Drakarus In reply to Eveqi [2014-02-03 02:23:53 +0000 UTC]

No problem! Your stuff is great!~

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Drakarus In reply to purplekittykatgal [2013-04-14 22:55:59 +0000 UTC]

Ahhh such a late reply! I'm sorry! (It's exam time, haha. I have no concept of time for the next 2 weeks!)

I use fixative spray between layers, or whenever I decide to take a break. It adds 'tooth' to the paper so the pigments can stick better over the pastel since the original pigments of the previous layers take up the tooth of the paper so you need to add some more. There are workable fixatives and finishing fixatives, though quite honestly, finishing works best for layering and final touches. One inconvenience is that it will usually make a painting darker so I like to sometimes highlight my pieces with bright colours after spraying so they pop out a lot and that last layer isn't sprayed, so the lightest colours can be smudged but they usually don't unless you try to rub your painting).

Other than that, yeah, you still have to be careful. : ) You can buy mylar (expensive) or just tracing paper in large formats to put between paintings if you plan on piling them (like I do, minus the paper because haha, I just never got to that due to lack of time, but I will this summer!). If they're piled but you don't shear the papers on top of each other they shouldn't get too damaged.

For museum pieces and I suppose more expert artists, they will not use fixative at all, but they do put them directly under UV protective glass which not everyone can afford. Some fixatives will have UV protection in them but you really have to check for that. Alternatively you can also just buy higher quality pastels that have high lightfastness and will never lose colour, but most quality brands are qutie expensive, even for intermediates. I do have some brands I would love to look into getting full sets of that don't have these issues, but as long as you spray and keep them out of direct sunlight, your paintings should stay nice.

I recommend starting with the Krylon brands because they are some of the cheaper brands you can get at Michael's but Winsor & Newton also have a very good brand (but it darkens paintings much more, and ironically this company stopped producing pastels a few years back - but man, they're really great if you can ever get your hands on them! I'm still looking for a full 500 set, haha). Experiment and find out which one you like best!

There's probably some more knowledge in that brain of mine, but for now I'm so exhausted from studying I can't think of anything else. But yeah, keep me updated!

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purplekittykatgal In reply to Drakarus [2014-11-20 22:11:00 +0000 UTC]

Well I can't blame you in the least for your two week delay...mostly because of my eight month haitus. 

Thank you again for all your help! In all honesty, school and life got in the way and I quite forgot my artistic pursuits. I still do what I've always done...doodle. But as the level of boredom increases, the level of detail has become surprisingly sharp. Not my proudest moment, admitting my only real advance I've made in my art is the result of being trapped in mind-draining classes. 

Speaking of classes, I do hope all is going well for you. Since my artistic fugue I wouldn't be surprised if you already graduated.

For one of my classes, I was required to volunteer for a certain amount of hours (the irony of forced volunteering is something I will not get started on). One even that I worked was a Meet the Artist program at my local library. There were twleve different arists from a local gallery, all of whom worked with pastels. They mostly were working with landscapes, that was the collection focus, but I was so blown away with their work I'll admit I may have gotten carried away, forgetting my duties, and proceeded to bug them about their work. 

I need to stretch my imagination out, especially after how bogged down I've been with being 'responsible'. I will have to try pastels again this winter break. That is the goal. A near, set, tangible goal. 

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Drakarus In reply to PhuiJL [2012-11-15 17:44:21 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! : )

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Drakarus In reply to revenge-is-sweet17 [2012-11-15 17:45:40 +0000 UTC]

lol I just realized you posted a new journal an hour ago. Will read ~

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revenge-is-sweet17 In reply to Drakarus [2012-11-15 17:54:29 +0000 UTC]

I dont know why I did that. Its been so long lol.

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Drakarus In reply to revenge-is-sweet17 [2012-11-15 17:44:48 +0000 UTC]

Thanks girl! Man, we need to catch up on stuff!

How have you been?

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revenge-is-sweet17 In reply to Drakarus [2012-11-15 17:46:18 +0000 UTC]

I've been doing pretty good. Trying to keep busy. How was your birthday? How are you?

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Drakarus In reply to revenge-is-sweet17 [2012-12-08 01:37:18 +0000 UTC]

Birthday was alright, but nothing too spectacular. It was nice to have a break though since I was up to my ears in work up until that point haha.

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Drakarus In reply to PhuiJL [2012-10-04 01:58:29 +0000 UTC]

Aww! Thank you! Your style(s) is pretty impressive too. I never got into digital art (tried and failed) and people like you just make me incredibly envious. It's a good thing!

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Drakarus In reply to xAlyaHx [2012-06-08 02:17:33 +0000 UTC]

No problem! Your comic is pretty awesome. And I love your ability to have so many different styles!

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Drakarus In reply to CNunes [2012-06-01 19:55:38 +0000 UTC]

No problem! Enjoy a llama!

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CNunes In reply to Drakarus [2012-06-04 15:42:57 +0000 UTC]

Thanx ^^

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Drakarus In reply to the-blood-oath [2012-04-18 00:01:44 +0000 UTC]

omg. YES. I AM SO SO EXCITED FOR THIS BRO. YOU'RE MAKING ME WANT TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS BRO. I'M USING THE TERM BRO, BRO.

Although I definitely wouldn't do a bust now because I have no clay, nor aluminum or access to supports, but I kind of want to do a figure now...

ACK NO MICHELE, YOU MUST STUDY.

Bitch please, you already know all your exam stuff and you have a cheat sheet for bio.

Yeah but I still feel bad.

NO, fuck you, you're painting something tonight!

Whaaaaa?

/talkingtoself

Definitely use it for the inside, and depending on the position of the head, you may need to counter balance it towards the back so you could also use it for that.

It's definitely going to get better, clay work is always like that and I know you'll put you're heart into it so it looks kickass.

Yesss, plans!

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the-blood-oath In reply to Drakarus [2012-04-18 00:12:53 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I've moulding/sculpting takes time and balance. I just got very sore hands from the horrible sculpey so I stopped for now. I'm playing with the sculpey I like now so I don't get turned off of sculpting AHAHA I hate that shit though >_> Arg. I'll go back to it tomorrow and I hope I won't be as angry

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Drakarus In reply to the-blood-oath [2012-04-18 01:33:48 +0000 UTC]

Take pictures I wanna see! Or like, you could just send them over msn/text if you don't want to post them. I love seeing work in progress!

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the-blood-oath In reply to Drakarus [2012-04-18 22:26:47 +0000 UTC]

It costs me le money to send by text so I won't do it there. I'll do it now and put it in scraps~

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Drakarus In reply to ego-amorem-deum [2012-04-11 04:05:28 +0000 UTC]

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Drakarus In reply to Zavazadlo [2012-03-16 03:25:28 +0000 UTC]

Awww! Thank you!

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Drakarus In reply to revenge-is-sweet17 [2011-12-23 05:37:12 +0000 UTC]

D'awww! Thanks! I haven't had much time to do art lately though, which is sad. I'd like to get at least some serious sketches done over Christmas break though.

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revenge-is-sweet17 In reply to Drakarus [2011-12-23 20:06:29 +0000 UTC]

Well hopefully you have the time to do those sketches. It would be nice to see some new art work I on the other hand havent done much art work in a long time. I drew one picture a month ago but havent put it on DA yet.

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Drakarus In reply to Sabhira [2011-12-06 03:04:10 +0000 UTC]

Awww! Thank you so much! Yes, I tend to be a bit more colour and 'specific' when I use pastels, but that's mostly because I use them as coloring tools rather than a medium. I'm not so sure how to describe it, but you certainly won't see portraits like these done in pastel.

Since there are a bunch of different types of pastels, I wouldn't be surprise if you just haven't found your 'type' yet. There are also more chalky soft pastels (called chalk pastels for obvious reasons) which I dislike which a passion, and those don't blend well. A VERY good brand I found for beginners, and what actually got me into the medium is Loew-Cornell. If you have a craft store or a Micheal's near you, you can get a 48 pack for 20$ roughly. Which is pretty damn good considering I pay upwards 200$ for a good set of pastels now. You can find them here: [link]

As for how to blend exactly, it's hard to give advice on that. It's something I've learned by trial and error mostly, but it also varies extremely depending on what kind of pastel you use. Here's an article I wrote a few years back that could be helpful if you're looking to start (again): [link]

Really hope you manage to get into pastels, or at least find a medium that fits you! It's a great feeling when you have a medium to be passionate about.

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