What is Pastel? 

The name Pastel comes from the French word "pastische".  They are made with pure, powdered pigment which is ground into a paste, and then rolled into sticks, with a small amount of gum binder.  This is the same pigment used in making all fine art paints.  It is the purest art medium available to the artist since it is closest to pure pigment.  Pastel has no liquid binder that may cause other media to darken, fade, yellow, crack or blister with time.  Therefore, it is the most permanent of all media, when applied to conservation surfaces and properly framed.

Renoir, Degas, Manet, Millet and many other important artists, used pastel.  Pastels from the 16th century exist today, and are as vivid and forceful as the day they were painted.  Edgar Degas was the most prolific user of Pastel, and its champion.  In the spring of 1983, Sotheby Parke Bernet sold at auction two Degas Pastels for more than $3,000,000 each!  Both Pastels were painted in around 1880.

Artwork in Pastel is created by stroking the sticks of dry pigment across an abrasive surface, embedding the color in the "tooth" of the paper, sandboard, or canvas.  If the surface is completely covered with Pastel, the work is considered a Pastel painting; leaving much of the surface exposed produces a Pastel sketch.

Today, Pastel paintings have the stature of oil and watercolor as a major fine art medium.  It requires every bit as much artistic endeavor and application.  Many of our most renowned living artists have distinguished themselves in Pastel, and enriched the art world with this beautiful medium.

This information was derived from the Pastel Society of America.

More information can be found about pastel from the Pastel Society of America at www.pastelsocietyofamerica.org