The History of Pastels - from noble portraits to today's creative expression

The story behind the pastel:

Pastels originated in Italy in the late 15th century when artists began experimenting with binding pigment in a dry rigid form. In the 17th and 18th centuries, pastel flourished especially in France, where portrait painters like Rosalba Carriera and Maurice Quentin de La Tour created vibrant, soft and luminous depictions of nobility and bourgeoisie. The pastel was loved for its ability to render skin tones and light with an almost velvety glow.

In the 1800s, Edgar Degas took the medium to new heights in his famous ballerina paintings, where the fast and vibrant strokes captured movement in a way that perfectly suited the nature of pastel.

Today, the pastel lives on in contemporary art. Paula Rego (Portugal/England) has used dry pastel in monumental works with dramatic narrative power. American artist Wolf Kahn created vibrant landscapes in a mix of oil and dry pastel, where light and color merge. Hyper-realist artists like Jason Morgan also use pastels to render animal fur and feathers with impressive detail.

At the same time, pastels have found their way into new scenes: from urban sketching and illustration to experimental mixed media works, where water-soluble oil pastels in particular allow for play between drawing and painting. On social media, techniques, color combinations and tutorials are shared, which has made pastels popular among both professional and amateur artists worldwide.

The varieties of pastels:

1. Dry pastel - powdery and luminous

Dry pastels are the classic form many associate with pastels. They consist of pigment and a minimal binder, making them soft, powdery and incredibly rich in color. The colors can be easily tinted and blended directly on the paper with your fingers or a stump. They give a matte, velvety look and are suitable for layering techniques. However, they require fixing with fixative as they rub off easily.

Characteristics:

• Dust and powdery consistency

• Intense color glow

• Requires fixative to hold

2. Oil pastel - creamy and deep

Oil pastels were developed in the 1900s and have a more wax and oil-based texture. They are similar in consistency to lipstick and give a soft, creamy application. Oil pastels can be used on almost any surface - paper, canvas, wood - and can be layered, scraped or blended with fingers and tools. Colors are more durable without the need for fixative.

Characteristics:

• Creamy and rich consistency

• Strong, opaque colors

• No need for fixative

3. Water-soluble oil pastel - between painting and drawing

A more recent development is water-soluble oil pastels, which combine the best of both worlds. They can be used dry like regular oil pastels, but if you add water with a brush, they transform into a watercolor-like paint. This gives the artist great flexibility to work both graphically and painterly in the same piece.

Characteristics:

• Can be used both dry and with water

• Produces watercolor effects when diluted

• Perfect for experimental techniques

Why choose pastels?

Pastels offer something most other media can't: immediacy and intensity. You work directly with the pigment, you see the result immediately and you can vary between fine lines, soft transitions and bold patches of color. It's this combination of sensuality, richness and freedom that makes pastels a unique artistic tool.

Which pastels should you choose?

The choice depends on your style and working method. If you like classic, powdery intensity and soft transitions, dry pastels are the obvious choice. If you want to work on many different surfaces and have a more painterly feel, oil pastels are ideal. And if you want the freedom to switch between drawing and watercolor-like effects, water-soluble oil pastels are an exciting alternative.

• Faber-Castell - classic, high-quality, easy-to-use pastels perfect for beginners and advanced artists alike.

• Sennelier - legendary oil pastels created in collaboration with Picasso, known for their intense pigments and creamy consistency.

• Schmincke - soft dry pastels with exceptional depth of color, loved by artists worldwide.

• Van Gogh - accessible and affordable pastels, ideal for students and hobby artists who want to explore the technique.

Pastels are one of the most direct and sensuous mediums in the art world. Whether you choose dry pastel, oil pastel or the water-soluble variety, you get a medium with plenty of expressive power, history and creative possibilities.