If you’re a determined pastel artist with some experience, isn’t it time you stepped up and produced a pastel artwork that’s truly great? There’s nothing wrong with ambition! Here are some tips on using pastels to create a masterpiece:
1. It all begins with a thumbnail
Thumbnail sketching is simply one of the best ways to begin a pastel masterpiece. And what is a thumbnail sketch? It’s a tiny sketch, on a separate piece of paper, of the main features of your composition. Thumbnail sketches are usually about one inch square or a little larger (say around the size of a credit card). You should vary the size depending on how big the full-size painting is going to be. You should spend no more than five minutes on your thumbnail sketch.
The big, big benefit of thumbnail sketches is that they force you to simplify something that might seem overwhelmingly complex into just its main components. Without any room for details, your brain won’t get sidetracked. This is invaluable, as it reveals the fundamental nature of what you’re trying to do, and you can carry this through into working on your main surface.
Note that you can (and should) also sketch out your composition on your main surface after you’ve completed your thumbnail sketch.
2. Shadows
Shadows and highlights are two key areas of any artwork, as they are the bookends of the tonal range. Of the two, it’s shadows that are the harder to get right, but as they give the impression of volume (’3-Dness’), they’re also the more important.
In a pastel painting, you’re likely to have shadowed sides of elements in your composition, and shadows cast by those elements as well. Mark these areas when you’re sketching out your composition, and delineate the two.
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Coloring your imagination in the canvas requires a creative attitude which everyone does not possess. For this you must have an aesthetic taste.
If you are a determined pastel artist with some experience then you might come up with some art experience. Thumbnail sketching is simply the best way to begin with pastel masterpiece.