This post is part of a conversation with Jon Amdall about using pan pastels to colour clothing and other large areas. I’ve just started playing with them and they suit my work style – I tend to work quickly and haven’t had much success with colouring with pencils.
This is a quick sketch adapted from an old fashion illustration. I rubbed on two pan pastel colours (a deep yellow and almost lime green) – using an old piece of sponge. You can buy shaped sponge tools that allow for fine lines and precision. I erased parts of the pastel ‘wash’ to show highlights.
I like this–but I don’t understand technically what you’re doing.
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Thanks, Morris. As far as technique goes, for the coloured parts, I’m rubbing on pastel powder with a sponge instead of using a brush and paint or coloured pencils. So basically just using a different medium to add colour.
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Beautiful technique.
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Thank you!
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This is a lovely technique. I am rather stuck on watercolour washes but I must try this. My dad was a working artist and in the end, was using pastels almost exclusively.
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Thanks! Definitely worth a try:-). I just bought one colour pan at first – they can get pricey. Now I have the primary colours plus the lime green (which was the first pan that beckoned from the shelf of an art supply store).
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I’ve had to google it. Did the idea for them come from eyeshadows?? I have some pastels that when I sneeze, totally disappear from the page, so I tend to use with water. Pan pastels I hadn’t seen before.
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I thought of cosmetics too:-). I’ve been making large scale photocopies that I wanted to add colour to, but the paper was so thin that paint would have buckled it so these were a good solution. I like them because I can put down pretty strong colour, or barely any colour at all if I just use what’s left on the sponge. It does need a spray with fixative though.
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Ooh, how large is large scale?
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Four to six feet.
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*gulp* that’s large scale! Good luck.
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🙂
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Nice! Thank you for the example, that is extremely helpful. So, pan pastels seem to look a bit like watercolor when applied? That’s great, because I generally love the way water color plus pencil or ink looks (on other peoples’ art…ha ha, I’ve never done it). I’m not certain why, but pastel seems like it might be easier to mix with the colored pencil I use. I should buy some gray or darker color and give it a shot!
I like the sketch, by the way. And thanks again for the demo!
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You’re welcome! I guess in my example they do look a bit like watercolour washes, but I think they can be applied in a pretty graphic/ block colour way too. Look forward to seeing what you do if you end up giving them a try!
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Very cool, I think that will help for black shirts. There have been a few where I wanted a deep black color, but I wasn’t able to get that with pencil (or probably I just didn’t have the patience)
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Nice art
Nice technique
Plz check my blog too
Hope u ll like it
https://dazzlesbydolly.wordpress.com
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Thank you!
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I like your way of working very much.
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Thanks very much!
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