Introduction to Pastel
- Teacher: Mary Shea
- Class Length: 4 week session
- Class Days: Begins Thursday, February 5
- Time: 10:00 – 12:30 pm
“Color in pictures is like enthusiasm in life.”
Vincent van Gogh
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Using soft pastels, students will work directly from still life set ups in the studio, from the model and from the work of other artists, especially those who use pastel. We will play with color harmonies, regard paper as an aspect of the image, and enjoy the fact that working with pastel is both drawing and painting. The class will put color practice before color theory, but we’ll pay attention to color contrasts and the color wheel and consider why Bonnard said, “Drawing is feeling. Color is an act of reason.”
We will use dry (NOT oil pastels) and soft (NOT hard pastels) in this class.
Dry pastels, because of the high pigment concentration, reflect light without darkening refraction, allowing for very saturated colors.
For this short class, it is important that students have some drawing experience.
Materials:
Paper: a pad of pastel paper OR charcoal paper. Size – 11” x 14”
Pastel paper and charcoal paper have some ‘tooth’ but try to avoid paper that has a strongly textured surface. Do not buy the sanded pastel paper –
Suggestions:
Strathmore has affordable 11” x 14” charcoal and pastel paper pads, white or assorted colors or greys – any of those would be fine.
Talk to the salespeople about papers if you have questions and let them know you are in a class and ‘student grade’ paper is what you need.
Pastels: Soft pastels; if you have some already, bring what you have –
Suggestions: Sennelier Soft Pastels – Set of 20, Assorted Colors, Half Sticks; these are beautiful, very pigmented and quite soft.
Rembrandt Soft pastels – Set of 15 whole sticks, Assorted Colors; these are less soft than Sennelier
Drawing by Mary Shea
