Are Pastels Messy?

Sep 18, 2015

Question: A while ago I was asked a question by Roxanne, ‘how do you handle the messiness of pastels? I think that’s one of my biggest struggles when using pastels as I’m left-handed and my hand drags around in all that colour’

Answer: Well yes they are very messy, I gave up using block pastels (these can make your hands very messy) many years ago because of this one problem, I now use pastel pencils which are a lot cleaner on your hands, but you still have to be very careful not to touch your actual drawing unless of course you are blending your colours.

I don’t think there is a way of not having mess with pastels.

How do I cope with the mess?

I always start my drawings on the top left hand side – as I am right handed – and work across to the right, once I reach the right side I go back to the left side and work across again.

Left handed people would probably benefit by starting the drawing on the right hand side and working across, this way your hand never touches your drawing.

Also I always have a piece of kitchen towel that I rest my hand on whilst drawing, this stops the oil from your skin going onto the paper which can interfere with the pastel colour on the paper.

Artist Drawing Board

I have an artist drawing board that KJ made for me, it is a piece of flat wood with a thin piece of wood along the top. It was originally used for drawing on an easel, I could rest my pencils on the little lip along the top of the board so this is what I use for pastel drawing.

I draw some and then give the drawing a gentle blow and the dust goes up to the top of the board where it hits the lip and most of it collects there.

This board can also be used upside down on an easel so the lip is at the bottom, then as you draw the dust will fall down and the lip will catch it.

Mess on hands

Hands can get very messy when you have been blending using your fingers, I always make sure that I clean my hands after every little blend I do because if you don’t, you can spread the colours to other colours and ruin the vibrancy of the pastels.

I use a baby wipe to clean my hands, these works very well, or just a damp tissue does the same job, but be careful again to make sure your hands are completely dry before going back to your drawing.

I hope these little tips help you to create a fabulous clean, vibrant piece of Art – happy drawing! 🙂

Art Project K

Sep 17, 2015

K is for Knives

Over the years I have used many different ways of getting sharper pencils, here are a few:

small pencil sharpener – these are ok but I find they break my pencil nibs before I can get a decent point

pastel pencil sharpener – these are slightly bigger but I find they break my nibs like the smaller sharpeners

battery pencil sharpener – these sharpeners are great for graphite pencils, but I find them completely useless for pastel pencils

knives – these are fabulous, it takes a bit of practice but I can get a really sharp point on my pencils which is ideal for detailed work

So I like to use knives, I got a pack of utility knives from the £1 shop, you can just snap the ends off when they get blunt – these knives are not good for children to use as they are very sharp and will result in an injury.

Sunflowers

Sep 4, 2015

Here is a little update on my Sunflowers, they have flowers on them.

Wow look at that flower, it looks so soft I must have a go at drawing this close-up flower it’s lovely.

Art Project G

Aug 19, 2015

G is for Graphite.

I love using this medium to draw all kinds, it is so versatile, you can easily blend, add darks and shadows, its great.

Here is a graphite pencil drawing of a very young elephant eating grass, I did this drawing a long time ago, it was fun.

Once it was finished, I was happy with it, but it didn’t look like a very young elephant as it had nothing to compare its size to, so I added a bigger elephant in the background and it showed just how young the elephant really was, plus I darkened the large elephant which made the young elephant stand out more as it is lighter.

Graphite pencil is a nice medium to use, you can add lots of layers to get a darker shade and they are very easy to sharpen.

Here is a list of shades.

9H  8H  7H  6H  5H  4H  3H  2H  H  F  HB

B  2B  3B  4B  5B  6B  7B  8B  9B

I use mostly the middle colours, I am careful if I use the 7 – 9B pencils as they can turn shiny so I mostly stick with 2 – 4B and HB.

Highlights

You can use one of the H pencils to draw in the light areas, but I use a putty rubber which can easily pull out the pencil to get some great highlights, putty rubbers are good as you just knead them to get them clean.

So, why don’t you have a go, draw something using graphite pencils, it’s fun.

Art Project E

Aug 5, 2015

E is for Exhibition

Many years ago I was invited to enter some of my Artwork into an exhibition, well I was over the moon but extremely nervous as I had never done anything like this before.

I put all my fears behind me and went for it, I was so nervous all the way there, I didn’t know what to expect.

On arrival at the hall, there was a lot of activity, people were walking around looking at other artists work, stewards hanging new arrival artworks and people checking in, it was quite busy.

We walked up to the desk and handed over my drawings and the ladies took them and commented on how they liked them which calmed my nerves a bit and guess what? that was it, there was nothing more to be done, all that nervousness for days all came to nothing.

After we handed the Artworks in, we wandered around the hall looking at other works, then went home, it was an enjoyable day and I felt quite proud and thankful that I did take the plunge.

I recently sold this Single Red Rose at an Exhibition, size 10″ x 12″ including the mount.

The exhibition was on for 2 weeks and I didn’t have to do a thing, then once it had finished I just went to the hall again and picked up any artworks that hadn’t sold and collected the payment for the ones that had sold which was even better, so what am I trying to tell you?

Don’t ever think you are not as good as anyone else – there is always someone out there that will like your artwork. 

Good Idea! – If you are too nervous, then visit the exhibition and just have a look around, I think you will leave feeling disappointed that you never entered the exhibition.

Good Luck if you do take plunge, you won’t regret it 😉

Share your Exhibition stories here with us, we would love to hear them.

Artist Blog Goals

Aug 2, 2015

Let’s Celebrate!

Have a piece of virtual cake

and join me in the celebrations as I have completed one of my blog goals today:

I Have 50 Followers!

Mmmm Yummy 😉

Blogging Buddy

Aug 1, 2015

Ok here is an attempt at poetry – I am not very good at it, I wish I was – but this  is for my new Blogging Buddy

I was alone in cyberspace

Cold and weary

Reaching out for connections

To make my life cheery

What is that noise

A message from afar

I listen carefully

To see who you are

You welcomed me to your world

And I welcomed you to mine

As we share our thoughts

Everything falls into line

I have never met you

But you are my friend

I hope our friendship

Will never end

We will keep in touch

From time to time

Even though it’s only online

It suits us just fine 😉