Janine Parsons

Versatile Vibrant Pastel

Much Maligned

"'Pastels! Aren't they those wishy washy drawings done in gritty chalks we used on our school blackboards .... those pictures of fluffy kittens and children with really large eyes? "' Most emphatically not! It's comments like these that have damaged the image of pastel and turned away art lovers and investors. Much maligned, pastel has only recently emerged after a long period of neglect. This is despite 200 years as a medium used and respected by professional artists. Somehow painting has assumed a higher importance and a hierachy of oil, acrylic, watercolour and "other" has developed. This ignores the fundamental relationship of drawing to most forms of art.

Serious Art

Pastel has an image problem. The very name conjures up images of soft, gentle, romantic works delicately drawn. It implies an inability to make bold dynamic and passionate statements or rich passages of brilliant colour and heavy brooding shadows. People often regard pastel with suspicion, dismissing it as fragile, frivolous and unsuited to "serious art".

A Rich Pedigree

Pastel flourished in 18th and 19th Century France. Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788) reigned supreme, astonishing all with his "hi fidelity" portraits, still lifes and landscapes of amazing facility and luminosity. Delacroiz (1798-1863) came next with energetic flourish and emotional extravagnce. A long line of artists also noted for their pastel works followed. Impressionists Degas, Renoir and Cassat brought a fresh eye to the ungarded moments of everyday life. Toulouse Lautrec, Cezanne, Gauguin and Seurat explored in very individual ways. Redon and Vuillard took further steps towards fantasy and abstraction. Then, pastel's popularity waned with the rise of lithography. This form of art print retains the textural and linear qualities of drawing and can be reproduced in almost limitless numbers.

Lasts for Centuries

Blackboard chalk is dyed calcium carbonate, a brittle substance far removed from the artist's pastel. Please ingore pastel's fragility in stick form, it rates amongst the most permanent of art media. I have seen 250 year old drawings which retain the fresh brightness of their first day - as the artist intended. This cannot be said for elderly oils whose susceptibilty to cracking and darkening is startlingly revealed with professional cleaning. Pastel persists without blemish, darkening or fading, if reasonably cared for.

Dry Paint

Dubbed Pastello (little paste), pastel originated in Italy in the 18th Century. Rosalba Carriera (1674-1757) a Venetian, was the most renowned exponent. Pastel contains the same pigments as liquid paint, but has fewer additives and binders. Once ground into fine powder, the pure pigment is worked into a paste with water and a little Gum Tragacanth to bind it. It is then rolled or moulded into a stick and left to dry. This process is simple enough for you to make your own pastels at home.

A Feast of Colour

The range of colour in pastel is unsurpassed by any other art medium. This variety is necessary because being dry, colour can only be mixed on the drawing rather than on a palette. Hundreds of variations are produced by each manufacturer ..... I find the choice both tempting and daunting! Tonal value is lightenened by adding talc, clay or gypsum. This creates a softer stick more inclined to rich, dense strokes for a painterly effect. Darks are notoriously difficult to achieve in the softest grade. Black is used in varying proportions to darken tonal value. This generally results in harder sticks which have sharper more linear qualities.

Painting and Drawing In One

Pastel is the drawing medium most closely related to painting. Drawings which have broad areas of solid colour entirely covering the paper are often referred to as pastel paintings. I find pastel combines the versitilty of charcoal with the rich colours of paint. It can be worked in a linear way, or in solid layers of pigment. A large range of sticks and pencils is available in varying softness, size, colour, tone and shape. Pastel can be used on its own or combined with gouache, watercolour, ink and acrylic on paper, canvas or board.

Tooth, Tone and Colour

Papers provide a wide array of choice centred around tooth, tone and colour. I choose a tooth or texture to suit my drawing style. I find my fine details and sharp focus are best achieved on a smoother tooth. Rougher textures break up detail for a more free, emotionally expressive work. I select colour and tone as integral parts of a drawing. They show through the final layer so colour choice is important eg reds and oranges can set an overall warm mood or allow maximum colour contrast when the drawing uses blue and green pastels. Usually I work on darker toned sheets which I find useful for shadows. I then surround these with medium, light and darkest tones to achieve depth and balance.

Hands On

Pastel invites a "hands on" approach literally. Perhaps this is a flashback to happy childhood days, but I find it hard to resist using my hands to rub, smudge and blend these glorious colours. I have found no tools more versitile or flexible than my fingers and palms. The pastel stick istself is a tool - it applies the colour directly and a hard stick can press down previous layers to blend them. Other simple tools include paper stumps, sponges, old brushes and paint shapers. Pastel's ability to achieve seamless graduations of colour and tone is truly remarkable. It's indispensible for clear skies and smooth water, clouds and mist pose few problems. Hatching, stippling, broad strokes, fine strokes and masking are some of the basic techniques. I can extend the colour range further by overlayering, almost like a wash, dragging the pastel stick lightly over another colour, allowing it to flicker through. By juxtaposing separate strokes without blending, I can also enrich my palette. Blue strokes against orange make a vibrant grey not equalled by physically mixing them.

To Fix?

To fix or not to fix is a very personal choice. Fixative is a very weak varnish which is sprayed on work in progress to provide more tooth for following layers of pastel. It's used at the finish to seal the top layers. This comes at a cost as like all varnishes it darkens colour, interfering with the delicate tonal balance of the work. White and light tones disappear. Some artists leave their final stokes unfixed. In time, if fixative has been too heavily used, brittle top layers can shear off exposing the underlayers not meant to be seen.

Pastel Primers

I avoid using fixative by working on primed pastel papers which hold the pastel granules firmly pressed in their pitted surface. Primers can be hand made or commercially produced. They usually consist of a layer of marble dust or pumice powder and acrylic colour. Commercial papers accept about ten layers of colour and allow alteration by simply brushing off or damp sponging unwanted pastel. This restores the fresh work surface. I use Colourfix, an Australian made medium weight (340gsm) hot press watercolour paper screenprinted with coloured pastel primer. It has a colourfast surface textured like emery paper. For more varied surface patterns I paint or sponge primer onto a variety of supports.

Framing

Pastel is easily smudged even when "fixed". I store drawings carefully or preferably have them framed immediately. In framing, the mat serves to separate the drawing from the glass and should be packed with card underneath to increase this space further. This allows for any slight movement of the paper which comes with changes of humidity. Packing also allows odd stray specks to fall behind the mat. This rarely happens as I tap and blow off excess pastel after finishing the work. I have all my work professionally framed. My framers are aware of the vulnerable state of my drawings so they exercise great care in postioning and attatching work to the mat.

Freighting

My framed pastel works have safely travelled thousands of kilometres in cars and buses and half way around the world in planes. I pack them securely in bubble wrap and tightly fitting cartons and label them to ensure the work is placed upright while in transit. A vertical position places less stress on the frame and vibrates less, also stray specks are unlikely to settle on the glass. I avoid using plexiglass and plastics as although they are shatterproof, static charges can build up and pull pastel from the drawing. Some artists have successfully treated plexiglass with anti-static fluid for use during transportation to avoid glass breakage, but I am unwilling to risk it.

Pastel Endures

Pastel is indeed a worthwhile medium highly suited to "Serious Art". Its versatility and vibrance embrace all subjects, styles and ideas. It has an enduring relevance.

Locrian Art PO Lenswood South Australia 5240 Australia

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