Beginning with Pastel Pencil
White-tailed Buck
My first foray into pastel pencils was this white-tailed buck. I wanted to challenge myself with some not-so-subtle lighting and some cool and warm colors. The deer is essential half-cool and half-warm with the warm lighting coming from the righthand side of the image.
There are times in an art career when it’s time for something completely different. This year, starting in January, I finally caught the pastel pencil bug and decided to give it a try. After watching countless videos by Emily Rose Wildlife Art, Jason Morgan Wildlife Art Lessons, and Emma Colbert Art on YouTube, I had a basic idea of the materials I would need to get started.
The first choice was which brand of pastel pencils to use. Since I mostly work on realistic animals and plants, the consensus seemed to lead towards Faber Castell’s Pitt Pastels. They tend to be a bit firmer than other brands of pastel pencils and come in a pleasing range of natural as well as bold colors. There are only 60 pencils produced in the range and I picked up a full set to ensure I wasn’t purchasing more pencils immediately after beginning. I’ll definitely be experimenting with other pencils along the way but the Pitt Pastels have worked very well for my intial pieces.
The second major decision when drawing with pastels (the first in importance, however) is the paper you plan to use. Based on many, many YouTube recommendations, the general consensus for animals portraits is either Clairefontaine’s PastelMat or Hahnemühle Velour. For those looking for fine details and a more realistic result, PastelMat is the most recommended. So, armed with this information, I purchased several sheets of PastelMat in sand color from DickBlick and began my journey.
Pine Marten
My second pastel piece was of a Pine Marten hanging vertically from a pine tree. It offered a test case for detailed, fluffy fur with light details appearing over a darker plush undercoat. This looked like the perfect chance to test the light-over-dark approach possible with pastel pencils.
After getting the correct pencils and paper, I undertook two mammal drawings followed by a Cedar Waxwing to finish the trilogy. This was a good test of using a light subject over a dark background, something that is quite difficult to maintain with very messy pastel pencils. This helped clean up my technique and forced me to work clean resulting in a nicer result than I was expecting. The ultra-saturated colors of the waxwing compliments the dark green foliage in the background and helps with the appearance of the waxwing glowing in the sunlight trickling through the foliage.
Cedar Waxwing
A Cedar Waxwing drawing based on a photo I took in 2023 at a nearby pond. It landed on the trunk of a small sapling and was lighted by sunlight trickling through the foliage. I tried to capture the sense of the background fading into the shadows behind the bird while keeping the bright, saturated colors of the bird in the sunlight.
Overall, I am quite happy with the results I’m getting so far with pastel pencil. I can’t wait to see where it leads and the subjects I am finally able to tackle that I’ve been reluctant to try in the past for various reasons.