Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

84 Artists & Illustrators

DETAIL

Sometimes people’s perception of pastels is that they

are a rather blunt instrument, and it must be hard to

get a sharp edge or fine line. It isn’t. By breaking a stick

in two, you get a very sharp edge – or you can use a

harder Conte stick that enables you to achieve very fine

lines, as well as being a useful blending tool for

drawing layers of pastel across each other. I tend to

work big, which makes it easier to incorporate detail.

Smaller works can take me as long as larger pieces,

and I purposefully move from one scale to another to

force myself to try new things. The change dictates that

you alter and adapt, as a technique that may work on a

small painting can be lost on a larger piece.

SMUDGING

Pastels lend themselves to smudging. Where florals

are concerned, I sometimes smudge in the

knowledge that the effect is two-fold. First, it blends

colour. Second, it reduces vibrancy – the surface

becomes flatter and loses some of its sparkle. This

has its uses, particularly in shaded areas or

backgrounds where you want things to be

understated. Tender is the Light (above) shows

blending and smudging in the background and on the

petals to help the flowers recede. But smudging all

over can make a work look flat, so restrict its use.

LUMINOSITY

Getting life into a floral painting using pastels – or,

indeed, any painting – is primarily down to tonal

values, but also palette, the surface you work on and

composition. I feel luminosity is pastels’ best quality

and it is most easily achieved by using good-quality

products with a high pigment ratio. There are many

surfaces you can use, but I prefer the sandpapers,

especially for flowers. When I want to work larger I

use hardboard with Colorfix primers as a base

because it converts most surfaces into one suitable

for working in pastels.

THIS SUBJECT AND MEDIUM MAKE AN IDEAL

COMBINATION SAYS TUTOR NEL WHATMORE.

SHE SHARES HER SECRETS TO SUCCESS

IN DEPTH

STEPS TO

PERFECT

FLORAL PASTELS

ISTOCK

84 Nell Whatmore -Pastels.indd 84 06/04/2017 12:54