For Pastel Painting Students:

Materials List for Drawing in Charcoal (Use this list if you are a first-time student in the FALL class and bring to class in the WINTER and SPRING quarter too.)

You will begin the FALL quarter with Value Studies and Composition Studies. Bring the following items to your first class and to each class thereafter:

• DRAWING PAD: get Smooth Surface Drawing Pad (rather than newsprint pad) that is bound at the top, size 18x24 (Canson Biggie)

• PAPER: pastel paper (brand: CANSON MiTeintes) in ONLY the following color choices: Pearl, Moonstone, Felt Grey, Steel

• CHARCOAL: It is essential that it be SOFT vine charcoal. If you cannot find it marked as SOFT then test it in the store. Make 10 parallel lines close to each other, and then rub in the opposite direction with your fingers. If it is SOFT, then the lines will disappear into a soft grey mass. If the charcoal is medium or hard, the lines will not disappear completely.

• KNEADED ERASER

• PAPER TOWELS: brand: VIVA, 1 roll

• CLIPS: 4 large bankers clips to clip your pastel paper to your board

• FOAMCORE: ¼ inch thick to use as a backing board to clip paper onto, size 22"x 30"

• 10 sheets from your drawing pad (or the extra Canson sheets as long as you put 10 of the same size sheets) will be put under the Canson pastel paper to provide a cushion or padding, and all is clipped onto the backing board.

• WORKABLE SPRAY FIXATIVE: (for charcoal, pastel, pencil)

• One SINGLE-EDGE RAZOR BLADE: for scraping pastel off the paper

• MEASURING STICK: you can use a bamboo barbeque skewer, a dowel stick (3/8" diameter, 20" long), or a knitting needle. Anything that is thin, straight, and lightweight.

• You may find it helpful to also add to your supplies the following items:

• GLOVES: The thin medical-type gloves are helpful as most pastels are toxic.  Or liquid gloves called “Gloves in a Bottle” that you rub onto your hands, let it dry and begin to work.  It washes off.

• MASK: I prefer a surgical facemask that hooks behind my ears. It’s most comfortable.

• VISOR: A visor is helpful to block the light.  In some positions it is pointed right into your eyes from the other side of the room.

• MIRROR: A hand-held mirror is very helpful to check your painting by viewing it in reverse. The best mirror is found at a beauty supply house, is a large square, and has a handle.

• BINOCULARS: These are helpful to see details on the model when your easel position is at some distance.

Easels and Taborets are provided by the Spruill Center.

CLASS: PORTRAIT and FIGURE INSTRUCTOR: NANCY BLANCHARD HONEA

Materials List:  Pastel

There are many types of pastels and pencils on the market now. Please buy only the brands that I recommend, as some of the others are not actually pastels, but have wax in them. This wax will act as a resist and cause any subsequent layer of pastel not to adhere. I have listed places locally to research the price for pastels, as well as catalogs to compare. (Don’t forget to include shipping cost when you compare prices.) Pastels are applied in layers. In order for the pastel to stick, we use the hardest sticks first, shifting to softer and softer sticks with each subsequent layer.  I should warn you that pastel artist never feel they have enough pastels!!!

HARD PASTELS: You will use these at the beginning of the painting on top of the charcoal. The brand I recommend is "NU Pastels". They are square and long in shape. If you can get a full set of 98 sticks, it is best, but if not, at least try to get a 24 or 36 or 48 stick set. The more colors you have, the easier it will be for you to do the pastel work. Some stores have the NU Pastels in sets, while some also sell them individually, by the stick. It is essential to have: #248 Olive, #213 Rust, #276 Flesh, and black and white. If you are buying a set, check to see if it includes these sticks, if not, buy them individually.

Another suitable brand of hard pastels is "Polychromos" pastel made by Faber-Castell. These sticks are also square and are a slight bit softer than Nu Pastels and some say more permanent. This is not too much of an issue for us since we use them as an underpainting.

SOFT PASTELS: You will use these in building layers on top of the hard pastels.

There are so many brands out now that it is mind boggling. If you get a full set of Rembrandt Soft Pastels, you will have a good start. You can add sets of other brands later.  (Make sure you do not buy OIL PASTELS in any of the brands. They are not the same as SOFT PASTELS.) The full set of Rembrandt has 225 round sticks that are medium soft. If you cannot afford a full set, then get as big a set as you can possibly afford. Your initial investment will last a long time. They also come in sets of 45, 60, 90 and 150. They are arranged in a Portrait Set and Landscape Set. Get the Landscape set. In case you already have the Rembrandts and want to buy more (pastel artists never feel they have enough sticks), I have listed some other brands of pastels below.

PASTEL PENCILS: You will use the pastel pencils toward the end of the painting.

The brands I prefer are Carbothello, Derwent, Conte and Bruynzeel. These come in sets of 24, 36 or 60. They can also be purchased individually. If you can only get one set, get either Carbothello or Derwent. These are kept sharp, either with an electric sharpener or an exacto knife that you need to bring to class.

MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT GET COLORED PENCILS.  They have wax in them. 

PAPERS: There are many brands of paper available and many types ranging from drawing papers to sanded, pumice or otherwise textured papers. I recommend that you first learn to work on Canson Mi-Teintes sheets. These are 19.5" x 25.5" and come in a variety of colors. The best colors to learn on are: #343 Pearl, #426 Moonstone or #431 Steel Gray. Get a few in each of these three colors.   You can experiment with other papers later.

*****(Please refer to the "Drawing Materials List for the First Class" listed above to find information on the other items you will need to bring to each class. They are: sketch pad, foamcore board, cushion sheets, bulldog clips, kneaded eraser, paper towels, soft charcoal, workable spray fixative, single-edge razor blade, measuring stick, gloves, mask, visor, mirror, and binoculars.)

Easels and Taborets are provided by the Spruill Center.