Soft pastels

A soft pastel is a combination of pure pigment powder blended with a binder, which is then shaped into sticks or blocks. The most common mistake is to confuse soft pastels with oil pastels. Soft pastels and oil pastels do not play well together so don’t get the two mixed up. Soft pastel is also not to be confused with chalk (although just to confuse the issue, cheaper pastels may have chalk in them). Chalk is for pavement art, hop scotch and school teachers.

Over the years I have tried many different brands of pastel, but the ones I keep coming back to and now use almost exclusively in my work are by Unison. These fantastic pastels are hand made in Northumberland and provide me with the consistency that I need for my work, both in terms of colour and texture. That said, everyone has their personal preferences when it comes to the pastels they use so if you’re new to the medium, I recommend choosing three or four of your favourite colours then buying one of each colour from a selection of different brands to see which you prefer.

Buy the best pastels you can afford rather than just settling for the cheapest. Pastels at the cheaper end of the scale tend to contain less pigment and very often contain a high amount of chalk in them to bulk them out. The main problems this presents are that the colours aren’t as vibrant once applied, they don’t adhere to the paper as well so you will find it more difficult, if not impossible, to build up layers of colours. Also, cheaper pastels are more prone to crumbling and breaking and create more dust, which is something you want to minimise as much as possible.

Your surface

The best way to tip the odds in your favour when it comes to this wonderful medium is to use a quality paper manufactured specifically for the medium. I have tried all types of paper with pastel and although I produced some nice paintings during these experiments, I also quickly learned the limitations of n