Pastel Paintings – Painting for Beginners
Pastel paintings are colorful and pastel paint glows with such intensely luminous colors and velvety texture. The reason why pastel paint glows is because it is made out of pure pigment. Pastel artists love using pastel as medium because pastel paintings fall 
between painting and drawing. One thing that you will notice about these art works is that they are as luminescent as paintings however, the process of creating these resembles drawing in some aspects. Pastel paintings are easy to blend because of its rich texture.
Pastel paint can be used in various ways. You can create pastel landscape and pastel portraits with it. Pastel artists love using pastel paint as medium because they find the deep rich colors found in pastel paint gratifying. Pastel artists loves the way they can easily blend the colors to produce pastel paintings that can be considered as works of art. Another advantage of using these paints is that you don’t need a lot to be able to create pastel landscape and pastel portraits unlike the use of oils for instance. Rather than the use of a palette, pastel paper is use to take its place.
The fastest way to take a hold of a set of pastels is to buy a ready-made set especially if you are new at this. Most of the best pastel brands do offer these manufacturers set. You would not believe the range of sizes which can be from something small like six sticks of colors up to larger wooded boxes containing several kinds of colors. If you are just starting as an artist it would be better to choose something small. The small number of colors can make it easier for you. As you slowly gain confidence as an artist you can gravitate towards larger choices of colors.
Pastel Paint
An ongoing concern among pastel artists is how the use of these pastel paint can tiny particles or dust. Pastel artists need to protect themselves if they want to spend a lot of time painting pastel landscape or pastel portraits. In some instances if pastel artists dislike 
wearing facial mask they can use air purifier instead. When inhaled pastel residues in the air can leave behind serious health problem in its wake. Since pastel paint can smudge easily when mishandled accidentally there is a need to handle these carefully. Pastel artists who are use this medium for the very first time should not use fixative spray because it tends to create dull Pastel landscape and pastel portraits. If it can be avoided it would be advisable to use these fixative sprays sparingly. In addition to this fixatives are toxic hence the need for proper ventilation when using these cannot be avoided.
In case you need to gather pastel paint supplies learn all about the supplies that you need to produce pastel landscape and pastel portraits. Here are some of the things that you have to check out before you make your pastel landscape and pastel portraits. See all the different attributes of pastel paint such as composition, colors and quality and type. In terms of surface for pastel you need to accept pastels and the surfaces that are suitable for this medium. You need to check the other extra supplies that you can use with pastels such as fixatives, sharpeners, blenders and others.
Whether you are an inexperience new artists or somebody who paints as a profession pastels are great medium to work with. One of the tips given by experts is to protect the art work with glass. Pastel is one of the most permanent kind of media. It has the ability not to crack, darken or yellows. If you want your art work to last longer pastel is the best medium there is. Pastels are protected better by framing it. Another tip on preserving the pastel to make it last is to avoid spraying the painting with a fixative prior to framing it. If in case you don’t have the chance to frame your art, you can store it individually inside a flat file drawer or box.
Pastel Paintings
To make pastel landscape and pastel portraits last long you need to frame them securely under glass. As pastel artists, if you made the decision to use oil pastel paint keep in mind that oil pastels are an elevated form of crayons. To learn more about how to use 
pastel paint as medium visit the official website for pastel artists like Haim Lorberboim. Remember this simple rule when it comes to creating pastel landscape and pastel portraits, there is no wrong or right way to do it as long as you are enjoying what you are doing. Since pastels can be soft, semi-soft and hard you need to know where to use these paints since the result would be different for each texture.
As you grow in confidence you can shop for a bigger set from 30 to 40 pastels. Concentrate on choosing warm and cool colors. Each of these must contain both primary and secondary colors. You can also include a few browns, black and white. You must also learn about how to take advantage of the color wheel especially when you want to use a lot of colors in your painting or drawing as the case maybe. Basically, one of the things that you need to learn is how to understand colors and the role that they play in your work of art.
Pastel Artist- Haim Lorberboim
Haim Lorberboim is one of the artists that uses pastel as his medium. He is able to convey his thoughts and observations of the world around him through his paintings. He is unafraid of showing the world of who he is as an artist. He is able to send this message 
through his works of art. He interprets his art as he sees it. People who are looking at his paintings for the very first time can easily empathize with his subjects because it is a reflection of everyday life. Watching his paintings is like watching the lives of people who live in different parts of the world.
You can say that Haim Lorberboim is a master of his craft. His soft pastels are divided into portraits, landscape, marine life, animals and a lot more. This shows his versatility and flexibility as an artist. If you are a new and budding artist or about to train to become better you can pick a thing or two tricks from this artist. He is an artist worth emulating because he refuses to copy other artists’ technique. No wonder his pastels even if they have the potential to sell at a very high price in the market because of its lifelikeness are never sold. All that he wants to do is to exhibit these pastels for everyone to appreciate.
Pastel Landscape Paintings
The easiest way to create pastel landscape paintings is to use the pastel like you would a pencil or pen. Draw using the end of these colors. The results of your pastel landscape will show what you 
wish to convey to whoever looks at you pastel painting. If you are after creating large blocks of color, use the side of a pastel stick. You can even use a stick in half, even the smallest piece of pastel is usable. When you alter the pressure, this can create different degrees of texture on the pastel paper. In case you notice that the side of the pastel is worn out that it produces two sharp edge, you can still use this to produce fine lines. However, this will work better for soft and semi-soft pastels only.
One of the most useful techniques in pastel painting is known as hatching. Hatching is explained as a simple set of parallel fine lines drawn closely together. After this, you can use cross hatching wherein you draw a second set of lines at right angles to the first lines that you created. This is use as a method of initial blocking to allow you to experiment with color and tone that can still adapt to changes. By the time that you created your final draft this will be help you finalize your painting. Some painters say that this method can help you create a sense of form and shape by varying the direction when you draw your cross hatching.
Since there is no way to mix the colors before you place them on pastel paper, you can use hatching as a way to blend and mixed the colors on paper. Whether you believe it or not, in pastel paintings the use of your fingers can help you blend the colors better. You also have the option to wear surgical gloves to protect your hands. If you want to blend larger areas, you can use the side of the hands. However, if you are after pastel paintings precision better use paper tools like torchon, paper stump, cloths and cotton balls or cotton buds.
Pastel Portraits
When you create pastel portraits be sure to convey the expression on the face of your subject. Pastel portraits is all about showing the personality of your subject or model. One of the greatest pastel artists did mention that the portrait must show the “inner beauty” of your subject. To produce thinner lines, you need to press gently over the pastel or use its edge. You must use your entire arm not just your wrist to produce broader pastel paintings. You can actually produce sepia paintings by using pastel pencils.
Here are some tips on how to help you learn more about how to create portraits. You can even do some common changes to make your portrait stand out from the rest of the other portraits. You can do this by studying how to use layers of color to create rich backgrounds with the use of vibrant skin tones. Even the direction of your strokes can affect the outcome of your portrait. Portraits can be a meaningful way of celebrating the life of somebody special like friends and family. This is why whoever receives a portrait painting of himself will always treasure it especially if it is was created in a loving manner.
Sepia Drawing
In earlier Greco Roman civilization sepia is used as writing ink. During the Renaissance period it started to be a popular drawing medium. It was not until the 20th Century when it was replaced by the use of manufactured water colors. Sepia is obtained from the sacs of cuttlefish and squid. The sacs of these sea creatures are extracted and dried up. The sacs are dissolved in dilute alkali, the solution is filtered. The resulting pigment is used as a drawing ink. If you love experimenting with watercolor, it would be nice to start using this ink for your sepia paintings. If you are not that confident you can start by using this ink for sepia drawing. Later on as you gain confidence you can use the ink to produce sepia paintings.
When you are about to get ready to paint, have a little and big brush on hand. Use a mixing well for your watercolor set in case you ever need a large amount of washing. It would be time consuming if in the middle of what you are doing you need to stop for a while to do a big wash and mix some more colors. You can start off by concentrating on the basics of sepia drawing first. You need to use graphite pencil to draw. This will make it easier for you to correct the mistakes on your sepia drawing. If you cannot avoid to commit a mistake and you want to correct what you have created you need to test the effect of the eraser first on another page. There are some erasers that can leave behind a little oil or grease. If you are afraid that using an eraser can damage instead of correct your mistake, another option is to allow your drawing to fully dry first.
