Pastel

A pastelist uses sticks of coloured pigments rather like chalk sticks. There are oil, soft and hard pastels. This technique is incomparable for its transparency effect. The artist fully expresses his excellence as a colourist, combining the brightness of the tones by endlessly superimposing them, going from transparency to opacity.
Depending on the desired effect, he selects a rougher or smoother grained paper, sometimes tinting it to begin work on a background of colour, on which he places his colours by successive strokes of varying intensity, gliding or rubbed on, with his finger if necessary.
The disadvantage is that the powder in the pastel is fragile and its conservation is difficult, it is sensitive to light and can rub off. It is extremely important prevent a pastel from being an ephemeral work, because it has the particularity of expressing the artist’s sensuality.