As you learned, the painterly effects that can be created with pastels have led artists who work with them to call their artwork paintings rather than drawings. Compare the following pastel artworks to their companion paintings. What aspects of the pastel make it look like a painting? How do you think the artist created the textures found in thepastels? Which medium type do you prefer? Why? Click through the slide show to see several examples.
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Portrait of King Louis XV by Maurice Quentin de La Tour (Pastel) vs. Frederick the Great by Antoine Pesne (Oil Painting)
These artworks are very similar to one another. They are both portraits of an aristocratic man with armor, velvet, and other trappings of wealth. So, which one is better? That is completely up to the viewer, but they are so similar in style that the only way to tell which is pastel and which is oil is to see them in person.
Both images are called The Sower by Jean Francois Millet. The first is pastel, and the second is done in oil.
The same artist created these artworks. Millet worked in a variety of media and often portrayed everyday people at work. These artworks both show a great deal of texture and blending. The colors in the oil painting are slightly more vibrant, but that could have been because the subject was wearing more vibrant colors. Also, while both works look "sketchy," Millet took slightly less care in blending the lines in his pastel work that make it seem more like a drawing than a painting.
Dancer in Her Dressing Room (Pastel) and Dancers, Pink and Green (Oil Paint) by Edgar Degas
Degas was another artist who preferred to portray everyday people at work, but his chosen subjects were dancers. Much of his work is from observation, which means he needed to work quickly. The problem with oil paint is that it takes a long time to dry, so it is difficult to include fine details right away. With pastels, that isn't an issue because they lay down dry pigment that can still be blended. In these two artworks, you can see that there is more detail in the pastel than there is in the oil painting.
The Porte D'Amont, Etratat by Eugene Delacroix (Pastel) and Weymouth Bay with Jordan Hill by John Constable (Oil Painting)
These artworks show a similar scene--a shoreline with rock formations around it. While there are some differences in style, the pastel artwork does seem to show more lines (like a drawing) and more detail. The oil painting is more blended, and there is less detail.
Pastels can be used to create various painterly effects like blending and highlighting that are not possible with other drawing media. For example, colored pencils and graphite can be blended to an extent but not in the same way that paint can be. Pastels are different in that they can do all the same things that paint can without the long drying time. This and their portability made them a favorite of artists during the Renaissance and Impressionist periods. Pastels are still favored by artists today, including Melody Sears, Mary Monk, David Decobert, and Sharon Pomales. Take a moment to research these contemporary artists and look at their work.
Lesson Connection!
Answer the following question to see if you remember information from the last lesson!
Question
What are colored pencils made of?
Colored pencils are made of a pigment mixed with oil or wax and a binder, all encased in wood.
