page_title: Pastel
section_title: Techniques
hierarchical_section_title: Pastel / Techniques
caption_attribution_description: Frottage di una pietra
context_page_description: A pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those used to produce some other colored visual arts media, such as oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation. The color effect of pastels is closer to the natural dry pigments than that of any other process.
  Pastels have been used by artists since the Renaissance, and gained considerable popularity in the 18th century, when a number of notable artists made pastel their primary medium.
  An artwork made using pastels is called a pastel. Pastel used as a verb means to produce an artwork with pastels; as an adjective it means pale in color.
context_section_description: Pastel techniques can be challenging since the medium is mixed and blended directly on the working surface, and unlike paint, colors cannot be tested on a palette before applying to the surface. Pastel errors cannot be covered the way a paint error can be painted out. Experimentation with the pastel medium on a small scale in order to learn various techniques gives the user a better command over a larger composition.
  Pastels have some techniques in common with painting, such as blending, masking, building up layers of color, adding accents and highlighting, and shading. Some techniques are characteristic of both pastels and sketching mediums such as charcoal and lead, for example, hatching and crosshatching, and gradation. Other techniques are particular to the pastel medium.
  Colored grounds: the use of a colored working surface to produce an effect such as a softening of the pastel hues, or a contrast
  Dry wash: coverage of a large area using the broad side of the pastel stick. A cotton ball, paper towel, or brush may be used to spread the pigment more thinly and evenly.
  Erasure: lifting of pigment from an area using a kneaded eraser or other tool
  Feathering
  Frottage
  Impasto: pastel applied thickly enough to produce a discernible texture or relief
  Pouncing
  Resist techniques
  Scraping out
  Scumbling
  Sfumato
  Sgraffito
  Stippling
  Textured grounds: the use of coarse or smooth paper texture to create an effect, a technique also often used in watercolor painting
  Wet brushing
caption: A pastel frottage created by rubbing pastel on paper laid over stone
exif: {"Image XResolution": "299923/1000", "Image YResolution": "299923/1000", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint.NET v3.22"}