A Good Reason to Have some Pastel Pencils

'Silver Ribbons'          12x18           pastel           ©Karen Margulis
available $175

I have a basketful of pastel pencils. I never use them. I used to pull them out because I thought I needed them to paint detail and fine lines. I wondered how on earth I would be able to paint small detail with the fat clunky pastel sticks?!  But as time went on and I had quite a few paintings under my belt I slowly developed a better handling of those fat sticks. I refined my control and I was able to make the most delicate mark with the latest softest stick in my box! What freedom! I didn't need the pastel pencils anymore. The pastel pencils made me color things in instead of painting them.

The other day I was cleaning the studio when I came across a small set of pastel pencils that I had won. They were unopened and looked so enticing and sharp! Maybe I did need them after all?
And they would be perfect for the painting that was up on my easel.

a small set of pastel pencils comes in handy

I discovered that the pastel pencils were perfect for creating the finer grass marks in my marsh painting. Now that I knew how to paint grass with fat pastel sticks I could transfer that same sensibility to the pencils. Now I wasn't coloring but I was painting and making loose and dancing broken lines. I will keep the pencils handy from now on for grasses and stems. I just need to remember NOT to make thick solid lines but let the pencil dance just as if it were a fat pastel!