PA - LESSON #1 - Introduction to Pastels

[MSWcrane]

So it is Pumpernickel!   

Now to more serious issues, soft pastels or hard? 
Any particular brands to BUY or NOT to buy, in your experience? 
Are Half Pastel sticks worth the price, or is it better to buy fewer of the Whole ones?  Round or Square? 
Red, Pink, or Fuchsia?  Oops that last one was not a serious one   

Anyone can jump in here, 

[dennis]

Sue, all these questions have already been answered in detail in previous posts about pastels.

[May lynn]

Dear MSWCrane;

I am ready???   I wasn't sure what to purchase, because of my indecisiveness and lack of knowledge of pastels
I ended up with 4 different type of mid range products to work with.

1.     Rembrandt   15   1/2 sticks that seem to do the job on the first two preliminary paintings before
        Christmas.  But, I found that they were lacking the range of darker colours I needed.  Therefore, I
        have already had to purchase additional individual colours of dark green and light yellow.  Maybe the set is
        too small.   
2.     Faber-Castell    24 and 72  1/2 sticks   Purchased on E-Bay for 19.99 + 12.00 shipping = 31.99 Cnd.  This exact same
        product at the local Michael's would have cost me 69.00 (72)  27.00 for the (24).   The ones bought on E-bay
        were a bargain.     

[May lynn]

3.  Sennelier 40 1/2 sticks  Extra-soft Pastels.   They are the most expensive of the lot and seem to be super soft.
     I don't know how long each will last.  At Michaels they were 129.00 Cnd. with a 50% off cupoun 62.00 + tax. A Christmas present from my daughter picking  up the tab.  Nice gift to me.
4.  I purchased a set of 24 Conte a Paris pencils from a local art store.


I see my reply has spilt up;   as to the Faber-Castell they are square edged while the other two are rounded.
Also, it purchasing the Faber-Castell at Michael's be sure to take along a  50 % off coupon as the two I purchased from E-Bay  (31.00 Cnd.) would have cost me just over 100.00 Cnd.

I sorry that I seem to be rambling but, I hope this helps you are out there shopping around.   

May lynn

[May lynn]

A word to the wise: Michael's       I look and look for certain brands and I was ready to leave the Art
department/store   when on my way to the cash register I spotted a locked cage and low and behold the
products I had been looking for were there.   Therefore, if you don't see what you want on the shelves ask and you
may find them under lock and key.  The staff is happy to help you make your selection.   

May lynn

[Steven]

Yay!  Booked and booked and booked! 
  Dennis and Nolan! 

This is going to be a great year for art!

I, ummm, I don't even want to talk about the pastels I've been squirreling away from EBay purchases since November...

1/2 sticks are a smart way to start...  more bang for your buck (more colors too) and if you find you run out of a color, you can replace that one from open stock for a nominal price.  Some of the pricier hand made pastels also have smaller sets of dark colors that normally don't come with the less expensive pastel sets, makes for a good way to mix and match. Here is a good place to see what's out there http://www.dakotapastels.com/ they are competitively priced on a lot of the specialty pastels, not so much on the larger manufacturer offerings.  Dakota only deals in pastels, so they are pretty much an authority on what's out there.  For the adventurous that want to pony up the money (and I haven't yet) they sell, as you will see if you visit the site, sampler sets of different manufacturer's pastels and also paper samplers, which I intend to try eventually....

[MSWcrane]

Thanks Dennis, I am checking out those posts 

Thanks also to Steven and May Lynn for your info 

After looking at the prices, I may decide to wait to see a really good sale before purchasing any Pastels.  I will attend the class as an observer however.  See you in Class 

[Bev S.]

  For the exceedingly generous introduction to pastels, Dennis! What a tremendous way for us to "get our feet wet" as it were. . . especially those of us who are uncertain about the medium.
Three cheers for Dennis    Oh right,  cheers for Nolan as well! He is, no doubt, going to be in the picture somewhere. . . . 

[Val]

Model for our portrait class?       

[Bev S.]

Model for our portrait class?       

Woo hoo!!!!!

[Val]

  We will still be here for D-Day!!! I get to see pastel class #1 .... still not sure about pencil #1 

[njnjgirl]

I am excited!  I think I can make this class today.  My first live class!!  And thank you Dennis and Nolan for the free lessons, your generosity will come back to you ten-fold!

[MSWcrane]

Been on ebay and have my eyes on a few pastels lots... will see what happens. 
Ready for watching today's class   

[helena12]

Hi Dennis,
I was on time when the class started, but somehow youtube wouldn't let me watch it  . It says that it is not available in my country (Germany) because it might contain music for which GEMA has not given free the allowance.  GEMA is in charge of copyright of music.

Will I in future always be directed to the youtube site? Then I can't join the classes. This happens so often on the youtube channel that I can watch one part of say a movie and the next part is not allowed. Super, and I was so grateful and excited to watch you without a hairdryer. I have so many pastels lying around for years and years. God knows why............perhaps I hoped I would use them one day..... Ok, today is not the day 

[Val]

Helena, I can't get it to work properly either. Not sure why.