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The topic of this tutorial is working with soft pastels.
The subject is Italian soccer player Allesandro del
Piero, the captain of Sydney FC soccer club. You
know, one of those players who continue their career in
another country and dazzle the local fans, such as David
Beckham did with LA Galaxy.
Materials list
* Watercolor paper
* Tortillion or paper stumps
* Soft pastels
* Pastel pencils – Conte or Pitt Pastel
* HB pencil
* Gesso (transparent)
* Acrylic to mix
* Brush/sponge
* Putty or kneaded eraser
* Spray fixative
start with the right reference material: a good, clear head shot and action
shot, showing the uniform and sponsors’ logos. Del Piero is often sporting
a smile, so I want my painting to express his love for the world game.
When working with pastels, it is important to choose the right support. I
usually use rough cold-pressed watercolor paper (referred to as ‘not’) from
my local supplier – Saunders Waterford or Artico Fabriano. Another fine
paper is Mi-Tentes, popular with many pastel artists. This paper ‘takes’ the
pastel quite well and blends really well with a tortillion (paper stump) or
with your fingers. Smooth or hot-pressed watercolor paper will not accept
the pastels.
I like to use soft pastels rather than oil pastels as the blending is easier and
doesn’t require white spirits or turpentine. Soft pastels contain very little
binder and they transfer color to the support easily, showing their brilliance
and rich texture of color. Hard pastels, or pastel pencils, are good for adding
the line detail or making preliminary sketches.
In this example I’ve used Artico Fabriano paper (30 x 23.5 inches), but have
added a coat of transparent gesso, a readymade formula for that extra
tooth, mixed with acrylic paint. Underpainting is another option to create
a richer background and serve to enhance the vibrant colors in your final
picture. You can also make your own by mixing a teaspoon of ground
pumice powder into acrylic gesso and adding a neutral acrylic paint. This is
applied to both sides of the paper to ensure the
paper doesn’t buckle and gives added support.
The colored background of the paper
sets a tonal value to your painting – dark,
medium or light. For instance, you may
choose a warm color paper with a cool color
palette which provides a contrast. Because del
Piero’s Sydney soccer team is blue, I have mixed
blue acrylic paint to the gesso. I’ve applied this
in cross-hatching motion with a sponge brush on
the paper.
When the paper has dried, it’s time
to make a light sketch of the subject.
I’ve used a 2B pencil and blocked in
the basic shapes quickly, any stray
lines rubbed out with a putty rubber.
In this case, I find del Piero’s head
larger in proportion (anatomically)
so it helps me greatly as a ‘big head,
small body’ caricature artist.
The challenge of working on
a mid blue background is the
show-through of color, and the
fact that it gives the piece a tonal
value. I like to play with various
backgrounds to accentuate the portrait,
and that’s where dry media such
as pastels work well. In the Iggy Pop
portrait, I utilized a traditional stain
method of applying—or dabbing—a
damp tea bag on the same weighted
watercolor paper used with del Piero.
I wanted to create a portrait of similar
tonal value where the subject appears
to merge, yet come out of the
background at the same time, thus
creating a ghostly mood.
The palette used in the featured portrait is white, flesh tint, light orange, burnt
umber, mauve, and ultramarine, black. I start with the flesh tones, mapping out
the skin tone areas, and then add outlines for the eyes, mouth. When doing a
portrait, I usually begin with the eyes, so I can capture the subject’s essence at
the get-go. Next I’ve blocked in the main shapes and flat colors to ensure the
positioning and composition are correct.
I continue to use pastels to build up color effects
by blending and overlaying. Finally the details
are added by using a tortillian to blend the portions
around the eyes, highlights in the hair.
Pastels allow for intricate and versatile blending.
As we know, skin tones vary enormously, also
dependent on lighting conditions. Pastels allow
many color variations for various complexions
where you may invent your own. In the subject’s
beard, I’ve used cadmium red, white and blue
and finished with a prussian and white pencils
for whiskers, using a thin paper stump to blend.
To fix, I use spray fixative to fix the pastel to the support. Some
artists prefer not to use it, but I use a light spray when each
section is completed or when I want to add more layers of color.
Pastel can be built up and applied impasto, just like oils. I use a
light spray of fixative when building up the surface, always making
sure I use it in a well-ventilated area. Before I fix I make sure
any smudge areas are lightly erased with a putty eraser.
In the final composition, details continue to be added with a pastel
pencil to the ball, hair, hands, and boots and also a little more
weight to the chin without ruining the balance of the figure.
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''Mark lives in Sydney, Australia. He has been a member of ISCA since 2010 and enjoys working at live gigs around town and doing caricature portraits. Mark likes to actively promote caricature, which he considers a “form of social commentary.” He is also a qualified trainer and teaches the odd art/cartooning class to kids and teenagers.''
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