| With hard pastels, the pigment is less easily released than with soft pastels. Therefore, they are less suitable for the characteristic technique of soft pastels, which involves blending or fading colors by smudging them. Next to you can see the difference between soft pastel, pastel pencil, and hard pastel. Hard pastels can also be dissolved in water like soft pastels but release significantly less pigment. |
| Because you can easily create points on the chalks using a knife or sandpaper, they are extremely well-suited for depicting precise lines and details. The square shape lends itself very well to working with corners, sides, or the tip. Easy for both large areas and small details. |
| Here you can see an example of the different sides of a square pastel that you can use. |
| Even with the smallest pieces of hard pastel, you can still draw well. Here you can see how small the pieces that can still be used are. |
| Hard pastels are generally used for setting up drawings, applying details, or sketch-like drawings. You can easily erase the (sketch) lines with a bristle brush or a clean cloth. Hard pastels are also suitable for creating powerful expressive line drawings. Additionally, hard pastels have the advantage that they do not quickly clog the paper. |
| You can blend the colors of hard pastels by hatching them over each other, just like with colored pencils. Again, work with the lighter colors over the darker colors for the best results. |
One of the most well-known types of hard pastel is the Conté crayon. Hard pastel chalk is a special type of pastel chalk. These chalks contain more binder, Arabic gum, making them harder. These hard pastels have been around for a long time. In the past, they were mainly used in the colors sepia, sanguine, and white for preparatory sketches. Nowadays, these chalks are available in many colors, although not as many colors as the soft pastel chalks.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the artists who frequently used sanguine-colored chalk for sketching. Here you can see some of his works. Various techniques are combined in the sketches. You can see clear lines that follow the contours of, for example, the body or hair. Shadows are also depicted through areas of tone, giving the forms a three-dimensional quality. Drawing techniques were often combined with ink.
With hard pastels, the pigment is less easily released than with soft pastels. Therefore, they are less suitable for the characteristic technique of soft pastels, which involves blending or fading colors by smudging them. Next to you can see the difference between soft pastel, pastel pencil, and hard pastel. Hard pastels can also be dissolved in water like soft pastels but release significantly less pigment.
Because you can easily create points on the chalks using a knife or sandpaper, they are extremely well-suited for depicting precise lines and details. The square shape lends itself very well to working with corners, sides, or the tip. Easy for both large areas and small details.
Here you can see an example of the different sides of a square pastel that you can use.
Even with the smallest pieces of hard pastel, you can still draw well. Here you can see how small the pieces that can still be used are.
Hard pastels are generally used for setting up drawings, applying details, or sketch-like drawings. You can easily erase the (sketch) lines with a bristle brush or a clean cloth. Hard pastels are also suitable for creating powerful expressive line drawings. Additionally, hard pastels have the advantage that they do not quickly clog the paper.
You can blend the colors of hard pastels by hatching them over each other, just like with colored pencils. Again, work with the lighter colors over the darker colors for the best results.