Many other pastels can be added, But limiting yourself to these will help you learnto control pressure in use of pastel, and to build up color-notes on the paper.

Paper:
Beginners: 2 sheets of Canson Mi-Tientes. Your choice of one(1) middle tone color and one(1) white or off white. (DO NOT substitute "Strathmore, to begin with!)

Non-Beginners can bring paper they like to work on, PLUS 1 sheet of LeCarte, or Wallis sandpaper-like surface papers.

Other Materials Needed
#1. Vine Charcoal, soft: One Piece.
#2. Light blue Pastel Pencil.
#3. Tape to tape down paper, or paper clamps.
#4. Drawing board and tray for pastels, or French Easel, Adapted for pastels.
Or you can use two pieces of foamcore taped together at the long edge for a tray with half used as drawing board to be hand-held.

Optional
#1. Fixative Spray, we will talk about this.
#2. Baby Wipes (for cleaning hands) the cheap ones with no lanolin.

When working on paper-When working on sand-paper surfaces:
#1. Vinyl eraser (white)
#2. One old, Stiff bristle oil-paint brush, "Clean".
#3. Chamois, a small piece.

WHEN PAINTING OUTSIDE
You should always bring with you if possible: A Campstool, Mosquito repellent, some sunscreen and a hat to shade your eyes and head

If you have any question prior to classes or going on site please feel free to call me at my studio at: 530-887-9565

When transporting a pastel painting, or storing a pastel, the painting should be kept upright or face up when lying flat.

PASTEL is NOT colored chalk, which is a limestone substance, with fugitive, or light fading dyes. PASTEL is pure pigment---the same pigment used in making all fine art paints, including oil paint. PASTEL is the most permanent of all media when applied to a permanent ground and properly framed. There is no oil to cause darkening or cracking; no other substance or medium is in contact with the pigment to cause premature fading or blistering of the surface. PASTELS from the 16th Century exist today, as fresh and alive as the day they were painted.

The following is a statement from the Pastel Society of America in New York:

PASTEL does not at all refer to pale colors as the word is commonly used in cosmetic and fashion terminology. The name PASTEL comes from the French word "pastische" because the pure, powdered pigment is ground into a paste, with a small amount of gum binder, and then rolled into sticks. The infinite variety of colors in the PASTEL palette range from soft and subtle, to bold and brilliant.

An artwork is created by stroking the sticks of dry pigment across an abrasive ground, embedding the color in the "tooth" of the paper, sand board or canvas. If the ground is completely covered with PASTEL, the work is considered a PASTEL painting; leaving much of the ground exposed produces a Pastel sketch. Techniques vary with individual artists. PASTEL can be blended or used with visible strokes. The medium is favored by many artists because it allows a spontaneous approach. There is no drying time, and no allowances to be made for a change in color due to drying, as is common with watercolors and oils.

Historically, PASTEL can be traced back to the 16th century. Its invention is attributed to the German painter Johann Thiele, a Venetian woman artist. Rosalba Carriera was the first to make consistent use of PASTEL. Chardin did portraits with an open stroke, while LaTour preferred the blended finish. Thereafter a galaxy of famous artists...Watteau, Copley, Delacroix, Millet, Manet, Renoir, Toulous-Lautrec, Vuillard, Bonnard, Glackens, Whistler, Hassam, William Merritt Chase...just to list the more familiar names, used PASTEL as finished work rather than preliminary sketches.

Edgar Degas was the most prolific user of Pastel, and its champion. His portege, Mary Cassatt introduced the Impressionists and PASTEL to her friends in Philadelphia and Washington, and thus to the United States. In the spring of 1983, Sotheby Parke Bernet sold at auction two Degas PASTELS for more than $3,000,000 each. Both PASTELS were painted about 1880.

Today, PASTEL painting have the stature of oil and watercolor as a major fine art medium. Many of our most renowned living artists have distinguished themselves in PASTEL, and enriched the art world with this beautiful medium. .

In starting out, in approximating a color note, it its best to paint it with MORE brilliance than you actually see it. It is easier to ADJUST the color note in value & intensity when rich color is already there, then it is to try and get more color back into the color note. Think about it. If we have something that's TOO gray to begin with, no matter how much color we add, there will always be a measure of grayness from what was there already!

Moving on with the basics: Let's say we have a color spot that is painted but needs an 'adjustment'. (NOTE: There are numerous factors in why color spots are NOT "just right" from the beginning, more on that later). In pastel, this is often the case, since the pastel stick may not be formulated to the color desired. Adjustment needs to be noted around all three concerns: CHROMA, SATURATION and VALUE.

1st CHROMA: Here we need to ask ourselves the some questions and learn to see differences. Does the color spot need to be warmer, or cooler? For instance, is the red more orange or more purple than what we have already as our color note? How does THIS color spot compare to related color spots? 2nd SATURATION: Does the color spot need to be more brilliant, or less brilliant? There are inherent limitations to pigment if MORE brilliance is needed. Consider, which is more brilliant, a stop light of the car OR the stop sign? Both are saturated reds. But how do we paint it? (More on this later, but one consideration is to address the surrounding color note to enhance the changes you want in the color note you are adjusting.)

To reduce the brilliance of the color spot, we must make it appear more gray. There are two ways to do this, add gray, or add the opposite temperature. That is to say, if the color spot is warm, add a cool, any cool, and the brilliance is modified. If the color spot is cool, the addition of a warm color will mute and gray the color note.

3rd VALUE: If we want to DARKEN a color note, we must use pigment that is darker in value. It is suggested to select a value darker than what you want and to use it sparingly, than to fill the paper with a lot of pigment.

If we want to LIGHTEN a color note, remember that the use of white will reduce the brilliance. We may consider adjusting the color note with something that has more color than just relying on white.

Whatever we choose for adjusting our color note, will shift that note in 3 ways---SATURATION, VALUE and TEMPERATURE. Keep life simple. Prioritize the concerns and first establish the value. When the value is right, DO NOT CHANGE IT! Adjustments can be made in temperature by using similar values!

The big challenge is developing a sensitive eye to SEE the differences in color notes and a 'light touch' in the use of pastel to modify each color note.

How we address this concern, and prioritize our approach will give us a guide to follow in understanding the painting process, and hopefully make our task as painters a bit easier.

FIRST: Notice the "compression" of values in the painted picture, compared to the brilliance of light and increase in range of values as found in NATURE. How we keep this "relationship" of values within our painting, compared to the "relationship" of values in what we see in NATURE is the first step in making better paintings.

The novice's tendency is to minimize the RANGE of values he's using in a painting. His darks are not dark enough, and his lights are washed out. It does not matter what you use, watercolor, oils, or pastels, the problem is the same. We must learn to SEE color as value, and interpret it WITHIN the limitations of the value range of pigment.

So, establish your value range early in your painting process, giving consideration to what will become the areas for darks and shadows, and what will become the areas for light.

SECOND: Notice the differences in the values in the transition of what is 'in light' and what is not 'in light.' This brings us to our next concern of ESTABLISHING THE WARM AND COOL RELATIONSHIPS.

By compressing the value-range, things begin to get crowded, and we need to keep it simple! Whatever is illuminated in NATURE is full of light and warmth and it is here we find the most brilliant colors. (The sun IS a yellow star!) Notice also that the shadows are absent of this warm light and APPEAR cool. In addition, the reflected light into the shadows from the sky, on a clear day, will enhance this cool-color phenomenon. Also note, that without light, the shadows do not have brilliant color saturation.

So, the problem of addressing the transition of values, between the areas of light and and areas of shadow, can be addressed by keeping warm and saturated colors in the areas of light, and more muted and cooler colors in areas of non-light.