setting up your work space

One of the first decisions you will need to make is whether you would like to work at an upright easel or on a flat piece of paper. There are advantages to both.

Working Vertical

Some people prefer to work with the paper or other surface flat on a table. While this is fine, pastels tend to create dust as they’re applied, and that dust will accumulate on the surface of the paper. Blowing it off puts the pigment dust in the air. A better solution is to work with the surface held vertically, whether you stand at an upright easel or sit in front of a table easel. The dust created by the strokes of pastel will naturally fall off the paper, keeping unworked areas cleaner. You can fold a piece of paper to create a well on the easel shelf and catch the dust as it falls.

storing your medium
Many artists organize their pastels into a box, sorted by value (lightness or darkness) or by color. The same box can be used in the studio or in the field.

using an easel
All you need to work at an easel is room to set it up and a space on which to lay out your pastels. If you can leave the setup in place, it will make it easy to stop when you need to and return to your painting as you can. Unlike wet mediums, pastels won’t dry out and you can simply pick up where you left off.

Working Flat

If you use a drawing board the surface can be slanted or left flat, though a flat surface will require that you pick up the paper now and then to knock off the dust. If you don’t have a drawing board or table easel, you can prop your board up against anything that will hold it at the proper angle.

Set Up Your Work Space

A big, beautiful studio is the dream of many artists, but most start with something far less grand. A corner of a table or a small nook out of the way of traffic is often all the “studio” a successful artist may have.

As artists continue to work in pastel, they often purchase more and more sticks, choosing certain brands for color or texture. The result may be hundreds of pastels—which require a place to store and organize them—but you don’t need that to begin.

nothing fancy
Simplicity is the key! Artist Deborah Christensen Secor works in a small space in her home, leaving her easel and pastels set up so she can start and stop as needed.