In Part 1 of this blog series, I discussed the 8 positives and 5 negatives about using colored pencils. I also gave some tips on how to deal with the potential issues of colored pencils . You can check that blog out here if you missed it.

In Part 2, I’ll do the same thing for pastels, but I’ll start with a brief history of pastels and an explanation of the different types. I’m doing this for selfish reasons, because there are so many types. I feel I need to learn more about them if I am going to get better as a pastel artist.

The caveat for this pastel portion is that I don’t have quite as much experience with them as I do with colored pencils. I bought my first pastel pencils in the spring of 2021.

But because pastels are similar to colored pencils, I think that I’ve been able to pick up on how to use them fairly quickly. And I’m definitely excited to see what more I can learn about them as I progress in my art journey.

Brief History of Pastels

The invention of soft pastels is not attributed to a single individual, and their development occurred over time. However, the use of pastel pigments can be traced back to the Renaissance era. Artists during this period used powdered pigments in various forms, including chalks and pastels, for drawing and painting.

The modern soft pastels that we are familiar with today, composed of pure pigment and minimal binder, gained popularity in the 18th century. The French artist Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704–1788) is often credited with popularizing the use of pastels for portraiture during this period. He created detailed and expressive portraits using soft pastels, contributing to the medium's prominence. See below his portrait of King Louis XV for an example of his work using pastels. It looks like a painting.

Oil pastels were invented much later by the Japanese artist Kanae Yamamoto in 1921. Yamamoto was seeking a new artistic medium that combined the qualities of both traditional soft pastels and oil paints. The result of his experimentation was the creation of oil pastels, a medium with a soft, buttery consistency that allowed for easy application and blending.

Yamamoto initially named his invention "crayon à l'huile" (oil crayon), but the term "oil pastel" became more widely adopted. The medium gained popularity for its bright colors, versatility, and the ability to be applied to various surfaces. Oil pastels contain pigment, a non-drying oil (usually a non-drying mineral oil), and a wax binder, giving them a unique set of properties.

I have never used oil pastels, and so the rest of this article will be focused on soft pastels. Holy cow, you can really get into the weeds with just the soft pastels, so I will do just a broad overview for now.

Types of Pastels

I do have a few Amazon affiliate links in here for when I’m referencing supplies. If you use that and buy something through those I get a few pennies :)

Hard Pastels:

• Hard pastels are solid sticks of pastel color that have been machine compressed.

• They contain a higher proportion of binder compared to soft pastels, making them firmer and less powdery.

• Hard pastels are suitable for fine lines, details, and controlled application.

• The colors aren’t as vivid.

• I do not have any experience with these, but I do own some! Sometimes I buy supplies and it takes me a bit to use them. So after I try them out, I’ll get back to you about if I like them or not :)

• Example brands: Cretacolor, Mungyo

Pastel Pencils:

• They have a wooden casing like a regular pencil, but instead of graphite, the core consists of pastel pigment and a binder.

• Pastel pencils offer more precision and control than traditional pastel sticks.

• They are ideal for detailed work, fine lines, and intricate drawing.

• Some brands are harder than others, which will determine their color saturation and ability to be sharpened (rar! For example, it’s hard to sharpen the Caran d’Ache ones because they are so soft, but they cover better than the harder ones like the Faber-Castell Pitts).

• I use these a lot! Especially the Stabillo Carobothello and the Pitts.

• Example brands: Faber-Castell Pitt Pencils, Stabillo Carbothello Pencils, Derwent Pastel Pencils, and Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils

Soft Pastels:

• Soft pastel sticks are composed of pure pigment, a minimal amount of binder, and sometimes a filler.

• The higher pigment concentration contributes to intense and vibrant colors.

• Soft pastel sticks have a soft, chalk-like texture which allows for easy blending, layering, and a broad range of expressive strokes.

• Soft pastels are applied directly from the stick onto the surface.

• Example brands: Unsion (this is the set I would like for Christmas, Santa, please :)), Rembrandt, Sennelier, Faber-Castell

PanPastels:

• Pan pastels are pastel pigments compressed into a pan or cake form.

• They contain minimal binder, allowing for a high concentration of pigment.

• Pan pastels have a soft and velvety texture.

• The compressed form and consistency make them different from traditional pastel sticks.

• Artists apply pan pastels using special Sofft Tools or other applicators, rather than directly with a stick. The application method allows for precise control and the creation of smooth gradients.

• There is only one brand: PanPastels . I recommend the Pure Color set, which is what I linked to. You can mix your own tints (pure color plus white) and shades (pure color plus black), therefore saving lots of $$

10 Advantages of Creating with Pastels

Okay, so let’s take a look at positives of using pastels. There are a lot!

1. Bright colors- Pastels are known for their intense and vibrant colors. The pigments used in pastels are pure, resulting in rich hues. See the below comparison where I used colored pencils for one drawing and pastel pencils for the other. You can see how much brighter the pastel drawing looks. That is because colored pencils use binders like oil and wax in combination with the pigments to make the medium stick to the paper surface therefore the pigment is diffused.

2. Versatility of artistic style- Artists can achieve both detailed and expressive effects using pastels. I have seen very realistic paintings by pastel artists. I have also seen amazing Impressionististic works. The medium lends itself well to all kinds of expression for artists. That is in comparison to colored pencils, which is a medium that tends to attract realism or hyperrealism artists. It is hard to do impressionistic work with colored pencils because they are such a precise medium.

3. Speed- Pastels cover quickly. This means that you can complete the same piece in a faster amount of time as compared to colored pencils.

I love my colored pencils, but frequently after I finish a colored pencil piece, I switch to pastels to give myself a break.

It still takes me awhile to do a realistic pastel piece, but I’d say it’s anywhere from 30% to 50% quicker for me. Sometimes I mix the two. I do the background in colored pencils and the subject in colored pencils. It saves me so much time, and it looks great.

Because of the speed factor, pastels are great to use when creating large pieces. I wouldn’t want to draw anything bigger than an 11 x 14 with colored pencils (and even that would take forever). But with pastels I prefer to draw larger pieces.

4. Portability- Pastels are relatively easy to transport compared to some other art mediums, such as oils. You can work outdoors (en plein air) and enjoy the convenience of carrying a compact set of pastels. Or you can bring them when you travel.

I personally have never traveled with them, because I feel like the dust would be too messy and I would worry about breaking the soft pencils in transit. But the theory is that they are portable, although I stick to travelling with colored pencils.

5. Ease of Blending- Pastels can be easily blended, allowing for smooth transitions between colors. This makes them ideal for creating gradients, soft shadows, and subtle variations in tone.

I think this is why they are so great to use for realism artists. It’s easier to make things look 3-dimensional and lifelike if you can nail the transitions.

6. Variety of pastels- I addressed this earlier in the blog. Boy, are there a lot of choices! There is sure to be a pastel type/brand that you like. Each kind has its own unique properties, which allows for endless creative potential.

7. Variety of paper- Similarly, there are many paper types that pastel artists can choose from. I have only used Clairefontaine Pastelmat so far (here’s a link to the pros and cons of that paper surface), so I can’t speak to the rest personally. But I can say that artists achieve amazing works on velour paper and UArt sanded paper. Once I experiment with these types of paper, I’ll report back.

8. Application of lights over darks- One of my favorite attributes of pastels is that you can apply light pigment over dark pigment. Maybe I am more impressed by this property because I am a colored pencil artist.

With colored pencils you cannot do this (for the most part), which is frustrating at times. It’s very refreshing to be able to work from dark to light with pastels. You can draw white whiskers over a black cat if you need to! That is a beautiful thing.

9. Very forgiving- This is another amazing property of pastels. They are very forgiving. You can rework entire areas several times before you have filled the tooth of the paper. Only at that point are you stuck.

One more way that I’ve gotten myself past the forgiveness threshold is by applying a very dark color that I wanted to lighten later. You do have to be careful about that. But I find if I stick to the mid tones for my base layers, I am fine.

10. Mixed media- Pastels work well with other media, like colored pencils. I like to mix the two by doing a background in pastels and then working on the subject matter in colored pencils. Some artists like to use both all over their pieces. Other artists use other media with pastels like gouache paints or water colors. The possibilities are endless!

5 Negatives of Pastels

I was fairly gushing about the positives of pastels. I do have a few bones to pick with them, though. Here they are:

1. Hard to sharpen- Soft pastels are delicate and can be easily damaged. Their soft and chalky nature makes them susceptible to breakage, especially if not handled with care. This makes them awful to sharpen. I seriously dread sharpening them.

   I have tried everything to sharpen my pastel pencils. I’ve tried electric sharpeners, hand crank, handheld, and an exacto knife. I like none of these methods. But, since I have to sharpen them, I have found the exacto knife to be the least wasteful method. Then if I need the pencil sharper, I use sandpaper.

   A friend on IG told me about an electric pencil sharpener. It worked like magic for maybe 10 pencils, and then it just keep breaking them. I sent it back.

   If you do have a magical sharperner, please let me know. I’m still on the hunt, and I’m silly enough to keep buying them to find one that works.

   Anyway, it’s hard to do beautiful whiskers and details without a sharp pencil.

   One thing that helps with this is to draw bigger subjects. Then you aren’t forced to squeeze as many tiny details into your piece. That’s really the only workaround I have.

   I do hold out hope, though. There are thousands of pastel artists out there, so surely one will come to my rescue. Or I’ll at least get more efficient with my exacto knife.

2. Smearing- This is inevitable. Your piece may smear as you work.

   To combat this I work from left to right, top to bottom (because I am right handed).

   That said, I do prefer to put the background in first, so there will always be pastel somewhere on my paper.

   I use glassine paper to try and avoid smudging. I cut a small piece and make sure to keep it under may hand as I go. If you do this, just make sure you pick the glassine paper up as you move it around. If you drag it across your piece, it will still smear.

   If you have a floof dog, like my beautiful Lakota (husky mix), then you may want to cover your piece with a piece of glassine paper in between work times so that it doesn’t accumulate dog hair. Or cat hair, as the case may be.

3. Messiness- Soft pastels can be messy, with powdery dust that can easily transfer onto hands, clothing, and surfaces. Keeping your workspace clean and protecting your artwork from smudges can be a constant challenge. This one is sort of related to #2 above, but I honestly don’t think it’s a big deal.

   I just deal with it. Some people like to wear gloves. Not me! I like to get dirty. Bring it on, I say. But if you want to wear gloves, go for it.

   Other than that, I occasionally clean up my work area while working on a piece. Dry paper towels are great at getting up the dust.

   I have noticed that there are smudges in my house on light fixtures and such since I started working with pastels, but I think that’s appropriate in an artist’s house :)

4. Limited detail- Achieving fine details with soft pastels can be challenging due to their soft and chunky nature. This is why I won’t give up on my colored pencils, even after working on an especially difficult piece.

   Another IG friend once told me that I just needed to work bigger to fight this. She is right. I think it would be very hard to create a small piece with a lot of detail in pastels. But if you enlarge your subject, you don’t need tiny detail.

   Also, I find it’s good to remind myself that no one is going to look at my drawings from 4 inches away with reading glasses on. Which is how I view them. Most people will view them from a few feet away, and so they will see more of a comglomeration of pencil strokes, not every detail. Which is fabulous.

5. Limited color mixing- Soft pastels do not mix on the palette in the same way that paint does. Achieving specific colors may require layering and blending directly on the surface, which can sometimes result in muddy or unintended colors.

   Like I said before, this is only my 3rd year working with pastels, and so I’m still learning how to mix colors with them. It can definitely be done on the paper, and it is easier to do than with colored pencils. However, I still think it’s best to have a bunch of colors to choose from to help out with this.

   Currently, I own the Faber-Castell Pitt pencils and the Stabilo Carbothello pencils, which gives me a wide variety of colors. Eventually, I’d like to add some more colors maybe from the Caran d’Ache line of pastel pencils.

   That said, the Faber-Castell and Stabilo sets have a huge range of colors, and so as I’ve been learning I’m usually able to find a color that works well without mixing until I get smudgy colors.

Conclusion

Pastels have a long history, many types, and very unique characteristics. While I admit to having less experience with pastels compared to colored pencils, I am quickly learning about this fabulous media and I have discovered a lot of positives when using them. They have vibrant colors, are versatile in developing artistic style, are quicker to use, and are compatible with all kinds of other media. However, nothing is perfect and they do have their challenge such as sharpening, potential smearing, messiness, limited level of detail, and difficulties in color mixing. Despite these hurdles, I continue to have enthusiasm for exploring and learning more about pastels as a crucial part of my ongoing artistic journey.