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Introduction to Soft Pastels, with Rebecca de Mendonça
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Getting Started
Why use pastels? -
Is it drawing or painting?
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What is pastel?
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How many pastels do I need?
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What surface should I work on?
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Your WorkspaceYour Workspace
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Is it very dusty?
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Protecting and storing your work
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Cleaning your pastels
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Making Marks and Getting InspiredLimbering up
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Broad energetic strokes
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Smudging and Softening
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Hatching
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Twisting and turning
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Combining techniques
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To FinishAbout Rebecca
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Download the PDF
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Get more from the Pastel Academy
Lesson 4 of 18
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How many pastels do I need?
Using pastels is a bit different here to paints; although you can mix them, you need more than 3 primary colours. A mixed set of 30 half sticks is probably enough to get started with. You do not need the whole range, although that would be lovely!
Don’t be fooled into buying a set of cheap, ‘student quality’ pastels to get started, as they will not be made using pure pigments. They will not be light fast, and you won’t have a good range of colours and tones. You get what you pay for with art materials.