Pastel practice:
Preparatory drawing 
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Preparatory drawing
For the most part, pastelists apply a preparatory schematic drawing using those colors that will later be used to create the painting. At the same time, no one bothers to use coal.
Pattern and color
Drawing is the basis of any art technique, especially pastel painting. The imposition of color spots, when working with pastels, is to a large extent akin to the picture, since with the help of color they not only paint, but also simulate the shape, outlining the contours and giving the image volume. Pastel is equally a work of drawing and painting, because it is both a painting and a tinted drawing. Historically, the predecessor of the pastel was a drawing created using three colors: sanguine, black and white. Many professional pastelists consider themselves draftsmen in “color”, and each of the pastel artists is obliged to take into account that the basis of an excellent artwork is a technically correctly executed drawing, with the correct transmission of all the nuances of chiaroscuro.Graduation of chiaroscuro can be done in color or tone, as, for example, in the grisaille technique.
To work in the grisaille technique, as a rule, sanguine, charcoal and chalk of white, brown (sepia) and brown (siena) color are used. In addition to traditional feathering, some artists use bristle brushes for feathering.
The picturesque pastel fragment by Joan Marty is based on the careful harmonization of the elements of chiaroscuro using the grisaille technique. Only at the final stage of the work was color added.
Grisaille is a pattern with the transfer of black and white relations, made in different tones of the same color. The main tonality of the picture can be reddish (sanguine), grayish-black (coal and chalk), brown (sienna), brown (sepia), etc. In some cases, grisaille may include shades of colors that are close and in harmony with the basic tonality, and even achieve chromatic completeness. Grisailly is characterized by rare picturesqueness, pastel works made in this technique are so complete and harmonious that the lack of pure flowers is not capable of impoverishing them in any way. This is a sure way to understanding the technique of pastel painting, to mastering all the secrets of contrast, chiaroscuro, and the interpenetration of colors.
The work should begin with a charcoal drawing, and before adding any other color, it is necessary to carefully apply the shading and shading.
With the gradual thickening of the shadows, it is necessary to revive the drawing with the help of a sanguine, without violating the main tonality of the work.
In the final stages of the work, you need to add color. First, you should act extremely carefully, closely monitoring the gradations of chiaroscuro, then more energetically, gradually increasing the intensity of color spots
The pastel, made by Jose Luis Fuentetaha, is based on a very thorough and clear grisaille. Studying photographs of the intermediate stages of work, it can be noted that most of the chromatic colors were added at the final stage of work and took into account the effects created using coal and sanguine.
Pastel-colored drawing
Drawing with the help of pastel is performed in the same way as with any other artistic means, the only difference is that the work with the pastel bar is more sketched and free, compared with ink or pencil. In this case, the principle of drawing a portrait using only three colors and white color, which is designed to highlight them, is demonstrated in stages. This method of working with pastels is very similar to the classical technique of drawing with three pencils, but allows the image to be transmitted using not only a line, but also a color spot. This combination offers very wide possibilities and, for this reason, is often used to perform sketches from nature and quick sketches.
The theme of this exercise is a portrait of a girl. The exercise is designed to train you in sketching. The charming immediacy of pastel technique allows you to convey all the liveliness of a child’s face, without resorting to realistic thoroughness in this case.
Stage 1. In this case, the artistic find is that the initial drawing is done in an intermediate color, leaving dark and light shades for the subsequent stages of work, when the overall effect of the work will be much easier to evaluate.
2 stage. First of all, the initial drawing needs to be based on the line, and only then, focusing on the preliminary strokes, it is necessary to apply blue elongated spots, which will strengthen the base lines, simulate the shape and volume, and transmit gradation of chiaroscuro.
3 stage. To highlight the most important details, such as the eyelids, eyes, nose, lips, charcoal is perfect. But do not overuse coal, for example, by applying shadows, the picture will turn out to be too dark.
4th stage. To soften the shadows and harmonize the portrait as a whole, white spots are applied at the final stage of the work, which, mixed with charcoal and ultramarine, will give a gray and pale blue color, respectively.
The immediate charm of the sketch drawing lies precisely in the fact that all the colors used in it are a single whole and not one of them is dominant. For this reason, too bright colors will not work for such a work.
Works of this type can be performed in a variety of colors. It is extremely important that the selected colors are harmoniously combined with each other: one must be light (white or light blue), the other intermediate (gray, cinnabar, sienna, sanguine, etc.), the third dark (black, sepia, saturated blue, dark green, etc.). To prevent the drawing from being too flashy, it is not recommended to use too bright colors.