u/LenaRivo

After doing a few quick studies of a woman with a white cat, I moved on to a finished painting. This time, I chose a canvas that was smaller than the size I usually use for finished pastel paintings. That's because when I paint smaller, my pastel marks remain visible and add movement and interest to the painting instead of dissolving into the larger color shapes, as often happens in my larger pastel paintings.

Working on a smaller surface also makes painting faces and hands more challenging, so I often use pastel pencils for those areas.
My main goal was to paint the light-filled shadows and create a cozy, peaceful feeling in this summer scene. I love animals, so it was easy for me to connect with the subject, and I enjoyed the painting process immensely.

On the technical side, I was once again reminded of just how important PanPastels are to my process. They make it so easy to create a soft, airy atmosphere in a painting. And, as usual, Canson Velvet paper was a pleasure to work with. It holds soft pastels better than any other pastel paper or board I have tried.

After doing a few quick studies of a woman with a white cat, I moved on to a finished painting. This time, I chose a canvas that was smaller than the size I usually use for finished pastel paintings. That's because when I paint smaller, my pastel marks remain visible and add movement and interest to the painting instead of dissolving into the larger color shapes, as often happens in my larger pastel paintings.

Working on a smaller surface also makes painting faces and hands more challenging, so I often use pastel pencils for those areas.
My main goal was to paint the light-filled shadows and create a cozy, peaceful feeling in this summer scene. I love animals, so it was easy for me to connect with the subject, and I enjoyed the painting process immensely.

On the technical side, I was once again reminded of just how important PanPastels are to my process. They make it so easy to create a soft, airy atmosphere in a painting. And, as usual, Canson Velvet paper was a pleasure to work with. It holds soft pastels better than any other pastel paper or board I have tried.

Sketching out some ideas in soft pastel. I did these two sketches on a 9” × 12” sheet of Canson Velvet paper, using mostly Girault pastels.

“Lost in a Story”, 11 × 14 inches, soft pastel, PanPastel, and pastel pencils on Pastelmat board.

I started this piece as a simple color study to develop a color scheme for a larger work. However, as it progressed, I grew to like it so much that I decided to finish it and let it stand on its own. I used a piece of Pastelmat board in the color Sand, a beautiful warm gray that is a pleasure to work on. My other favorite Pastelmat color is Light Gray. Working on slightly toned paper is always easier than working on white paper.

“Lost in a Story”, 11 × 14 inches, soft pastel, PanPastel, and pastel pencils on Pastelmat board.

I started this piece as a simple color study to develop a color scheme for a larger work. However, as it progressed, I grew to like it so much that I decided to finish it and let it stand on its own. I used a piece of Pastelmat board in the color Sand, a beautiful warm gray that is a pleasure to work on. My other favorite Pastelmat color is Light Gray. Working on slightly toned paper is always easier than working on white paper.

17x17 inches, soft pastel, PanPastel and pastel pencils on Canson Velvet paper. With this soft pastel portrait, I decided to experiment with a slightly abstract background similar to those seen in some pastel works from the early 20th century. I loved painting the colorful shadows filled with reflected light, and the whole parasol theme excites me immensely. I’m planning to create a few more garden pieces in this direction.

I used mostly PanPastel and my favorite Girault pastels for this piece. PanPastel has been a real game changer for me. Instead of working on the background with pastel sticks and then softening the marks to create smooth, unified shapes, I applied the pigment with sponge-tipped “palette knives.” This made the process feel much more like painting with a brush.

It also made the process faster and easier, helped me save my expensive pastel sticks, and allowed me to build up light layers while keeping the paper open for more pastel work. It created a perfect soft, blurry underpainting.

I’ve attached a few photos of the pastels and tools I used for this piece.

17x17 inches, soft pastel, PanPastel and pastel pencils on Canson Velvet paper. With this soft pastel portrait, I decided to experiment with a slightly abstract background similar to those seen in some pastel works from the early 20th century. I loved painting the colorful shadows filled with reflected light, and the whole parasol theme excites me immensely. I’m planning to create a few more garden pieces in this direction.

I used mostly PanPastel and my favorite Girault pastels for this piece. PanPastel has been a real game changer for me. Instead of working on the background with pastel sticks and then softening the marks to create smooth, unified shapes, I applied the pigment with sponge-tipped “palette knives.” This made the process feel much more like painting with a brush.

It also made the process faster and easier, helped me save my expensive pastel sticks, and allowed me to build up light layers while keeping the paper open for more pastel work. It created a perfect soft, blurry underpainting.

I’ve attached a few photos of the pastels and tools I used for this piece.

"Quiet Charm", 9x11 in. PanPastel and Rembrandt soft pastel on my favorite Canson Mi-Teintes Velvet paper.

This piece was an exercise in approaching a pastel painting without a preliminary drawing. Many years ago, when I worked primarily in oils, I discovered that it became much easier for me to judge proportions once I began applying color. It seems that the brain reads proportions more naturally through colored shapes than through outlines alone, which is how we usually construct a drawing with lines.

I noticed many times that after beginning to paint, I had to correct the initial drawing because the proportions of the shapes became much clearer once they were filled with color. Over time, this led me to often begin paintings without making a detailed drawing first.

Another part of this exercise was working with a limited palette.
In this study, I used PanPastel for the initial block-ins. Once the surface was covered with color, I added a few small details and selective lines to bring more definition to the piece. Here I used only PanPastel, Rembrandt soft pastels, and a couple of pastel pencils.

I love this approach because it offers a great deal of freedom while still allowing me to achieve a wide range of colors without relying on a very large collection of expensive soft pastels. I will discuss this method in more detail in the soft pastel guide I am currently working on.