Painting with Diane Townsend Pure Colors

'Ode to Sunshine'             8x10          pastel        ©Karen Margulis     sold

Ahhhh New Pastels! Now that I finally got them organized and ready to use I can actually paint with them.  I decided to try a painting with the new set of Diane Townsend pastels.  I chose the soft form set of 120 pure colors.  I love these pastels.  They are a good size and I don't need to break them. They just work well with my style.  They have a bit of pumice in them which is supposed to open up the paper to accept the pastel.  This isn't  really needed on sanded paper though I love using them on any kind of paper.

I decided to put them to the test on some Canson Mi-teintes paper. This paper has a rough side and a smooth side. I prefer the smooth most of the time. (the rough has a honey-comb like surface that I sometimes like)  The paper doesn't really have much tooth so the pumice might really make a difference.

Did it?  I would say yes!!  I got quite a few layers on this piece of Canson.

Block-in on Blue Canson paper

Block-in softened with a paper towel

I started with a layer of color all over the blue paper. This was my block-in.  I then took a Viva paper towel and wiped it so that I was left with a ghost image of my flowers. I then proceeded to paint starting with darks and getting brighter and brighter. I never lost the tooth and lost count of the layers I got.  Not to mention the wonderful rich vibrant color in these pastels. I am very happy I decided to add them to my collection!

My new set of 120 Pure Colors by Diane Townsend