.

Chalk/Soft Pastel Sticks:

• Faber-Castell Soft Pastel Sticks (set of 24) - good to start with, less fragile

• Rembrandt Half Sticks (set of 90) - professional grade, less fragile

• Unison Soft Pastel Sticks (set of 36) - high end, hand rolled, very fragile

Blending Tools:

• Color Shapers - has a plastic tip, can soften texture without taking pastel off your paper.

• Sofft Palette knife - sponge on a palette knife for base layer

• I do use my hands a bit, but pastel is bad for your skin and your skin's oils are bad for your art. Some artists use gloves.

Protecting/Storing Soft Pastel Art:

• Here is a document I send my clients about how to take care of the art: Pastel Care

• Work top to bottom to avoid smudging your details with your hand, and/or cover finished areas with acid free glassine paper.

Realtime pastel tutorials

Other:

• Razertip Wood Burning Kit

  • I use live basswood rounds for wood, look in local shops

• Pencil Storage Drawers

• Plein Air Box

• Staedtler Eraser (yes, it erases pastels quite nicely)

• Swordfish Pencil Sharpener (crank handle)

• Tracing Paper (mostly erasable!)

• Art Desk

* * *

What NOT to buy:

• Fixative - even if it says chalk pastel okay on it I promise you it will dull all your lighter colors, nothing will be white anymore. I don't know any pastel artist that uses a fixative, even if a framer wants to spray it, don't let them! If you use pastelmat the tooth of the paper will hold the pastel, and when you frame in glass with a mat so it doesn't slide along the glass, it will be perfectly preserved. 

Happy creating!