Pastel Basics for Miniature Painting

[Shoshie]

I did it! Some folks asked me to tell them how to use soft pastels for miniatures and I did one better and made my very first video tutorial! Let me know what you think!!  ( I also posted this on the Reaper Facebook Group so some of you may have seen it already.)

 

 

[Grimreaper71]

wow pretty cool

[Doug Sundseth]

Thank you for posting this. I really like the results you're getting, and I'm interested in trying pastels myself. Some questions:

• Do you use any fixative other than Dullcote?
• What kind of brushes are you using? (I've heard rumors that pastels can be very hard on premium brushes.)
• Are you using soft pastels or oil pastels? (Assuming that my cursory research has resulted in the right terminology. If not, please correct me.)
• What safety precautions do you take? (Pastels have a justified reputation as an inhalation hazard.)

Again, thank you for the video. Very interesting.

[Shoshie]

Thank you for posting this. I really like the results you're getting, and I'm interested in trying pastels myself. Some questions:

• Do you use any fixative other than Dullcote?
• What kind of brushes are you using? (I've heard rumors that pastels can be very hard on premium brushes.)
• Are you using soft pastels or oil pastels? (Assuming that my cursory research has resulted in the right terminology. If not, please correct me.)
• What safety precautions do you take? (Pastels have a justified reputation as an inhalation hazard.)

Again, thank you for the video. Very interesting.

 

• Other fixatives you can use are Vallejo (nice because it's non-toxic) and Citadel Purity Seal (watch your humidity with this one)
• Use cheaper stiff brushes for Pastels.  Definitely don't use your good ones.
• SOFT only and make sure they are ARTIST quality so you get the highest pigmentation and least amount of grit.
• You might want to wear a dust mask.  And definitely wear a mask that is NIOSH approved for when you spray fixative.  

[Doug Sundseth]

Thank you for the information.

[zoottwodiced13]

Great tutorial. I learned something new. I read of using sandpaper and pastel sticks moons ago. Your method looks a lot less wasteful and neater. I will have that try out sometime in the near future. I will try and use pledge floor polish as the fixative. Hmm time to experiment. Gracias ztd

[Kormydigar]

Thanks for the info. If I can get to Hobby Lobby today perhaps I can pick up a couple and try this out.

[Pingo]

Just as a caution, pastels are pure powdered pigments held together by the bare minimum of medium. Unlike paint, there is no sticky oil or acrylic resin safely keeping the dusts glued down and out of the air.

 

I would recommend a NIOSH approved breathing mask whenever using fine dusts like this. Latex or nitrile gloves are also a good idea.

[Willen]

Awesome video, thanks!

 

I've tried pastels and want to try them more... I scraped soft pastel sticks for mud effects (umbers and a dry green), but what noticed is that the final effect was very textured. Good for mud and dirt, but not great for a smooth layer of blending... any advice on that?

[Auberon]

IMO the most important thing for a video tutorial is staying in frame, and you're already doing a pretty decent job of it.  The audio quality and lighting aren't bad either. 

 

You got me looking through my old supplies, but all I have is a 20 year old basic set of oil pastels.  I'll keep your advice in mind for the future though!

[Shoshie]

Awesome video, thanks!

 

I've tried pastels and want to try them more... I scraped soft pastel sticks for mud effects (umbers and a dry green), but what noticed is that the final effect was very textured. Good for mud and dirt, but not great for a smooth layer of blending... any advice on that?

Willwen what brand did you use?  Were the pastels you used Artist quality?  Cheap pastels will give you that textured grit.  Also I was barely scraping that pastel stick in my video.  You want the finest powder you can get.

[Harrek]

It almost looks like applying "makeup" to the figures.  Idea looks great, I'll have to look into doing this for mud or dirt to start perhaps.

[Willen]

Yep, artist brand... although seeing how far in quality our artist acrylics are when compared to Golden, for example... 

 

I could've made it finer, I think. I was scraping, not caring for being subtle. Can this powders be further grinded, manually?