Pastel prep

 My work space for pastels

I like to have my tray setup on a workbench that rolls so I can place it where I want it. Not everyone has a lot of space. I'm currently using a table in my home to hold my 4x6 foot pastel tray. I will provide link to how to build this from Marla Baggetta's mini lessons Marla's mini lessons that you must sign up for by email. 

I learned along time ago the concept of color. My bible then was Blue and Yellow don't make Green. I read and did the exercises in mixing to understand the importance of color. I missed, I think along the way that the Value or Intensity of the colors importance in painting. 

Everything about color and our choices hinges on what is the color next to it. I also learned that separating my pastels to reflect not only the Hue and Intensity of the colors, gave me a better understanding of the spectrum of color. 

I separate into this tray by Hue (color), Intensity (Value). There is some consideration for saturation but not as important to me.  I also removed all the wrappers around any pastels. This is a must, you want to learn to be intuitive in your color selection. You also won't remember the names of the colors, it's just to daunting and frankly we aren't wired that way in our brains. You will eventually have colors that you really enjoy and you will remember them. That's ok, it's perfectly normal.

These are some pastels I use to keep in a Jackson's pastel box you can purchase from the website .

Jackson's Wood Pastel box is located in the UK. I have 2 here. They have assorted sizes to fit your needs. I've also purchased other items I wanted from them without any hiccups. You might also check out Dakota Pastels they are very easy to work with as well. I buy all my paper from them located in Washington USA. 

I lined my box with thin white foam I bought at Joanne's. I also lined a small butcher tray I use to hold the pastels I use in a painting while I'm working. This also holds a wood graphite pencil to draw with initially or a dark hard pastel to do the same. I would not recommend using the graphite pencil if your planning a background wash to color your paper. I keep a small inexpensive brush to remove unwanted pastel color on my paper to reclaim an area I'm not happy with. Any slightly stiff brush will work. 

I keep a damp rag next to the box to wipe my hands off. You may wear gloves. The SDS of each company is available on their websites to view any toxic concerns with the sticks. I protect my hands with baby oil before I start. I rub it in really good and have not had any problems. Some artist use a lotion called Gloves in a Bottle, it has good reviews. When your done for the day just wash your hands with soap and water. I have a small scrub brush on hand to get into the nail beds. I also keep a kneaded eraser on hand to dab out areas too and reduce paper damage. Its helpful to keep a disposable small cup with a bit of water on hand too. Some artists use this technique for corrections, but caution is needed to make sure your painting surface can except water or other wet techniques safely. 

List of additional supplies:

• small butcher tray
• small painting brush
• graphite wood pencil
• moist rag
• kneaded eraser 
• reducing glass (to help limit the distance of stepping back to view your work)
• a dust catcher to collect falling pigment as you paint. I use foil.
• masking tape
• recommended papers; Pastelmat, U art, Spectrum Art Fix, Lux, Pastel premier, Kitty Wallace are examples of papers that except light amounts of water, inks, alcohol and paint without buckling. 

here is an example of my easel set up. This is Canson paper I plan to do multiple studies of a scene. I will share those processes in another post.