Hi friends! I am excited to announce that I will be starting a pastel series here for FREE next month. To kick it off here is a video explaining the types of pastels and what they are used for so you can plan any purchases accordingly.
Video!
Soft pastels come indifferent firmness. The harder pastels should go on the first layers or a painting and work with softer ones as you build up layers.
- Hard/Firm pastels: NuPastel, Conte Crayon, Prang Pastello, Carvin
- Medium/regular pastels: These are softer than the hard pastels and good for most applications. Many name brand pastels fall in this category.
- Softest soft pastels: These are the top layer pastels best for finishing layers on pastels. Schminke and PanPastel are examples of this.
OIL Pastels:
- Traditional oil pastels are soft and creamy and can be blended with your fingers or paint thinner. These are water-resistant. These make a great under painting or sketching medium for oil paintings as well.
- Water-soluble pastels (like Crayola Portfolio or Prima) can be blended with your fingers or water.
Paper:
- You want a paper with some texture or “tooth” to it so it can hold the layers of pastels, I like Canson Mi Tintes or Strathmore art paper. You can even use watercolor paper but pastel paper it typically less expensive. BUT, do not let a lack of supplies stop you, you can use a brown paper grocery bag and still learn and enjoy the process:) Basically any rough paper will work fine:)
I will be using different pastels throughout this series so you can get a good idea of what is best for you. I suggest you use what you have or start off with one of the student grade supplies I mentioned so you can see if you like the medium before spending a ton of money on supplies, for instance it is better to realize that you can’t stand the feeling of chalk on your fingers after spending $15 on a set of pastels rather than realizing it after dropping $150 on artist pastels. You would be better investing in PanPastels in that case but you don’t know until you try:)
I plan on kicking off the pastel series in a little over a week. I will be traveling this week to film a class in Denver (wish me luck) and I plan to blog from the road if I can manage it on my phone. You can follow me on Instagram if you want some behind the scenes sneak peeks too. I am trying to think of something small and artsy I can bring to do on the plane so if you have any ideas leave them in the comments. I have not flown in 15 years so I am a bit nervous. Have a happy Easter and til next time happy crafting!
The Frugal Crafter Blog 
I LOVE your lessons!! Thank you so much! I have already learned so much from you. Thank you for sharing you expertise- you are SOOO appreciated! Annie in Kansas
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I am so excited about this! I have been a pastel artist for many years, I learned at the tutoring of my Mom, who was an extraordinary artist! I am very, very pumped to learn new things and to use my pastels more in my art! Thank you so much!!! This will be a fun journey.
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That sounds like a wonderful series. I have oil pastel sticks and seldom ever use them; I have some pastels in tubs but not the Pan Pastels and seldom ever use them. I’m looking forward to seeing what I should be using them for.
I’m not allowed to fly since my brain surgery in 2000 so I have no idea what you can and cannot take on a plane. Probably just a good time to sketch? Or, you could take some already stamped or drawn images and lay down the colour from either water colour pencils or Prismacolor pencils. The water colour ones could be blended with an Aqua pen but I don’t think Gamsol would be allowed on the plane. Or maybe you could just sit back and relax!!!
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Ok, that explains the video you did a week or so on oil pastels disappearing from sight. Or am I just not able to find it.
Good luck with the flight and class. Jill
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no videos have been removed, it should still be there:)
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Excellent news!! I really am looking forward to this series! I have limited experience with PanPastels, and I have other chalk and oil pastels that I haven’t used yet; I will really benefit from these classes. Thanks, Lindsay!!
(And I very intersted in the class you are filming in Denver!! Is it for one of the online craft video course companies?? I have taken several from “Craftsy”, and find that they are very helpful. In any case, whichever company you are filming with, I’ll be looking forward to seeing that class in the future! Safe travels and I hope you have a great trip!!)
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yes, it is with Craftsy:)
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Denver you say! I smell a Craftsy class!
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yep, it will be launched next month hopefully!
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Yay for you! That’s quite the honour!
😉
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This will be the hidden treasure for me.. I was going to take a pastel class at the local community college, but decided it was a bit more of a time investment than I wanted to make. So now I’ll get a nice series that I can do on my own schedule and learn what I wanted, without the time crunch or the expense.. Thanks Lindsay! You are such a trove of goodies, not to mention very entertaining!
What about taking a small multimedia sketchbook, a travel set of watercolors and brush, and a basic set of graphite and colored pencils, and some multiliners? Do some people and their environment sketching. Watch Teoh Yi Chie on Youtube. He does a lot of that.
You’ll be fresh and ready to do some really different stuff when you get back.
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Great class idea can’t wait.
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Happy Easter sweetie! For the plane ride, how about a coloring book and your favorite coloring medium? I like colored pencils on a plane because they are easy to tote. You could also bring a sketchbook or art journal and some Peerless Watercolors and a waterbrush, or some watercolor pencils! With your talent whatever you bring you will create something lovely and it will help pass the time. Bring either a tablet or your phone so you can watch videos or tv if you feel nervous. You will be fine, but I understand because I used to be very afraid to fly. I am good with it now, but I remember how it felt to be afraid. We will be praying for a safe trip and a very success class for you!
Hugs,
Maureen
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Happy Easter to you, as for what you should bring on the plane. Just bring one of the good idea’s you have told us in the past. Have a great trip and Happy Crafting.
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Hope you have a good trip. I don’t like flying . The last plane trip l had was a year ago January went from Tennessee to Las Vegas by myself,with a plane stuffed full of drinking people.Never in my life saw so many men in line to get to the potty.Went from Nashville to Detroit then to Vegas. On the way home Vegas to San Diego then to Nashville. But at least the trip home was with two nice ladies sitting beside me and not two men drinking all the time. Looking forward to the pastel series. Good luck with your class filming.
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thanks!
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I can’t wait to learn about this medium. Never tried pastels so will be fun.
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I live in the Denver area and would love to see you in action Lindsay. Are you teaching here in conjunction with filming? Remember, flying is safer than driving and you’re going to a new adventure. Colored pencils should be easy to travel with. Your seat mates will surely be entranced. As someone 😄 said (many times), happy crafting!
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thank you:) I am filming a class for Craftsy, it is pretty intense, I’ve been working on it since November, it is weird to spend that long on something so I hope it is a success:)
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I have seen other crafters say that they can take both Copic and Zig markers on the planes. So, stamp a bunch of images, bring the Zigs, a water brush, and maybe some plain watercolor paper. You can use the Zigs with or without water on the stamps, and you can do some freehand painting on the paper. You can either get water on the other side of security at the airport or ask for it on the plane 🙂 That’s a long flight though, bring something else non-crafty for a break!
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Many years ago I took some art classes working with soft pastels. I loved pastels as they were so forgiving. I was also given a set of oil pastels that have never been used. I had been looking at my stash recently and thinking I should try them again. These classes will be perfect timing.
As for the plane trip, I went to Scotland last fall and while there purchased a coloring book and coloured pencils. They were perfect for the long trip back. Don’t forget a sharpener. Bring a good book too. I’ll bet you rarely get a chance to sit and read.
Also, find out what kind of meal (if any) you will be getting on the plane. Call them ahead of time as you can usually special order a vegan meal at no extra cost. If you bring your own food, remember you can’t bring drinks through security, but you should be able to purchase something after that point. Check out what the airport offers. It will be a long day, you’ll want to have something decent.
Have a wonderful trip.
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thanks, I don’t think they are serving a meal, I plan to grab something at the airport as I have a 3 hour layover in new york:) Thanks for the advice, i would have forgot a sharpener LOL!
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I love the idea of pastel lessons. I play with both soft and oil pastels but don’t really understand how to use them best.
Earlier this year, I bought a set of soft pastels from Michaels for $5. Last time I was there they still had them. I got them because they had so many colors and for $5 I was willing to gamble. They are really hard which surprised me because I was used to rather soft soft pastels because i always go cheap. I love that I can use them to add color to projects. Recently, I made a trunk for an art piece and used the pastels to add a dingy quality to it (that’s how I use pastels as part of mixed media sort of things). I wanted to share in case someone else wants to pick some up but don’t want to invest a lot.
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Reblogged this on and commented:
My favorite crafter. She is such a blessing.
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Did I miss an announcement about your Denver class?????? I live within driving distance of Denver and would have loved to make plans to come if is open to the public. Probably too late now, I guess.
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Hey Lindsay, welcome home. Glad to hear your Craftsy class went well. I am eagerly awaiting your pastel class. Any time frame for starting?
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