PASTELS
SOFT PASTEL IS MY MAIN MEDIUM - HERE'S A BIT ABOUT IT
Soft pastel is a beautifully rich medium to use.
It's a bit like chalk and most commonly comes in sticks of pure pigment mixed with a binder to form the stick shape.
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The pastels I use the most are Unison Colour pastels. These sticks are very lightfast, meaning the pigment will fade very little over time.
Depending on the project, I'll sometimes use PanPastel. These are almost like makeup cakes - pigment is applied using small sponges directly to the paper. I mostly use these as base layers.
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For the finest details I'll use hand-sharpened pastel pencils. These are a harder material but really allow for sharp, crisp marks to be made on the page.
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By layering these pigments, darkest to lightest, on a page, blending with paper stumps, sponges and fingertips, different textures and colours can be created in pictures.
I use two main surfaces to complete work - Pastelmat (pictured above) and Hahnemule Velour. Velour is a much softer surface and the paper requires me to back it on to board to use. It's great for work on a larger scale and allows for a lovely depth to be built up in the colours. Pastelmat is perfect where crisp detail is needed - it is a smooth but sandy surface made using cellulose fibres.
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Here's examples of work on Pastelmat (first image) vs Velour (second image).
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All commissions are completed using Pastelmat unless otherwise discussed.
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Framing
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Pastel is a really delicate medium and must be framed for best preservation. I supply a 'caring for your portrait' leaflet with every order, and am happy to advise on framing at any time. Please note I cannot offer framing myself as framing is a personal choice at varying price points, and I am unable to ship frames (glass can break in transit!).
If professional framing (which I highly recommend) isn't for you, always frame a picture using two mounts (the one behind having a slightly bigger aperture) so that the pastel isn't pressing onto the frame glass and any loose pastel dust (which is normal) can fall into the gap between the mounts.