Still-life with pastels: description of technology, features

Very often novice artists can not decide on the material. Often the choice is between watercolor and oil. However, there is another group of art materials - "soft". It includes pastel. This material is pleasant and easy to use.

Drawings by pastel

Still life is the most artificial genre, both in painting and in graphics. In this case, the choice and location of all objects is determined not by the actual situation, but by the composition itself and its requirements.

However, still life with pastel does not have to convey reality, for this there are photographs. The artist is able and has the right to his own fantasies and the original image of objects, thanks to which work is created, similar to a dream. The master builds a key, trying to find harmony in his drawing.

History of pastels

The history of pastels begins in the 15th century. This material is mentioned in the writings of Leonardo da Vinci. However, the French word itself began to be used much later - in the middle of the 17th century. In Latin it means "paste". Lighter shades were obtained by grinding clean pigments with chalk. It was from here that the well-known word "pastel" went.

This material was actively used by artists of the Renaissance and representatives of the New Time (Engr, John Russell and many others). Later the technique became popular among the Impressionists. Pastel wrote Pierre Bonnard, Edgar Degas and many others.

What is the pastel for drawing?

There are three types of pastel crayons:

• Oily. Choose them best if you have certain skills, because corrected already drawn is problematic enough.
• Dry crayons are the most optimal option for beginning artists. They are easy to shade, erase and overlap with another color. With the help of this material, beginners get beautiful still lifes pastel with fruits.
• Wax paints lay down a beautiful glossy layer, but it's not easy to work with them, because they do not shade.

Combine several kinds of chalk in one work is not accepted. And for beginners, as mentioned above, it is best to choose the dry pastel crayons.

In work, you must carefully treat the finished pattern and the chalk itself. Dry pastel is perfect for sketches, quick sketches or long productions. Due to all its properties, dry crayons are great for fans of expression and long painstaking sketches.

The only drawback of this material is that it requires special storage conditions for finished works. There are rules that every artist must observe:

1. In order for the still life to not crumble over time, it must be opened with a special fixative.
2. Pictures should be protected from sunlight.
3. The finished works are stored in a separate folder, laying a tracing paper between them.

Required materials and tools

Easel

Before creating a still-life with pastels, the sheet must be placed vertically or inclined. It is in this situation that it is most convenient to transfer lines from nature and to evaluate the overall picture. Therefore, you should get a tablet or an easel, which you can rely on the back of a chair or table.

Paper

Demonstrate the maximum capabilities of pastel chalks can only be using a special toned corrugated paper. Moreover, in specialized stores it is worth buying special albums in which there is a paper of several shades, between sheets of which are placed tracing paper sheets.

Pastel crayons

Quality pastel will never be cheap. But with a rational use of one set will suffice for a long time. In this case, do not chase a large number of colors: 12-14 will be enough.

Choosing the right material for yourself, you need to pay attention to how it falls on paper (the layer should be velvety, while on paper should not remain small crumbs).

Sponges and Brushes

You can use flat brushes or a sponge in the work - it all depends on your own preferences. However, at the initial stage it is worthwhile to work with your fingers. Thanks to this technique it will be possible to get a better feel of the material and understand how best to achieve this or that effect.

Clamp

The still-lifes painted by pastel must be opened with a special lacquer. However, in its absence, the alternative is hair spray. The sprayer is placed at a distance of about 30-40 cm from the painting.

Features of technology

The main thing that you need to be able to do in such work is to see the colors. Drawing from nature, one should understand how some objects cast shadows on others. It is necessary to use different shades, and not blindly paint the object from one edge to the other in one color.

Separate attention should be paid to the direction of strokes. They are imposed not arbitrarily, but in the form of the object. So all the elements are more voluminous. Large areas of the same color is most conveniently covered, placing crayons flat.

Always work on the drawing evenly. Do not take on the image of any one object. First of all, cover all the bright places, then - all dark, at the end highlight glare and active accents.

Advantages of dry pastels in the performance of still lifes

Often dry pastel is produced in the form of special pencils or crayons. It allows you to create thick enough strokes. Still life with a dry pastel is obtained with a more elegant structure. Moreover, the colors can be quickly shaded or diluted with other shades.

Still lifes with oil pastel

Oil pastel allows you to achieve especially bright colors and accents. This material is distinguished by its "softness", it is a little "zhirnovat." It is very easy and pleasant to work for them, however you can get carried away by forgetting about the shape of objects and their volume. Therefore, get acquainted with oil pastel after you have mastered dry pastel chalks.

Still life with pastels in stages

Drawing a Still Life

Any work begins to draw as if all objects are transparent. This method will help to get an idea of the shape of each object and their location in relation to each other.

Moreover, it is best to use additional horizontal and vertical lines, which will help to depict symmetrical objects of regular shape.

Applying colors and tones

This stage of work involves sketching the background. In doing this, you need to soften the pastel texture and mix the colors, making the transition smoother. For this purpose, use fabric or feather.

And although the still life begins to draw from near objects, but this process can start from the end. This improves accuracy and sharpness of work. When you represent objects on a finished background, you can avoid spaces between the background and the object.

Working out of minor objects

After the background and the main objects have been painted over, you need to proceed to work with secondary objects. We must not forget about the white glare and the smoothing of rough texture with the help of cloth and feathering. Before applying the color, you need to outline the areas of shadows on each of the objects.

Color Correction

When all colors, shades, shadows and glare will be ready, you need to separately work on a harmonious balance of colors and contrasts - in this way you will be able to increase the expressiveness of the perception of still life. This can be done by increasing the contrast of background tones and objects in the foreground. All objects should be on the same level of contrast.

The final stage

Completing the still life with pastels, you need to increase tonal contrasts in lighter subjects. This can be done with the help of sharp darkening and shadows located on these objects.

To create the darkest areas, you can use all kinds of shades of red, blue, brown and dark green. While small patches of white are used to create highlights.

In addition, at the final stage you need to use black color, with its help you can deepen the darkest areas. Black color is used at the last stage due to the fact that it always overcomes the brightness and freshness of other shades.

Creating a still-life with pastels, beginning artists often make a mistake: they underestimate the contrast of shades. This is the result of mixing several colors. To prevent this from happening, the difference between light and dark tones is increased before mixing. Due to this technique, the loss of contrast after mixing is compensated.

How to store or move a finished work

Finished work can be stored in different ways. If the picture is not fixed anywhere, then it is necessary to select the sliding paper and wrap the drawing in it. However, you need to check whether all the paint tape and bends were on the reverse side of the picture.

If there is a desire to put the finished work under the glass, then it is not so easy to do as other pictures. First of all, the work is limited to a frame. This is to ensure that the image can not be smeared with fingers. Moreover, the frame and glass will save the work from falling off excess pastel dust.

Pastel is a noble material. All the shortcomings of skill can be easily hidden with the help of spectacular finished work. Every novice artist can easily find his special style and manner of image of objects, creating a still life. Drawings of pastel perfectly fit into any interior.