I must thank you Jason. I am primarily a graphite and charcoal artist with an emphasis on wild life and portraits. After forty years I have decided I want to venture into color. I spent months studying the different methods of achieving the detail I expect from any medium I work with. While I liked the idea of using colored pencils, I did not like that to achieve the look I would want I would have to buy two sets of extremely expensive pencils, plus the attendant chemicals for blending and an even more expensive colored pencil kit, all to make the medium do what I wanted. Then I watched you and your excellent work with pastels, learned about pan pastels and pastel pencils and was amazed at the amount of detail that can be achieved. And without chemicals and expensive blenders! Like you I tried pastels years ago but what I was using was little better than sidewalk chalk and I dismissed the medium prematurely. I have looked at other TH-cam pages to judge how they work on portraiture and I was even more thrilled. All of this at less then a third of the price of colored pencils and all of their trappings. Your advice just saved my husband close to $500.00! He is as thrilled as I am. He knows how picky I am and has been watching me work on a lion for over a month now(graphite). I tend to spend anywhere from 80-200 hrs. on a project depending on the complexity but it looks as if pastels will be quicker. Maybe its the time lapse but it does seem to be a quicker medium to work with. Again, thank you so much. I really do appreciate you and all you do for the art community.
Bluerose11 I hope I'll see your artwork. But I'm not really sure where you have been looking for new media for your art. It sounds like someone has pulled your leg. Why two sets of pencils and mineral spirits?
From my research, in order to do the type of highly detailed portraits that I do, it would require high blendability and superior light fastness. From what I learned, the Polychromos oil based pencils are the absolute top of the line for detail, but for realistic, creamy, transparent skin tones I would need the Luminance pencils which are extortionately priced. To top that off, blending the Polychromos in order to get rid of that crayon look and achieve good layerability would require purchasing the Colored Pencil Kit from Brush and Pencil. However, the Luminance do not work with the powder blenders so to blend them you need Odorless Mineral Spirits which I really, really don't want to use. From watching Jason, I realized that with a combination of pastel pencils and Panpastels, I can achieve what I want without using chemicals to blend. The Panpastel lightfastness is superior, their blendability is quite good, and with the Pitt pastel pencils(also highly lightfast) I can achieve the type of detail I expect in my work. Undertones in skin colors are necessary, and with the pastels you can get that transparency and tonal shift that would be extremely difficult with the colored pencils. Now, I will admit that the $500.00 savings shrank quite a bit when I decided I needed the WHOLE set of Panpastels and the whole set of Pitt Pastels, plus all of the very expensive papers, but I really think I made the right choice for me and the way I work. UPDATE: I set myself to watching pastel artists all over TH-cam, particularly wild life artists like Jason and I changed my mind about the Pitt pencils. I am going with the Stabilo's. The work that can be done with them is incredible. The browns and greys look wonderful. From what I'm seeing they are better pencils and about thirty dollars cheaper. Can't beat that!
Like Lisa Lachri, Jason shares excellent ideas here on TH-cam, free of charge. Also like Lisa, Jason makes his Patreon channel well worth your while (and the modest expense) by regularly updating content with information ranging from tips and techniques, to whole projects in various media--from beginning to end, to detailed book and product reviews. Jason also offers some excellent photo resource materials for working artists. In short, his online success is well-deserved, and I look forward to seeing more from him in future.
Greg Edmonds Lachri is also really good, but she speaks at an amazing speed. Like she never breathes. It can be difficult to understand her and get all that incredibly important info in just one or two times watching it.
Line B Lisa's lightning-fast speaking style does take some getting accustomed to. I wonder if this started with her trying to cram as much information as possible into the original TH-cam time limit restrictions. Whatever the cause, she is a very fast talker. It doesn't seem to hurt her, though; she's doing extremely well with a huge number of monthly Patreon subscribers.
Greg Edmonds I'm not saying it hurt the information that she's giving out. I'm absolutely sure that loads of people have the best time ever learning from her. It's just a little trouble for someone like me to get all that info picked up. Normal pep with English as first language will understand her much better than I'll ever be able to. English isn't my first language and I have brain damage and lost much of my function in the right side I used to use for everything. So the disability is double for me. Doesn't make her bad. Just my understanding lessened. Because she is absolutely amazing. Does she have videos longer than 75 minutes?
Line B I don't currently subscribe to Lisa's channel (you can see the number of subscribers she has on Patreon, without subscribing yourself). So, I'm not sure how long her more complicated videos are.
I don’t have any pastel pencils. Been wondering what are the benefits of coloring with them. I’m presently clueless. Also why did you choose Derwent Pastel pencils. Thank you!
Hello, great video, but I have a question, don't you think using a sharpener for pastel pencils can be rather wasteful? Sharpeners shave quite a bit of material off the lead of the pencil and in the case of pastels they're so soft they can't really maintain a sharp point for long anyway. The reason I prefer a knife or razor blade is that I can only shave off the wood of the pencil and leave the lead intact. To get fine lines I just use a piece of sandpaper to flatten the top and use the rim of the lead instead of a pointed tip.
Sure, but I'm just saying that regardless of how much you use them you can make them last even longer by using a knife. It's also easier to get fine detail like fur by using the rim of a flat pencil tip.
Chrysostomos Chrysostomides I use the Derwent Superpoint sharpener to sharpen all of my pastel pencils! Jason has a review of it as well! It makes the point super sharp so it gives you the possibility to make very nice details! You should try it! It really works great!
I found that pastel pencils are three times more likely to break when sharpening with a knife, as compared to a high quality electronic or manual sharpener. My personal favorite is the SchoolSmart electric unit. It creates a fine point on any pencil medium, and automatically stops when that point is achieved. The unit sells for a little over $30, US, on Amazon.
You can also use the KUM long point sharpeners. Just use the side that only shaves the wood then finish off with a sandpaper block. No knives involved. I use this method for charcoal pencils all of the time.
Thanks for explaining your color choices! Beautiful!
Love it!!!!!! Love all your work!
I must thank you Jason. I am primarily a graphite and charcoal artist with an emphasis on wild life and portraits. After forty years I have decided I want to venture into color. I spent months studying the different methods of achieving the detail I expect from any medium I work with. While I liked the idea of using colored pencils, I did not like that to achieve the look I would want I would have to buy two sets of extremely expensive pencils, plus the attendant chemicals for blending and an even more expensive colored pencil kit, all to make the medium do what I wanted.
Then I watched you and your excellent work with pastels, learned about pan pastels and pastel pencils and was amazed at the amount of detail that can be achieved. And without chemicals and expensive blenders! Like you I tried pastels years ago but what I was using was little better than sidewalk chalk and I dismissed the medium prematurely. I have looked at other TH-cam pages to judge how they work on portraiture and I was even more thrilled. All of this at less then a third of the price of colored pencils and all of their trappings. Your advice just saved my husband close to $500.00! He is as thrilled as I am. He knows how picky I am and has been watching me work on a lion for over a month now(graphite). I tend to spend anywhere from 80-200 hrs. on a project depending on the complexity but it looks as if pastels will be quicker. Maybe its the time lapse but it does seem to be a quicker medium to work with. Again, thank you so much. I really do appreciate you and all you do for the art community.
my pleasure - and you will LOVE how fast pastels are - it will really surprise you :)
Bluerose11 I hope I'll see your artwork. But I'm not really sure where you have been looking for new media for your art. It sounds like someone has pulled your leg. Why two sets of pencils and mineral spirits?
From my research, in order to do the type of highly detailed portraits that I do, it would require high blendability and superior light fastness. From what I learned, the Polychromos oil based pencils are the absolute top of the line for detail, but for realistic, creamy, transparent skin tones I would need the Luminance pencils which are extortionately priced. To top that off, blending the Polychromos in order to get rid of that crayon look and achieve good layerability would require purchasing the Colored Pencil Kit from Brush and Pencil. However, the Luminance do not work with the powder blenders so to blend them you need Odorless Mineral Spirits which I really, really don't want to use.
From watching Jason, I realized that with a combination of pastel pencils and Panpastels, I can achieve what I want without using chemicals to blend. The Panpastel lightfastness is superior, their blendability is quite good, and with the Pitt pastel pencils(also highly lightfast) I can achieve the type of detail I expect in my work. Undertones in skin colors are necessary, and with the pastels you can get that transparency and tonal shift that would be extremely difficult with the colored pencils. Now, I will admit that the $500.00 savings shrank quite a bit when I decided I needed the WHOLE set of Panpastels and the whole set of Pitt Pastels, plus all of the very expensive papers, but I really think I made the right choice for me and the way I work.
UPDATE: I set myself to watching pastel artists all over TH-cam, particularly wild life artists like Jason and I changed my mind about the Pitt pencils. I am going with the Stabilo's. The work that can be done with them is incredible. The browns and greys look wonderful. From what I'm seeing they are better pencils and about thirty dollars cheaper. Can't beat that!
Great video Jason! 😁 This looks awesome.
Like Lisa Lachri, Jason shares excellent ideas here on TH-cam, free of charge. Also like Lisa, Jason makes his Patreon channel well worth your while (and the modest expense) by regularly updating content with information ranging from tips and techniques, to whole projects in various media--from beginning to end, to detailed book and product reviews. Jason also offers some excellent photo resource materials for working artists. In short, his online success is well-deserved, and I look forward to seeing more from him in future.
wow! thank you ;o)
Greg Edmonds Lachri is also really good, but she speaks at an amazing speed. Like she never breathes. It can be difficult to understand her and get all that incredibly important info in just one or two times watching it.
Line B Lisa's lightning-fast speaking style does take some getting accustomed to. I wonder if this started with her trying to cram as much information as possible into the original TH-cam time limit restrictions.
Whatever the cause, she is a very fast talker. It doesn't seem to hurt her, though; she's doing extremely well with a huge number of monthly Patreon subscribers.
Greg Edmonds I'm not saying it hurt the information that she's giving out. I'm absolutely sure that loads of people have the best time ever learning from her. It's just a little trouble for someone like me to get all that info picked up. Normal pep with English as first language will understand her much better than I'll ever be able to. English isn't my first language and I have brain damage and lost much of my function in the right side I used to use for everything. So the disability is double for me. Doesn't make her bad. Just my understanding lessened. Because she is absolutely amazing. Does she have videos longer than 75 minutes?
Line B I don't currently subscribe to Lisa's channel (you can see the number of subscribers she has on Patreon, without subscribing yourself). So, I'm not sure how long her more complicated videos are.
well that was lovely Jason,,,fell asleeo,,now I will watch it all over again,,love your videos soo relaxing
This is cool! You're always giving pragmatic advice this is why I subscribed. Thanks!!!
thanks
love this. thank you so much.
Awesome!
Amazing! I'm actually catching myself wanting more of those pencils. And I'm really really bad with them 😂😂 but it looks so good 👍
I don’t have any pastel pencils. Been wondering what are the benefits of coloring with them. I’m presently clueless. Also why did you choose Derwent Pastel pencils. Thank you!
Amazing as always!! can you do a review on kohinoor Gioconda pastel pencils??
I dont have those yet
Hello, great video, but I have a question, don't you think using a sharpener for pastel pencils can be rather wasteful? Sharpeners shave quite a bit of material off the lead of the pencil and in the case of pastels they're so soft they can't really maintain a sharp point for long anyway. The reason I prefer a knife or razor blade is that I can only shave off the wood of the pencil and leave the lead intact. To get fine lines I just use a piece of sandpaper to flatten the top and use the rim of the lead instead of a pointed tip.
when blocking in large areas I normally use panpastels, or pastels sticks. That saves the pencils, this was a small projects with minimum supplies :)
Sure, but I'm just saying that regardless of how much you use them you can make them last even longer by using a knife. It's also easier to get fine detail like fur by using the rim of a flat pencil tip.
Chrysostomos Chrysostomides I use the Derwent Superpoint sharpener to sharpen all of my pastel pencils! Jason has a review of it as well! It makes the point super sharp so it gives you the possibility to make very nice details! You should try it! It really works great!
I found that pastel pencils are three times more likely to break when sharpening with a knife, as compared to a high quality electronic or manual sharpener.
My personal favorite is the SchoolSmart electric unit. It creates a fine point on any pencil medium, and automatically stops when that point is achieved.
The unit sells for a little over $30, US, on Amazon.
You can also use the KUM long point sharpeners. Just use the side that only shaves the wood then finish off with a sandpaper block. No knives involved. I use this method for charcoal pencils all of the time.
Thanks...great
Thank u
Too confusing you needed to say what colours you were using at the time.
Not everyone has the exact same pencil brand colours. .
I have a free 40 min video on TH-cam how to match colours 👍