Portrait Painting - The Best Hard Pastels For Portraits
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- In this video, I’m going to share with you my go-to favorite hard pastels, a custom designed portrait color chart, my top seven must have colors, how to sharpen your hard pastels and my favorite pastel pencils for portrait sketching. Download your free Color Chart here: mailchi.mp/8d1c9c603b4a/nupas...
Join my Painterly Portrait Online Course here: www.picardstudio.com/learn-wi...
Are you looking for more information on what pastels to use? Watch Alain's lesson here: • What Pastels Should I ...
Get seven free underpainting videos here: picardstudio.com/
Alain's Workshops: www.picardstudio.com/workshops/
If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe!
Thanks for watching. Be sure to download your free NuPastel Portrait Color Chart here: mailchi.mp/8d1c9c603b4a/nupastel-portrait-palette
I was extremely fortunate to get the whole set of 96 NPs for $25 on ebay.
Alain, thank you for the video lessons that you have begun doing. It is wonderful when such an accomplished artist as you freely shares your expertise. I am always encouraged and re-energized after watching your videos.
Cathy Mozley thank you for your appreciation! I am thrilled to hear that you are encouraged and energized! That is fantastic!
Thank you for a very informative video. I am a great fan of your work and your way of presenting. Can’t wait for your next video ALAIN.
Thank you so much for sharing your NuPastel Portrait Color Chart! I'm looking forward to the start of Portrait Week today!! 😃
Thanks Alain...I love your energy! Great information! Thanks so much for sharing it with us all!
Pat Frank thank you! So glad you enjoyed, and you are very welcome!
I would have bet money I had watched this video! Perhaps it was before I learned that I need to comment to advance my favorite CZcamsrs analytics? Well I even looked for the color chart and ended up downloading a fresh copy! Always a joy to watch and listen to your presentations! I am re-watching many of your videos as I tore a bicep muscle and will have to take it easy for a while! Looking forward to more content from my favorite pastel Artist!
Enjoy all of your videos and you are so great to share with us!!!
joan dreicer thank you and I hope things are going well for you!
Thank you for the color chart with the Nupastels! I like how you organized them for portraits and I'm going to give that a try. Your top 7 are my go to colors as well. Cordovan is my absolute favorite for portraits and animals. Thanks again for sharing your wonderful talent and knowledge with us!!
Kim that's great, you have good taste! I'm so glad this helped to see them organized. All the best to you!
Thanks Alain, I am always happy to see one of your videos in my inbox and the chart is great. I go to a live portrait model share once a week and am seeing improvement lately. All your tips are so helpful!
That's fantastic! Thanks Janette, glad you enjoyed! All the best to you in your portrait work.
Thank you Alain. Great information. Thanks for the color chart too. Awesome. 👍🏼
Andrew Ansaldi III you are very welcome! Glad you have found it helpful. All the best in your work!
Don't know how I missed this! Great to know your favorite new pastels! Thanks for the color chart.
You are welcome Julie, I hope it helps you with your own work!
Thank you,a great video.love the pastels.
Thank you so very much for another wonderful video full of helpful information! I’m quick to react when I see you’ve posted another video. Keep them coming; we appreciate it!
Thanks so much Dianne. It's really fun to share the art of pastel with you all!
It has been years since I have used Nupastels. I certainly have nothing against them and the colors are really lovely. I do have a few brands of pencils. The Pitt pencils are by far the hardest but I do enjoy the softness of Carbothellos and about 12 or so of Caran de'ache pencils. They are far softer. Economically speaking I could understand why you would choose the Nupastels with the amount of painting you do. I have heard so many say that they thought all pastel pencils were harder but that isn't the case. Very informative video and I always enjoy your tips! Thank you very much.
Great answers…just ordered the big set! Thanks!
Thank you for this video! Knowing that the pastel pencils are harder than NuPastels helps very much - I have used pastel pencils for my sketch and will give more attention to the NuPastels along with the Townsend Soft Pastel portrait set I bought instead of relying on pastel pencils for details...
You are always a great help, and fantastic teacher, keep up the great work
Aww, thanks Michael, that's really kind. You are very welcome. So glad you enjoy and gain inspiration. All the best!
Excellent video! thanks! I love your portraits...they are warm and believable...
Lauraine Laframboise thank you so much, that is kind!
Great video, as usual very informative and full of good tips! Thank you for sharing with us!
You're very welcome Christine, thanks for appreciating! All the best
I love your explanations. Thank you very musch.
Very helpful information and that color chart is amazing so helpful...thank you so much!
Thanks so much, Cindy, that's kind. I'm glad you enjoy the video and color chart!
Thank you Alain, was most helpful re your preferred colours for portraits as am just starting out painting them. I have the full set of Nupastels and couldn’t do without them for all subjects. Will try sharpening the ones you have suggested...great idea. Thx again for your generosity in sharing your knowledge and skills...bless you 🙏🏻🙋🏼🇦🇺
Roslyn Burgess-Clay you are very welcome! It’s a real joy to share with you all! Have fun sharpening.
Thanks for your help and clarity Alan
You bet Doreen, all the best!
My 92 year old friend told me-Nu Pastels are the best! I love them!
Thanks Alain for your valuable information, you are a blessing to me, please continue to share, I am going to buy some NuPastel for my next project. Thanks for the color chart
William Dickerson glad to be a blessing to you! Thats great, you will enjoy them I am sure. All the best to you!
Thank you for such valuable information. Much appreciated.
You are very welcome, Lindy, so glad you enjoyed!
Thank you for a great in-depth video! So helpful.
You're very welcome Catherine, thanks for appreciating! All the best
Love the video. Thank you!!
Thank you for this. I had asked that question in yesterday’s live broadcast.
Hi Alain, this is a great video. I felt like I was back in the studio watching you in person :) Thank you for your top seven. I struggled selecting the best color for the corner of a mouth. Cordovan is now on my must-buy list.
jarrett jackson you absolutely must have cordovan for those pillars of the mouth! So glad this was helpful to you! Keep painting
You are amazing Alain! I’ve learned so much from you. You are so wellorganized ! Thankyou so much for sharing. I used ti paint inpastels so many many years ago and left them for oils. Now I’m goi g back to pastels thanks to you. Slowly gathering my equipment. Thankyou thank you thank you. Love your videos. By the wsy can I glue ssnded paper with modge podge onto my foam board?
Thank you Alain. I am about to begin using pastels for portrait painting and was at a loss to know how to use my new box of pard pastels.
Thank you very much Alain. This video really helps me.
You are very welcome Mimi! Glad it helped.
Thanks a mil, so grateful for the information. Very useful and helpful.
You are very welcome, Miriam, so glad you found it helpful!
Thanks again Mr Alain🙏🙏🙏!
You are welcome Francisco Jairo
Thankyou Alain ! Very very helpful!
Hi Susan, you're welcome! Glad you enjoyed the video.
We got to see more of your personality in this video Alain. I loved it and you put my mind at ease about the hard pastels. I love them too, and now I actually have a reason why. (They aren't as hard as the pencils)....I just hated sharpening both of them. But it sure looks easy the way you did it. I'm going to do that next time I sharpen them. One good thing about the hard pastels, they don't break as often as the pencils do. That drives me crazy.
Babs Haake i am glad you actually enjoyed my personality coming through! Thanks. Keep sharpening!
Thanks Alian you are a great teacher
Glad you think so! Appreciate it!
Thanks again. I am using Drywall Screen, Fine Grit to sharpen mine. A razor is good as well. Maybe a little more control with the razor than the scrren. The way I am doing allows me to save the dust to make my own later. I bend 4 sides up about an inch and stick it in a small bakery pan. Fits well and saves the dust to make my own later. NuPastels are great and the tips you provide are certainly welcome. Really look forward to your videos on CZcams!
Great sharpening approach, Don! Thanks for sharing, that's worth trying, and a great way to save the pastel dust that is created. All the best!
caput mortuum! Thank you Alain for this great video. I love NuPastels, and it was so nice of you to send the color chart. Thanks so much for all of your help. One day I plan to attend one of your workshops!
418SurferGirl you are very welcome! Glad it helps. Hope to work with you in the future! Would you be interested in an online course?
@@AlainPicard Hi Alain, yes possibly in the meantime that may work out. Can I work at my own pace because I don't have access to a computer all the time, just a tablet or my phone.
@@418SurferGirl thanks for the feedback about this, I am planning on launching a course in the fall if all goes according to plan. There will definitely be an at your own pace option. Keep painting!
@@AlainPicard Sounds great! Looking forward to it!
This is so cool! I subbed!
Thank you for the free DL I have these with no idea how to use or work with
Thank you, and thank you again!❤️
You are very welcome Marietta!
So helpful. I too use the Pitt pencils for detail but shall give NuPastel a try. I received some Richeson, but would like to expand my selection. Thanks!
L Owen glad you enjoyed! Did you get the Richeson hard pastels? If so, are they really hard? That is my recollection of them.
Thank you Alain for the list.. I also love these pastels but am going to try and use them more for the detail too... Can I ask you what paper you.likefor your portraits ?? ,Thanks for sharing your knowledge ....
Another great video! I’m curious...do you just keep a set of the sharpened ones in the prismacolor box? So the tips don’t all break if stored in your big, open pastel tray? And then when traveling, do you just carry a small, separate little box with some of the hard pastels (especially sharpened ones)?
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
You are very welcome 66supersport1!
You know I’ve been “collecting” pastels for years and I really never gave the NuPastel a look back. I do detail work and go to my pencils, but after experiencing the “scratching” of the pencil nibs, I’m probably looking at a set of the Prismas (and a pack of razors) next go round. Thank you!
Jessica Shippee give it a shot and see what you think! Softer than pencils for sure. All the best!
These are very much more expensive here in the UK is there any chance you might consider doing a portrait box for us to buy?
Absolutely love your work and all your videos too , you are the best ! 🎨❤️
Hi Alain. I don't like pastel pencils either because they tend to crumble on me when I am sharpening them, even using a really good sharpener. I have not tried the exacto knife to sharpen them, though. I may try that. I like the Nupastels better than pencils -- I sharpen them like you do for detail work.
Wow, this really helped. What do you do with the shavings?
Very helpful thanks.
You are welcome Shams Arts.
Some of my NuPastels are 20 years old (obviously not my favs). Thanks for another great video.
Tina Boyle that’s amazing! Use the pastels that work best for YOU! That’s most important. All the best!
Alain my man
Thank you very much
What's the difference between soft and hard pastels along with what's the best type for beginners?
The mesh screw top jar sharoener used with soft pastels. Your view
I've never tried that, have you?
@alainpicard Captain Picard, can you recommend any videos or techniques for using sennelier oil pastels grande? I
Alain, thanks for this valuable information. I like the logical way that you think. The years you have spent in the trenches saves us untold hours of flailing around. We all stand on the shoulders of giants and are foolish not to take advantage of the centuries of knowledge and experience so willingly passed down from master to student. As David Leffel used to say, "Anyone who says they are self-taught is admitting they have a fool for a teacher."
Under the "Cool Flesh" row, unfortunately the useful #314 "Old Lilac" seems to be no longer included in the set of 96. The first clue of changes came in realizing there was a sticker attached over the printed color chart on the box. Peeling off the new label and comparing it to the original box printing, it shows that numerous color and organizational changes have been made to the color selection. In fact, the new chart only shows 95 colors - one short! Also, under the original, #314 is obviously not the right color, so I think it was a matter of them making selection changes to match the printing - basically the tail wagging the dog. As we all know, these discrepancies are quite common in the industry. There has been a great deal of speculation about Prismacolor discontinuing the NuPastel line, as now it's impossible to buy it fully open stock, but they still seem to be touting it on their website.
A very informative and well done video. I hope to do portraits using pastels and presently have a set of 60 Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencils. After watching you draw a portrait using only a few Faber-Castell pencils, I was wondering if is really necessary for me to purchase a set of Prismacolor NuPastels? I live in a small apartment with pets and initially decided to use Faber-Castell pastel pencils rather than soft pastels to reduce the chance of spreading pigment dust. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you for this advice. I found for sale a box of Van Gogh hard pastels, are these comparable, as the Nupastel are very expensive for me. Does anyone have experience with the van goghs? It’s so hard to find good info on hard pastels.
Yes, I agree, hard pastels for portraits is the best......
Since Nupastels are no longer available open stock, do you know of a good brand substitution?
Yeah, I have nu pastel too, but I still like my soft pastels more.
Regarding Richeson pastels: the sticks are listed as semi hard, but I found them quite hard and some rather unusual colors. Also, I learned they’re made in China and I wasn’t fully reassured about their manufacturing. I’ll look forward to adding some NuPastels to my collection.
Yes, they are really hard, harder than NuPastels for sure.
Thank you for this video!…B.
Glad you liked it Billie!
Hi Alain, Thanks for all these fabulous videos. So if we ordered the full box of colors do all the flesh tones that you recommend come in the box?
Carol Ferguson yes they are all in there! You are welcome, have fun.
Great video. Could you do the same thing for landscape; favorite colors etc. Would really appreciate it.
Dory Rice glad you liked it. I actually use very few hard pastels for landscapes since I am impressionistic in the approach. So this is quite a niche item for portraits. I use the same reds, violets and browns for landscape sketching though. Enjoy!
wow, thanks
Since you can no longer buy open stock NuPastel, do you have another brand you can recommend? It's obviously not cost effective to have to buy new sets when you finish just a few sticks. Thanks.
Hi Alain,I love your videos but can’t find a nupastels supplier in U.K.????
Thank you!
You're very welcome Deby!
What are you substituting now that you can't buy individual sticks.
Alain, thank you for sharing the great information on top 7 and the portrait palette color chart!
I'm also curious if you use the pastel dust in any way or just get rid of it.
Anzhelika Vladyko you are welcome! I am not patient enough to save the dust, i just discard it. Some people save it! Not me
Alain, thank you very much for your quick response! Do you ever use NuPastels for the first layer?
Anzhelika Vladyko yes i do some sketching with Nupastels at the start, but I also use them later in the portrait to develop small details.
hi so u dont even use yellow that was awesome thanx a lot yes and i noticed that pencils really digging in the paper thank u so much i love to see u doing portrait i loved ur style with the sunset and treas but i didnt find just one video for u dong portrait
Adam saoud thanks, i have one portrait demo on my channel which is two parts. Did you see it? There’s more coming in the future, so stay tuned! I do use yellow ochre in this portrait palette. Sometimes you need that yellow in the skin!
Hi Alain, I'm glad I watch another one of your videos, I was very tempted to buy the Nu pastels but for the piece I was working on I felt they were too hard.
I found the Sennelier oil pastels to be very blendable without the waxy build up, is there any dry soft pastels that you can recommend that isn't oil basted but just as blendable? I've tested others but they still seem too hard- thank you in advance, I love your videos- God bless you! 🌷
Hi Dora, thanks so much, that's kind. I'm glad you enjoy the videos! Have you seen the one about what pastels to use?
czcams.com/video/6N0srw9pklE/video.html
@@AlainPicard Yes I have, I've watched a lot of your videos, I also do oils, graphite, colored pencil, as well as being a writer, and I'm waiting to start a youth artist ministry for homeless kids and needy youth as well as seasoned artists from the ages of 10- 25, I'm with a ministry in the East Village called The Open Door NYC 😊
Nice video. Just one thing bugging me! The greys. The grey tone next to black needs to be swapped around with the darker tone next to it.
Alain, what do you do with the pastel dust after you sharpen the pastels?
Well, Les, truthfully...I throw it out! I wish I could somehow recycle it, but I'm not that patient and resourceful.
@@AlainPicard Mix the dust with linseed oil and cold wax to create an oil pastel.
Thanks👍👍👍‼‼
I think the person who has perfected this technique is Ellen Eagle. Not that you haven't, I adore you , your work, your channel, and hope my channel grows in a few years to what yours is today. But when you asked who perfected this, I think it was Ellen Eagle.
Just curious: What do you do with the residue after shaving them? Do you use them later for backgrounds, maybe?
I throw them away as I just don't have a use for them but you could save and use to rub them into the paper
Hello Alain, thank you for the video. Unfortunately in France Nu pastel are not easy to get or with ridiculous price + shipping. I use the Conté à Paris sticks instead. So far I've never tried to sharpen my pastels and used only pastel pencils for details. I was wondering if there was a way to use the shaved pigment, maybe with a brush, by adding water or any solvant/medium ? Trying to benefit from your experience before I experiment with these myself.
I'm replying so anyone who sees the question you posted can benefit! I don't sharpen my nupastels, they often have a point on them somewhere because of how they're shaped. What does happen is sometimes I need a light color so I'll make a "pile" of the usual color on another piece of paper, just by scribbling. When I'm ready, I pick up the dust with a cotton swab and use that to transfer it to my picture paper. I hope this helps anyone who likes to keep to pastels only!
I love NuPastels! They’re my favourite pastel in my collection. I’ve tried so many things to sharpen, but I always go back to a blade to sharpen my pastels. The one other tool I use is a vegetable peeler for my Faber-Castell pencils. It gives me a nice long lead for shading, but the other pencils are too soft for the peeler. I refine points with a 100/180 grit black nail file. I buy them from Sally Beauty. With some colours I try to save the dust because I can use a small, round makeup brush to apply it, like yellow greens as highlights on trees. Most of the time it just goes in the garbage, though 😊
NicoleCormier I love Nupastels also. I live in Canada to my surprise, I saw them that my local art store for about $0.50 per stick. I guess the store will no longer carry Nupastel. The staff knows me so they gave me all the old boxes that holds 12 sticks per box, I ended up with about 60 sticks for about $20. After store discount. So happy,
How do you use the pastel powder from the nupastels you had from sharpening them?
You could rub it in with a cloth or sponge for a background. Honestly I dont use it at all.
Ive heard Nupastels arent very lightfast...have you run into any problems with that?
i recently got the 96 set but about 15 of them don't work :( They have some kind of glaze or are not as soft as the rest and they literally don't produce any pigment on the paper - any advice on how to salvage them?
Use fine sandpaper to remove the glaze before using the pastels
My packet of Nu Pastels did not come with a wrapper. And this is 2022. But the Nu Pastels from Prismacolor don't even come with gold, silver abd bronze, which I like for black paper. I like the Polychromos Artist Pastel sticks, but unfortunateley they discontinued them, I just learned last year. Would be nice if all you fellow artists would write an e mail to Faber Castel to have them reinstated for manufacturing again.
Nice hair😊
This was a great video! I'm a beginner and nupastels were one of the first I purchased. But I have been confused about what I should invest in. I have already purchased some senillier and find them very soft..stabilo pencils..unison are so creamy but fill a lot of tooth. Its overwhelming!! Do you find the nupastels work nicely on the UART pastel paper?
Thanks so much for the color chart.
Tammy Driedger yes, they work well on UART. Dis you watch my video What Pastels Should I Use? It will help!
@@AlainPicard yes but I will watch again before i put another blick order in. I tried to make my own pastel paper with heavy water color pad and liqutex because I live no where near an art supply store..didnt turn out well. I may try gesso pumice gel and see if that would work🤔😌
@@IdahadleyartI think Blick ships UART paper too, if you haven't tried it yet you should! It's a joy to work on. Sorry your DIY paper didn't go how you had hoped. Keep painting!
I just use the edge of a flat spot for detail. And sometimes I add in some pastel pencil. I could not waste so much of the stick. I do portraits and like to copy the old masters. so lots of detail.
Glad this works well for you Penny, all my best!
I use my pastels like lipstick, don’t ask lol, but it shapes em on their own.
Itried to pull up your portrait pallet color chart and could not get it. Please help. O'Llynda Walkler
Hi O'Lynda. I am sorry about your difficulties with the color chart. I just emailed it to you. Enjoy!
Once you sign up with your email, you will get a page that says...."as promised, here is your NUPASTEL PORTRAIT COLOR CHART. Click on those capital letters and it will link you to the color chart.
You will also get an email with a link.
Thanks Joan, that's correct!
Love your pastel videos and look forward to each one! Here's a question. I have a box called Nupastel color sticks by Eberhardt Faber, Inc. Are they of student or professional quality? Thank you!
Lisa McGovern Graphic Design LLC thanks for the kind words! I am really not sure about your box of pastels, from a long time ago?
It would have been awesome of prismacolor had put their nupastels as pencils
Ok im new to the world of painting ..can you explain me the difference between hard and soft pastels. ..oil pastels ..and pencil pastels ...iv been hearing all kinds of paint instruments ..im a little confused ...thanks ..grettings from 🇲🇽🎺 🐎🔫🌶🔥🌮🍺🌵
Hi Eden de Jesus. I have created a video about What Pastels Should I Use? You can watch it here:czcams.com/video/6N0srw9pklE/video.html I hope it will be helpful to you. All my best to you.
that is a lot of pigment sanded off. I would save that and watercolor with it...if it works.
you certainly can, but it's not quite like watercolor paint. Not as smooth when it's shaved
I found these too hard and scratchy for me. I prefer Conte Crayons. Everyone is different.
Is there only one white?
Because you didn't give its number.
Also, about sharpening...
It might be wise to advise folks to sharpen the end that does not have the order number on it... don't want to lose that when you go to re-order !
That's true, always sharpen the side without the number! Yes, there is one pure white in the NuPastel set.
"If I'm trapped on a desert island, these are the hard pastels I'd use..." 😂🤣
If you're trapped on a desert island, shouldn't your first priority be surviving and getting _off_ the island??
yeah, I know, it's a pastel channel. I'm just saying.... priorities... 😂😂
I'm just teasing, but I thought it was hilarious!