'Sing Out Loud' 8x8 pastel ©Karen Margulis $75 buy here |
Painting with the dust of a pastel!
'Hunker Down' 6x6 pastel $55 Buy Here |
- I used Canson Mi-Teintes paper since I would be blending and wanted a non sanded surface. I tried the bumpy side to introduce some texture. I used a brown paper because that's what I had!
- For my pastels I used my 'Box of Bits' the little pieces of leftover or broken bits of pastels that I saved for something. Now I have something to use them for.
- I didn't shave pastels to get my dust although you could, instead I crushed the little pieces to make piles of pastel powder. I put the piles of powder into a foam meat tray.
- For the top bird I crushed the pastel into my palm but found I had to clean my hand in between every color change. I preferred preparing the piles of color in advance.
- I painted by dipping my thumb or forefinger into the pastel and smearing it on the paper. I used my finger like a brush. It was like finger painting with pastel dust!
- I found that each pastel type made different marks. I loved the effect of the softer buttery pastels such as Great Americans. If there with small uncrushed bits, they made nice juicy marks.
- I did take a pastel pencil at the end to draw in a few details/lines but other than that it was all finger painting.
- For the chickadee in the snow I dusted (shaved) pastel and pressed it into the painting with a palette knife.
DISCLAIMER: I did not use gloves. I used some hand barrier cream. I don't think I would use this technique exclusively unless I wore gloves but used sparingly I would definitely try to incorporate it into a painting. It was a lot of fun and it really got me up close and personal with my subject! It's just another tool for my toolbox!
1 comment:
This sounds like a fun technique.
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