Despite painting extensively in oils I do find myself returning to pastels time and again. Recently, before running a pastel day workshop I asked myself why I enjoyed the medium so much. I wrote down ‘It is not that I favour pastels above all other media but that they allow me to express my emotions, energies, inspirations, enthusiasms and excitement for mark making in a way that no other medium does.’ Oh, and I have also learned more about colour by using pastels than from anything else. Pretty good reasons, I think, to keep coming back to them.
Speed of mark making
For me, pastels are ideally suited for wildlife subject matter, although I don’t use them in a fur-and-feather way. It is the speed with which you can get an impression down and the facility of bold gestural marks that excites, in addition to the range of pure bright colours and textural possibilities. I can explore a composition quickly and easily, make changes without difficulty and generally push my artistic senses around in a spontaneous, intuitive, fun way. So what’s not to like? Well, there’s the dust, the dust and the dust. Minor quibbles, I find!