Dry pastel medium is pure pigment ground and mixed with a binder of gum tragacanth. This mixture is then formed into a paste, rolled, dried and cut into sticks. The almost unlimited number of colors range from soft and subtle to stong and brillliant. The name pastel does not describe a "pale" color but is derived from the french word, pastiche, which means paste.
Pastels are applied to a surface with a "tooth". Usually these surfaces are textured paper, or sanded pastel board or clothe. When applied thickly and competely to the surface the work is considered a painting. If applied quickly with much of the paper exposed the work is referred to as a drawing. |
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Pastel is a very durable medium when kept from sun and moisture. The dry medium cannot turn dark or crack, as can happen with some oil paints. Pastels are always framed under glass with a mat to separate the glass from the painting.
Colored pigment was used as far back as 15,000 B.C. in murals in the caves of France, but pastel as we know it today was championed in the 19th century by Edgar Degas and Mary Cassett, who introduced pastels to America.
Today, pastel has the same respect as oil and watercolor as a major fine art medium. |
