What a GREAT video...thanks! As a longtime watercolor painter, I understand "values" and "squinting," however, this was such a clever way to get your 3 values in proper order in the box. Thanks SO much. I just subscribed and hit the bell. By the way, I began dabbling in pastels as a way to rescue a pile of muddy, dreadful watercolors I painted. It was a very good exercise!
Wow Valerie thank you!! And yes, I can certainly see the power of pastels to spice up 'muddy' watercolour paintings!! Hope you are hooked now on soft pastels 😬😊
Thanks, Gail. I sorted a box of pastels in this manner yesterday; I also sorted warm to cool which was helpful. I just discovered your excellent, fun videos.
I never thought of using the white of the labels.... clever. I'm wondering if you could also take a photo of the pastels in the box and turn it into a black and white photo to help place the values.
Jeff, you certainly can use black and white photography to help with values (and maybe I'll do a video on just that!). I also think that learning to see values without tools, by looking and squinting, is a valuable exercise that will serve an artist in the long run. Thanks for commenting :-)
You could also use one of those black/white value cards....that goes from white to black...available from art supply warehouses. I like your idea, too.
Hi Gail, I've been thinking for a while now of re-arranging my pastel drawer into values for precisely the reason you give - to free me up to think about value rather than get too hung up over colour, particularly as I'm trying to move from representational/realistic to a more abstract style. However, I've got hundreds of pastel sticks collected over years (yup, it's a bit obsessional, see what I mean about my overly focussing on colour?), but I still think it worth doing. What do you think, should I attempt to classify them all into just three values, or maybe create a smaller set of sticks and just group those, maybe based on the colours you have in your box?
Thank you, well done. I was wondering if the GA pastels have changed at all. I bought a set maybe 15 years ago and they were almost too soft. Are they still so soft. I lean more toward a Unison pastel usually.
Ok, I had to have a box! Bought a great one that I would like to use inside and outside. Do you mix your hard and soft pastels together? This much needed box is still empty after 4 - 5 months! I've never been scared of a box before 😀but I have to say, this is scary. I use willow charcoal sometimes and use the hard and soft pastels together. Should the most important thing is to have them all in the correct values? Or should I wait And purchase another box? Its getting ridiculous carrying all these bags! Haha, just thought of what my appearance must look like!! Lmbo, old clothes and many bags with tons of children following behind, oh my.
Hah hah Crystal! I rarely use hard pastels so can't answer your question from my own experience but I would say, if you use hard pastels as a first layer, yes keep them separately. Often you can sense a hard pastel when you pick it up but for me, I just wouldn't want them as a possibility. I just want to pick up my soft pastels when I want them and not worry about if I've picked up a hard or soft pastel. Make sense?
So, about organizing: how do you organize the 'big collection' of all these smaller boxes from different manufacturers? About 'hard' pastels, do you keep those separate or put them into the arrangement with the overall collection?
So far, I've kept the colours in their sets and not in a large selection. When I get around to creating a 'big collection' I will incorporate all brands of soft pastels together. Because I rarely use hard pastels, they wouldn't be in the main collection. If I was to have a few sticks, I would probably keep them separate.
Hi Arianna, glad you liked the video. I am not exactly sure what you are asking. Usually box sets come with a range of values from light to dark. Sometimes though, the colours in the values aren't exactly what you might wish eg light values only in yellows but no pale blue for instance. The best thing is to have a close look and be clear on what you want/need. I will start doing some pastel starter box review on my www.howtopastel.com blog. Please ask again if this doesn't answer your question.
To Arianna's question, I do recall seeing a special box of just darks, possibly in Great American though I'm unsure of the brand. I think they did that because pastellists often complain there aren't enough really dark darks available.
I know that you asked this 4 years ago, but I wanted to say that I have bought soft pastels by the box in all light or all dark values. I can't remember which brand....maybe Unison or Great American. I'm pretty sure they are sold this way(plus you can buy individual sticks in the colors/values you need).
@@evapita7246 that’s great Eva! It’s the length of the pastel that necessitates breaking them - so you can more easily use the side of the pastel as well as the tip 😁
There is even a researcher out there who is willing to do it for free. He released his first paper in June 2015, detailing Rembrandt pastels, and he is begging artists and manufacturers to send him other samples (swatches) for analysis. The information (if any) on pastels is junk like "PR101". Has anyone been the wiser after seeing PR101on the label?
+bugisami Thanks for this info. I think knowing the pigments used in artists' colours is a good thing. I agree many people wouldn't know that R101 is red iron oxide but if you want to find out what pigment is used, this gives you the info. By the way, what would Munsell specs look like?
I like this idea but sometimes certain pastels are darker on the paper than they look in the box. Sorting pastels is always a challenge for me to keep them sorted.
Lynn Brown Lynn you are so right. You might want to check out this other video about sorting the box (this was one of my first videos!). It takes more time than the process you watched in this video but may help. ua-cam.com/video/v8lL8OE8qZI/v-deo.html
+Mark Sanders You can certainly do that Mark. I like to think though of training my eye to 'see' the value in a colour and not be distracted buy things like colour saturation and brightness. I think seeing and understanding values is one of the most difficult things to learn to do in painting and so it requires working at it all the time. I want to be able to pick up a pastel and know that it's the correct value rather than being dependent on my camera. Does that make sense?
Gail! You are a fun artist! I am getting back into pastels, after 34 years, and have been taking Ebay for all it's worth! I have been buying my Rembrandt and Grumbacher by the pound. Now I have a ton of colors, and need to know how to organize them for my Man Cave and painting area. Thank you for the organization video! I will peek at your Sorting the Box video so as to see what you have up your sleeve with pastels! Thanks! Any suggestions will be gratefully accepted! I see all these artists with their Half ton of colors from white to black and Red to Violet, and I get completely stymied with all their shades and tints and variations to the same! Help! There are as many sorting boxes as there are color variations, if you get my drift! I would like to show you my last couple pieces...Do you have an email site I can share with you, for your opinion and critique?
Hey digiphot2, thanks so much!! The main thing to do with all your pastels is to squint and sort them into values, then into colour families. It's so easy to collect a whole heap of pastels...I mean, who can resist?? But if you've watched my demo videos, you can see that I encourage beginning with a limited palette. Even when you have a whole heap of pastels, it's good to work on a piece with a selected number of pastels. You can contact me through my website www.howtopastel.com. Oh and don't panic, breeeeaaaathe!
I have over 400 colors! maybe closer to 600...Now what do I do? I have sooo...many that almost look alike, and some are shades or tints??? Why I might even have tones....Oooooh! That's scary too! Ha Ha! Now I went on Google and typed in Pastel boxes, and see artists with over 3,000 sticks of various brands and hardnesses...And each trough goes from white to pure HUE! Is that a good way to organize, or do you have a video showing a gynormous set of valued pastels? HELP! My man cave is almost ready for the mad artist to launch into a chronic painting adventure! And besides that...I just love the way you bounce into the frame! It is just tooooo cute!
One more question! I have seen a tonal organization from bright to dark just like a gray scale from white to black....And each color represents a value of gray, going from light to dark...HELP! Is this another artist theory for painting???And am I gonna catch heat from some O.C. purist that thinks that a yellow isn't supposed to border a blue, or sienna?? Am I making any sense here? HELP! Summore! Ha Ha!
jadeoneone Is your question why sort into Values? If it is, I think the video will explain it. Simply, it makes life in the pastelling world simpler :-)
What a GREAT video...thanks! As a longtime watercolor painter, I understand "values" and "squinting," however, this was such a clever way to get your 3 values in proper order in the box. Thanks SO much. I just subscribed and hit the bell. By the way, I began dabbling in pastels as a way to rescue a pile of muddy, dreadful watercolors I painted. It was a very good exercise!
Wow Valerie thank you!!
And yes, I can certainly see the power of pastels to spice up 'muddy' watercolour paintings!!
Hope you are hooked now on soft pastels 😬😊
I like this method of squinting and you picked out the same ones I did
Squinting is an amazing tool! Glad we picked out the same pastels :-)
Thanks, Gail. I sorted a box of pastels in this manner yesterday; I also sorted warm to cool which was helpful. I just discovered your excellent, fun videos.
That's great Deborah! Good idea about the warm cool sorting too. Glad you are enjoying my videos :-)
What a great and clever way to work out the values. :-)
Hah! Glad you think so. And so I hope you will go ahead and sort yours 😬
I never thought of using the white of the labels.... clever. I'm wondering if you could also take a photo of the pastels in the box and turn it into a black and white photo to help place the values.
Jeff, you certainly can use black and white photography to help with values (and maybe I'll do a video on just that!). I also think that learning to see values without tools, by looking and squinting, is a valuable exercise that will serve an artist in the long run. Thanks for commenting :-)
You could also use one of those black/white value cards....that goes from white to black...available from art supply warehouses. I like your idea, too.
Hi Gail, I've been thinking for a while now of re-arranging my pastel drawer into values for precisely the reason you give - to free me up to think about value rather than get too hung up over colour, particularly as I'm trying to move from representational/realistic to a more abstract style. However, I've got hundreds of pastel sticks collected over years (yup, it's a bit obsessional, see what I mean about my overly focussing on colour?), but I still think it worth doing. What do you think, should I attempt to classify them all into just three values, or maybe create a smaller set of sticks and just group those, maybe based on the colours you have in your box?
Thank you your very helpful information given in such a friendly manner.
Glad you found it helpful J!
Always fun and informative.
Anoop Goyal Thank you!!
Thank you, well done. I was wondering if the GA pastels have changed at all. I bought a set maybe 15 years ago and they were almost too soft. Are they still so soft. I lean more toward a Unison pastel usually.
Thanks Anita. I would say the GA pastels are still very soft. I put them in the same category as Schminke.
Ok, I had to have a box! Bought a great one that I would like to use inside and outside. Do you mix your hard and soft pastels together? This much needed box is still empty after 4 - 5 months! I've never been scared of a box before 😀but I have to say, this is scary. I use willow charcoal sometimes and use the hard and soft pastels together. Should the most important thing is to have them all in the correct values? Or should I wait And purchase another box? Its getting ridiculous carrying all these bags! Haha, just thought of what my appearance must look like!! Lmbo, old clothes and many bags with tons of children following behind, oh my.
Hah hah Crystal! I rarely use hard pastels so can't answer your question from my own experience but I would say, if you use hard pastels as a first layer, yes keep them separately. Often you can sense a hard pastel when you pick it up but for me, I just wouldn't want them as a possibility. I just want to pick up my soft pastels when I want them and not worry about if I've picked up a hard or soft pastel. Make sense?
@@GailSibleyArtist understood completely, yes! Thank you! Hopefully one day I won't be so heavy handed.
So, about organizing: how do you organize the 'big collection' of all these smaller boxes from different manufacturers? About 'hard' pastels, do you keep those separate or put them into the arrangement with the overall collection?
So far, I've kept the colours in their sets and not in a large selection. When I get around to creating a 'big collection' I will incorporate all brands of soft pastels together. Because I rarely use hard pastels, they wouldn't be in the main collection. If I was to have a few sticks, I would probably keep them separate.
Hi gail , enjoy your video , also would like to go to Salt Spring Island , some dark chocolate and some Scotch !
:-)) Salt Spring was wonderful as was the Scotch (Cardhu) and dark chocolate!
Great idea
Glad you think so :-)
Hi Gail!
I enjoyed the video very much!
Wondering if pastels boxes already come only on light values, med. values and dark. Rhank you
Hi Arianna, glad you liked the video. I am not exactly sure what you are asking. Usually box sets come with a range of values from light to dark. Sometimes though, the colours in the values aren't exactly what you might wish eg light values only in yellows but no pale blue for instance. The best thing is to have a close look and be clear on what you want/need. I will start doing some pastel starter box review on my www.howtopastel.com blog. Please ask again if this doesn't answer your question.
To Arianna's question, I do recall seeing a special box of just darks, possibly in Great American though I'm unsure of the brand. I think they did that because pastellists often complain there aren't enough really dark darks available.
I know that you asked this 4 years ago, but I wanted to say that I have bought soft pastels by the box in all light or all dark values. I can't remember which brand....maybe Unison or Great American. I'm pretty sure they are sold this way(plus you can buy individual sticks in the colors/values you need).
Thank you.
You are welcome Michele! I do hope you sort your pastels into values. It's soooo helpful when you come to use them in a piece!
I like to take a black white Photo of the box but I don’t have enough expiriment
Im new to pastels ..so any tips are welcome...My new Senielle pastels hasnt got paper around them so cant do exactly what this video shows ?!
+Denise Shaw Hope we've got a new pastel convert :-) As to the pastels without paper, just use a white sheet of paper as a comparison.
Thanks Gail..Im loving pastels !!!!
My pastels are square shaped so i can use them to drawing and painting without having them brokken
@@evapita7246 that’s great Eva! It’s the length of the pastel that necessitates breaking them - so you can more easily use the side of the pastel as well as the tip 😁
Why don't manufacturers print Munsell specifications on pastels?
There is even a researcher out there who is willing to do it for free. He released his first paper in June 2015, detailing Rembrandt pastels, and he is begging artists and manufacturers to send him other samples (swatches) for analysis. The information (if any) on pastels is junk like "PR101". Has anyone been the wiser after seeing PR101on the label?
+bugisami Thanks for this info. I think knowing the pigments used in artists' colours is a good thing. I agree many people wouldn't know that R101 is red iron oxide but if you want to find out what pigment is used, this gives you the info. By the way, what would Munsell specs look like?
bugisami awesome sauce!
I like this idea but sometimes certain pastels are darker on the paper than they look in the box. Sorting pastels is always a challenge for me to keep them sorted.
Lynn Brown Lynn you are so right.
You might want to check out this other video about sorting the box (this was one of my first videos!). It takes more time than the process you watched in this video but may help. ua-cam.com/video/v8lL8OE8qZI/v-deo.html
Gail Sibley w
Why can't photograph the pastels then convert it to black and white?
+Mark Sanders You can certainly do that Mark. I like to think though of training my eye to 'see' the value in a colour and not be distracted buy things like colour saturation and brightness. I think seeing and understanding values is one of the most difficult things to learn to do in painting and so it requires working at it all the time. I want to be able to pick up a pastel and know that it's the correct value rather than being dependent on my camera. Does that make sense?
No need to take a photo, You can also use the smartphone camera, with BW filter, to look at the colors as you rearrange according to value.
Gail! You are a fun artist! I am getting back into pastels, after 34 years, and have been taking Ebay for all it's worth! I have been buying my Rembrandt and Grumbacher by the pound. Now I have a ton of colors, and need to know how to organize them for my Man Cave and painting area. Thank you for the organization video! I will peek at your Sorting the Box video so as to see what you have up your sleeve with pastels! Thanks! Any suggestions will be gratefully accepted! I see all these artists with their Half ton of colors from white to black and Red to Violet, and I get completely stymied with all their shades and tints and variations to the same! Help! There are as many sorting boxes as there are color variations, if you get my drift! I would like to show you my last couple pieces...Do you have an email site I can share with you, for your opinion and critique?
Hey digiphot2, thanks so much!! The main thing to do with all your pastels is to squint and sort them into values, then into colour families. It's so easy to collect a whole heap of pastels...I mean, who can resist?? But if you've watched my demo videos, you can see that I encourage beginning with a limited palette. Even when you have a whole heap of pastels, it's good to work on a piece with a selected number of pastels. You can contact me through my website www.howtopastel.com. Oh and don't panic, breeeeaaaathe!
I have over 400 colors! maybe closer to 600...Now what do I do? I have sooo...many that almost look alike, and some are shades or tints??? Why I might even have tones....Oooooh! That's scary too! Ha Ha! Now I went on Google and typed in Pastel boxes, and see artists with over 3,000 sticks of various brands and hardnesses...And each trough goes from white to pure HUE! Is that a good way to organize, or do you have a video showing a gynormous set of valued pastels? HELP! My man cave is almost ready for the mad artist to launch into a chronic painting adventure! And besides that...I just love the way you bounce into the frame! It is just tooooo cute!
digiphot2 It really is a great idea to sort your pastels into values. Just start with a few and then work on them slowly. 400 is a lot of colours :-)
One more question! I have seen a tonal organization from bright to dark just like a gray scale from white to black....And each color represents a value of gray, going from light to dark...HELP! Is this another artist theory for painting???And am I gonna catch heat from some O.C. purist that thinks that a yellow isn't supposed to border a blue, or sienna?? Am I making any sense here? HELP! Summore! Ha Ha!
WHYYYYYYYYY????????
jadeoneone Is your question why sort into Values? If it is, I think the video will explain it. Simply, it makes life in the pastelling world simpler :-)