Painting with White Pastels: A Tip for Success

'Winter Creek'           8x10              pastel            ©Karen Margulis

Since we are talking about painting white I thought you might enjoy this tip and post from the archives:

White reflects color and white pastels attract color. It is inevitable. If you store your white or very light pastels in the same box as other colors they will quickly get dirty. They get dusty and rub against other colors and soon they are no longer recognizable as a nice bright light pastel.

No more dirty whites thanks to a blog reader and facebook friend. After reading yesterday's post on my favorite white pastels, Joanne Willoughby shared her tip with me.  Joanne keeps all of her very light, almost white pastels in a separate box. They stay clean and it is easy to find the right light when you can actually see them. She adds that it is also easier to see the subtle difference in the color of the lights when they are together and next to each other. Brilliant!  Thanks Joanne!  I pulled my light pastels and put them in a spare box. (still need to clean them though!)

My new box of lights...a mix of Ludwigs and Townsends

You can take this tip a step further and make a chart of your lights. I am usually happy to order open stock and take my chances with the colors I get. Sometimes it is nice to know the brand and color number or name so having a chart can come in handy.

Today's painting is a winter landscape on Uart paper. My goal was to show the colors present in the now and cold water!