Luckily for alot of
us, pastel is one of the more forgiving mediums. By this I mean that it
is fairly stable, there are no drying time issues, such as oils where it
dries so slowly, or acrylics, where it dries so quickly, and it is pretty
easy to fix mistakes - this is important! All of these properties make it
a great medium to learn in. The fact that streetpaintings are usually done
as temporary pieces encourages us to try new things, not to get too wrapped
up in our mistakes, and, if we allow it, to enjoy that moment of creativity
without worrying about the long term viability of the art we created. Pastels
are our means to that end.
A pastel is basically a stick that is formed out of a type of clay-like
material and allowed to dry. That claylike material is a combination of
raw, dry pigments, a binder, and sometimes fillers. The binder is what glues
everything together. There are many types of binders, from premade forms
of chemicals, to recipes for homemade binders that are a combination of
several materials. Fillers do just that - they fill space in the pastel
so the pigment is extended out, as pigments tend to be the most expensive
part of the pastel.
For streetpainting purposes there are certain types of pastels that work
better than others. There are a couple of considerations to keep in mind
when choosing pastels - one would be cost effectiveness. Let's face it,
if the work isn't going to last more than a few days, archival qualities
of pastels do not come into play. Buying the really expensive pastels doesn't
make much sense. Another important property is how much "tackiness"
the pastel has. While oil pastels should not be used, regular soft pastels
often have some degree of oil or wax in them. The very cheap grades of pastels
have very little of this, and are well suited to temporary works as they
don't cost much and they clean away very easily. The downside to using them
is that the pigments are very much "watered" down with fillers,
so they are not as rich in color, and these pastels generate alot of dust
since there is so very little tackiness. Higher quality pastels can be very
nice to work with, less dusty and better colors, but they cost too much
to make it a practical choice for most streetpainters. Many of the artists
who streetpaint on a regular basis would like to use better pastels, at
least for parts of the drawing where color is important. Pretty much any
good quality pastel can be used, it is up to your discretion on how much
you want to spend.
Alot of artists make their own pastels. There are several reasons for doing
this. First off, the recipe that is popular among the artists I know works
excellently for streetpainting. It is very tacky, and when mixed with the
right pigments, goes onto the pavement with an almost buttery texture, which
makes it a pleasure to blend and work with. This pastel also generates very
little dust. Another reason that these work well is that the artist has
control over the amount of pigment put in the pastel. Some artists use fillers,
some do not (I don't). Because of the high amounts of pigments being used,
these pastels will extend out over a large space of ground and the pigment
will go a long way to coloring an area. Cost-wise, these pastels are well
worth it. We use lots of pastels when making a painting, and stick for stick
these usually cost much less than the sticks you can buy, besides the fact
that the stick covers more area due to the high load of pigment. An example
of this is a one pound bag of Prussian blue pigment will make 30-40 sticks
of pastels - and yet you can buy that pigment for approximately $10. The
cost of the binder is fairly minimal, so you can see the cost savings.
There are some downsides to making pastels. One would be the time involved
and the initial cost of buying various materials for the binder and pigments.
It can seem prohibitive, especially when you are not used to buying large
amounts of pastels. Another consideration is that not all pigments work
well with the binder and it really comes down to individual tests of materials
to see how they work. There is no way to really know if you got it right
until after the pastels have dried out (which takes a few days) - if the
binder was off, that time is lost or you have wasted materials. Another
consideration is the health factors of working with pigments in the raw
form - they are a very fine dust and a dust mask of some sort should always
be used. Some pigments have toxic qualities to them - if you choose to make
them into pastels, remember you are taking risks both with yourself (especially
with constant exposure) and to the people who live and work in the area
where you are painting - pigments washed off streets and down drains are
not healthy to be around. Some pigments are fairly safe - most of the earth
pigments come into this catagory - and some pigments have *safer* (but not
necessarily safe) options for them, such as the chemically pure versions
of the Cadmiums which Daniel Smith Art Supply sells. Just try to be educated
in your decisions and aware of the choices you are making. The last downside
to making your own pastels is just the mess involved. This can be minimized
somewhat by using disposable bowls and spoons for mixing, and keeping a
box of surgical gloves handy - I put new gloves on with each new pigment,
and manage to keep myself pretty clean. Pastels should *always* be made
outside- not just for the mess factor, but also because you don't want the
fine pigment dust floating around your house.
Below are links to areas where you can find more information about places
that supply premade pastels, a discussion of pigments, and the common recipe
that many of the artists and festivals use.
