I have recently purchased this box from Jackson’s (the smaller of two sizes for $36 U.S. best box for pastels storage and transporting and in studio. They do not move when transporting, very safe and secure. Locks on box very sturdy.
Kate, Thank you for this wonderful and informative video! Have you had a chance to try out the Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, and if so, do you like it? I'm an oil painter, but lately I've been dabbling in pastel! :)
Kate, I'd like to take you up on your offer regarding supply questions. I just bought my first sanded paper today. It's a 22"x30" sheet of Mi-Teintes Touch. I want to cut or tear it into smaller pieces for practice, but I'm hesitant because of the courseness and weight. Do you have any experience to tell me if I can crease it by folding and slice it with a knife, fold and re-fold back and forth to tear, or perhaps use a straight edge and score it. I just don't want to butcher it with a pair of scissors, & I don't have access to a large paper cutter. Thank you for your consideration. PS I've been into watercolors for a while, but I remembered your site and look forward to catching up on your recent work. Take care ... with blessings.
Hello Rosa! thank you for your question :) I myself cut the paper with a craft knife or with scissors. also, when you do buy it, you can ask if the shop provides the cutting services as well and if they could cut it for you. as pastels need to be framed behind a matt, the edge can be as ugly as it gets, as long as you have the surface of the artwork itself unruined. about touch paper, it is quite thick so I think that creasing it/tearing will not work very well. I would go with scissors myself here
Have you ever tried to make your own sanded surface with Pastel Grounds? Ive just ordered some on the internet to try out but im not sure which paper would be best to apply it on. Maybe in regular mi-teintes? Or in cold pressed watercolor paper? Idk. Thanks
hello! I did not try the grounds myself as I prefer paper to be ready. but you can definitely apply it to watercolor paper or canvas. I would not apply it to miteintes as it's good as it is :) do let me know how it goes with the ground
Kate, Thank you so much. I'm just beginning, and you addressed so many variables. I looked up A3 - that was a math lesson in proportions! It was great that you included the brand names in your summary notes, because unfamiliar names are difficult to comprehend aurally. You mentioned Inscribe pastels, which Google said was the best seller in the U.K. at $33 for 64 half-size. I'm in the US and never heard of them; is there a draw back? How do they compare to Rembrandt's? Also, would you say a word about the use and/or necessity of fixatives? In spite of my numerous questions, I did learn a lot. Nice job! Thanks for sharing.
This video is awesome and very helpful. Thanks a bunch for posting it!! I'm currently working on a soft pastel picture and struggling with a few things. One is that I'm struggling to add fine detail over my blocked in colors. My soft patel sticks are either too thick /soft (my slightly harder ones are cheap and don't layer very brightly) and the pastel pencils I bought (Generals) also don't layer very brightly. Perhaps the answer is that I need to invest more money in better supplies. I thought that the General chalk pastel pencils would be decent though. My other problem is that the dog nose a drew filled the paper up and now I can't add more layers. Even adding a spray fixative didn't seem to help. Is there anything you can do at that point or just accept it as is or start over? Lol. I am using Strathmore charcoal paper so I might try something grittier next. Your work from what I've seen so far is amazing. I'm going to watch more of your videos!! Thanks for uploading such great content! :)
Mandie Halderman hi I’m battling with the same problems! I’m waiting on some good quality pastel sanded paper, and from my research I believe you have to have the harder pastels underneath, and the softer ones on the surface. Otherwise, the soft ones fill up the tooth too quickly. Also you have to have paper with good tooth, eg Canson, uart, pastelmat. I’m considering buying Nupastel or Rembrandt for the harder pastels, and Sennelier or Unison for the softer ones. It’s a fascinating journey isn’t it? And a rather expensive one too! Best of luck to you :)
@@1DaTJo Yes... Since writing this I've learned that it's all about the paper. Lol. I bought some unisisons, Rembrandts, and jack richeson handrolled to try out. They're all very nice. I think next I'll buy the emma colbert unison pack. :) I can't wait! I joined a group on Facebook called pastel art. It's awesome.. I recommend it! Thanks for the comment. :)
Mandie Halderman Hi Mandie, wow you really lashed out and got the good stuff! Good on you! Those brands sound like a great collection. Do you have them yet or are they from online? There’s no art supply shop in my town which is very frustrating - I may have to move back to the city just to be near the good art supplies. What paper are you using? I had no idea a few months ago that I wouldn’t even blink at spending hundreds of dollars on pastels. Loll What a beautiful art form! Thanks for the Facebook suggestion. I’ll probably see you there! :)
Wonderful video, I am still trying to organize my pastels I just got a Guerrilla Painter box but I did not buy the plastic inserts and I altered it to work more like your box from Jacksons! It was not an easy Mod! I am also curious about fixatives and matting your pictures with the "hidden" matte space for debris to fall within a framed picture, have you used this before? What do you think? Thanks for all of your wonderful content!
Thank you! :) I rarely use fixatives, mostly because it alters the colors and it does not prevent the pastels from smudging completely. But about the double matte, I have seen other artists do that, all you need is two matts, one smaller than the other but both larger than the picture. You place the smaller one behind the larger one and place both on the artwork, so that if the pastel crumbles the dust will fall behind the mat.
you should have the right the contact sennilier and ask for replacements. they're an artist quality company, they owe you this much with how much customers spend for quality.
I think (and this is just my subjective thinking) that everything depends on 1)pastel softness, extra soft ones fill any tooth very fast 2)pressure of the every articular artist's hand. Thus, it's very difficult to say if it's the paper or any of the two parameters mentioned above at play :)
yes, that is true but I find that I never need to erase on pastelmat as you can always layer more over the layer you want to correct :) you can also wash it down with water to get a second chance at a sheet you think is ruined
Please be careful with the pastels from Sennelier, there are some colours that contain cobalt and manganese and better not to come into contact with the skin and the dust should not be inhaled. I bought is Paris set myself once and because in the description of the Sennelier pastels in contrast to those of other manufacturers did not say that the pastels are heavy metal free. I didn't try to find out which pastels contain the heavy metal. I don't use them until I had found a flyer of the pastels in an art shop and that describe which pigments are used in which pastels. Then I marked the places of the toxic pastels with label paper and use them with gloves or foil around them.
That bottle of liquid is amazing. I want to paint it right now. Thanks for sharing your space. Get super inspired by art spaces.
I learned more from this than I have watching all the other pastel artists combined! Thank you! 💖
Thank you so much, Aurora! :)
Jekarerina, you can lightly rub the rough spots on your Paris Sennelier pastels on 220 grit piece of sandpaper. Works great!
Thank you. How do you sharpen pencils and pastels? Thank you!
I have recently purchased this box from Jackson’s (the smaller of two sizes for $36 U.S. best box for pastels storage and transporting and in studio. They do not move when transporting, very safe and secure. Locks on box very sturdy.
Kate, Thank you for this wonderful and informative video! Have you had a chance to try out the Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, and if so, do you like it? I'm an oil painter, but lately I've been dabbling in pastel! :)
Kate, I'd like to take you up on your offer regarding supply questions. I just bought my first sanded paper today. It's a 22"x30" sheet of Mi-Teintes Touch. I want to cut or tear it into smaller pieces for practice, but I'm hesitant because of the courseness and weight. Do you have any experience to tell me if I can crease it by folding and slice it with a knife, fold and re-fold back and forth to tear, or perhaps use a straight edge and score it. I just don't want to butcher it with a pair of scissors, & I don't have access to a large paper cutter. Thank you for your consideration. PS I've been into watercolors for a while, but I remembered your site and look forward to catching up on your recent work. Take care ... with blessings.
Hello Rosa! thank you for your question :) I myself cut the paper with a craft knife or with scissors. also, when you do buy it, you can ask if the shop provides the cutting services as well and if they could cut it for you. as pastels need to be framed behind a matt, the edge can be as ugly as it gets, as long as you have the surface of the artwork itself unruined. about touch paper, it is quite thick so I think that creasing it/tearing will not work very well. I would go with scissors myself here
How do you fix them?
Thanks for sharing, my question is do you mix them all together in one painting?
Have you ever tried to make your own sanded surface with Pastel Grounds? Ive just ordered some on the internet to try out but im not sure which paper would be best to apply it on. Maybe in regular mi-teintes? Or in cold pressed watercolor paper? Idk. Thanks
hello! I did not try the grounds myself as I prefer paper to be ready. but you can definitely apply it to watercolor paper or canvas. I would not apply it to miteintes as it's good as it is :) do let me know how it goes with the ground
Kate, Thank you so much. I'm just beginning, and you addressed so many variables. I looked up A3 - that was a math lesson in proportions! It was great that you included the brand names in your summary notes, because unfamiliar names are difficult to comprehend aurally. You mentioned Inscribe pastels, which Google said was the best seller in the U.K. at $33 for 64 half-size. I'm in the US and never heard of them; is there a draw back? How do they compare to Rembrandt's? Also, would you say a word about the use and/or necessity of fixatives? In spite of my numerous questions, I did learn a lot. Nice job! Thanks for sharing.
Inscribe is Mungyo rebranded, they have the same packaging
This video is awesome and very helpful. Thanks a bunch for posting it!!
I'm currently working on a soft pastel picture and struggling with a few things. One is that I'm struggling to add fine detail over my blocked in colors. My soft patel sticks are either too thick /soft (my slightly harder ones are cheap and don't layer very brightly) and the pastel pencils I bought (Generals) also don't layer very brightly. Perhaps the answer is that I need to invest more money in better supplies. I thought that the General chalk pastel pencils would be decent though. My other problem is that the dog nose a drew filled the paper up and now I can't add more layers. Even adding a spray fixative didn't seem to help. Is there anything you can do at that point or just accept it as is or start over? Lol. I am using Strathmore charcoal paper so I might try something grittier next.
Your work from what I've seen so far is amazing. I'm going to watch more of your videos!! Thanks for uploading such great content! :)
Mandie Halderman hi I’m battling with the same problems! I’m waiting on some good quality pastel sanded paper, and from my research I believe you have to have the harder pastels underneath, and the softer ones on the surface. Otherwise, the soft ones fill up the tooth too quickly. Also you have to have paper with good tooth, eg Canson, uart, pastelmat. I’m considering buying Nupastel or Rembrandt for the harder pastels, and Sennelier or Unison for the softer ones.
It’s a fascinating journey isn’t it? And a rather expensive one too! Best of luck to you :)
@@1DaTJo Yes... Since writing this I've learned that it's all about the paper. Lol.
I bought some unisisons, Rembrandts, and jack richeson handrolled to try out. They're all very nice. I think next I'll buy the emma colbert unison pack. :) I can't wait!
I joined a group on Facebook called pastel art. It's awesome.. I recommend it! Thanks for the comment. :)
Mandie Halderman Hi Mandie, wow you really lashed out and got the good stuff! Good on you! Those brands sound like a great collection. Do you have them yet or are they from online? There’s no art supply shop in my town which is very frustrating - I may have to move back to the city just to be near the good art supplies. What paper are you using?
I had no idea a few months ago that I wouldn’t even blink at spending hundreds of dollars on pastels. Loll What a beautiful art form!
Thanks for the Facebook suggestion. I’ll probably see you there! :)
Wonderful video, I am still trying to organize my pastels I just got a Guerrilla Painter box but I did not buy the plastic inserts and I altered it to work more like your box from Jacksons! It was not an easy Mod! I am also curious about fixatives and matting your pictures with the "hidden" matte space for debris to fall within a framed picture, have you used this before? What do you think? Thanks for all of your wonderful content!
Thank you! :) I rarely use fixatives, mostly because it alters the colors and it does not prevent the pastels from smudging completely. But about the double matte, I have seen other artists do that, all you need is two matts, one smaller than the other but both larger than the picture. You place the smaller one behind the larger one and place both on the artwork, so that if the pastel crumbles the dust will fall behind the mat.
Did you try the pastels from Gondola? Gondola Pastels (Kyoto, Japan).... Try them, you might like it....
you should have the right the contact sennilier and ask for replacements. they're an artist quality company, they owe you this much with how much customers spend for quality.
Parece que te gusta pintar!jeje.Saludos.
Is it true that meteintes touch paper does not take many layers like UART sanded paper or pastel premier paper?
I think (and this is just my subjective thinking) that everything depends on 1)pastel softness, extra soft ones fill any tooth very fast 2)pressure of the every articular artist's hand. Thus, it's very difficult to say if it's the paper or any of the two parameters mentioned above at play :)
Pastelmat paper produces very good result but very difficult to blend or erase
yes, that is true but I find that I never need to erase on pastelmat as you can always layer more over the layer you want to correct :) you can also wash it down with water to get a second chance at a sheet you think is ruined
Your color wheel looked strange discontinuous and some very dark jumpy colors. Can you please comment on that? Thank you
Please be careful with the pastels from Sennelier, there are some colours that contain cobalt and manganese and better not to come into contact with the skin and the dust should not be inhaled.
I bought is Paris set myself once and because in the description of the Sennelier pastels in contrast to those of other manufacturers did not say that the pastels are heavy metal free.
I didn't try to find out which pastels contain the heavy metal.
I don't use them until I had found a flyer of the pastels in an art shop and that describe which pigments are used in which pastels.
Then I marked the places of the toxic pastels with label paper and use them with gloves or foil around them.
seems like eating...