Personal Favourites
I have more pastels than I know what do with these days, but there are a few colours
that I would not be without. I am predominantly a landscape artist, so my choice of
colours might be different from those of an artist who has prefers another subject
matter, or who lives in a different area.» CAPUT MORTUUM a lovely greyed pink. I particularly like the paler tints.
Wonderful for many things but especially great for toning down overly bright
greens to send them onto the background.
» RAW UMBER, all shades. A very versatile colour. The lighter tints are great for
dry grass, while I use darker shades for some trees, particularly eucalypts. The
lightest tint works well in clouds or on the horizon.
» BURNT UMBER. I like the darkest tone as it is a good dark brown, Rembrandt’s
darkest is great. I like the lighter tints for many things as it is a little less pink than
burnt sienna. This lends itself to sand or bare earth and reflected light on tree trunks.
» JACARANDA. My signature colour and a blue violet or a violet blue. I can find a
million places to put it, from shadows to oceans.
» BLUE GREY in all its shades is great for clouds, distant mountains and good for
toning down things in the distance.
» COLOURED GREYS. Any really, are great for shadows, clouds and a whole lot
more, Mars violet, violet grey, reddish grey, brownish grey, green grey... they
have lots of different names. Get yourself some.
» GOOD DARKS. I don’t use black because it is too stark. It is even blacker than black
paper. Instead I use some of the excellent glowing darks available. Art Spectrum
Flinders Blue Violet is great in moderation, Mount Vision have my favourite very
dark greens, and the darkest ultramarine blue is also a good choice.
» BLUES. I love blue and prefer the warmer more purple blues but I like a mix of
phthalo blue and Jacaranda for skies and Girault cobalt. I also love ultramarine.
» GREENS, as previously mentioned Mount Vision “700” a great, really dark green.
Art Spectrum Australian Leaf Green Light and Dark and Greenish Umber. Rembrandt
Cinnabar Green Light and Olive Green. So many greens, never the right one!
» EARTH TONES, you can’t go past a good raw sienna in all its shades. I love
Rembrandt Light Orange, the darkest shade and any gold ochre or yellow ochres,
» LEMON YELLOW. I love a dash of acid green for that touch of sunlight,
Rembrandt 236.3 is a good one.
» AUSTRALIAN GREY. I almost never use white as it is a nothing colour, instead
I use Art Spectrum’s Australian Grey, which is a lovely warm pinkish grey great in
clouds or anywhere you would use white.(^126126) http://www.InternationalArtist.com
Sunset From My Front Gate, pastel on Elephant Colourfix paper, 61½ x 21 cm (24 x 8")
You will often need a dark, mid-tone and light of each individual colour.
There are varying degrees of softness among soft pastels. Some are on the harder
end of the spectrum and others very soft. I don’t profess to have tried every brand,
but I have used many. I have favourite brands, colours and degrees of softness. I
prefer those pastels at the harder end of the soft pastel spectrum. I like to be able to
use lots of layers, and I find the harder pastels give me the ability to do this.
I find that very soft pastels fill up the tooth of the paper quickly, and this doesn’t
give me the texture I am wanting to achieve. This reflects the characteristics of my
work. I know other artists who prefer the very soft end of the ranges because this
better suits their painting style.