Making soft pastels is a time-consuming messy job but well worth all the trouble when you are successful making that one special color that you have not been able to find anywhere else. You can create your own custom pastel sizes that fit your hand and the techniques you like to use. Not only that, you learn a great deal about color during the process and can make them cheaper than buying commercial pastel crayons.

Another advantage of being able to make pastels is that you can make your pastels as soft or as hard as you would like them to be. Commercial pastels have to be made hard enough to withstand breakage during shipment. Because you do not have to concern yourself with shipping you can make softer pastels which are more yielding and do not dig into the under-layers as much as the harder pastels do.

The paint quality will be richer, and the colors more intense. The softer the pastel, the easier it is to make thick layers of color. Light colors can be applied with real impasto effects, which are especially brilliant with soft pastels.

Knowing what goes into your pastels is another advantage.  You can be the quality control technician. Use the best ingredients available, and only proven permanent pigments, safe binder, and preservatives to prevent mold.  Keep your supplies and tools clean to prevent trash contamination.

Making soft pastels is a time-consuming messy job but well worth all the trouble when you are successful making that one special color that you have not been able to find anywhere else. You can create your own custom pastel sizes that fit your hand and the techniques you like to use. Not only that, you learn a great deal about color during the process and can make them cheaper than buying commercial pastel crayons.

Another advantage of being able to make pastels is that you can make your pastels as soft or as hard as you would like them to be. Commercial pastels have to be made hard enough to withstand breakage during shipment. Because you do not have to concern yourself with shipping you can make softer pastels which are more yielding and do not dig into the under-layers as much as the harder pastels do. The paint quality will be richer, and the colors more intense. The softer the pastel, the easier it is to make thick layers of color. Light colors can be applied with real impasto effects, which are especially brilliant with soft pastels.

Knowing what goes into your pastels is another advantage. You can be the quality control technician. Use the best ingredients available, and only proven permanent pigments, safe binder, and preservatives to prevent mold.  Keep your supplies and tools clean to prevent trash contamination.

1. Old Clothes to wear, plastic table cloth
2. Dust Mask, disposable gloves
3. Notebook for formulas and adjustments
4. Glass    or non-stick Work surface
5. Measuring Spoons and cup, spatula,
1/2 tsp. & 1 drop graded dispenser

Safety First!

Don't forget to wear your gloves and mask.

 6. Ivory clear dishwashing detergent, water
 7.  Pigments, and precipitated chalk
 8.  Putty knife, (forming knives are nice)
9.  Sponges, paper towels, babywipes, 409
10. Storage bottles for binding solutions
11. Dry pigments, Binder, preservative
12. Newspaper, plastic wrap

Good lighting helps.
And remember, label those bottles.  Keep your trash can handy and try to work as clean and as organized as you can.

To begin you will need supplies to make a binding solution.  Gum tragacanth is the most acceptable and widely used binder. It is a dry powder that is derived from various species of the astragalus shrub, a plant found throughout Asia.   Because this binder is susceptible to mildew,you will need a preservative solution to put in your binder.   For this workshop, we used gum tragacanth with preservative premixed by Terry Ludwig which was a great deal easier.   All supplies can be ordered by contacting Terry Ludwig at http://www.makepastels.com  or from most large art supply houses such as Dick Blick or Senopia.

Because each pigment has unique properties that react differently, the first step is to make binding solutions in different strengths to accommodate these differences.  If you don't use supplies from Terry, use the scratch formulas below.

Preservative Solution
Lukewarm water:  5 quarts + 2 level teaspoons of sodium orthophenylphenate

Solution A
48 Fluid Ounces of Preservative solution
2 level tablespoons gum tragacanth

Solution B
8 Fluid Ounces of preservative solution
8 Fluid Ounces of Solution A

Solution C
24 Fluid Ounces of Preservative solution
8 Fluid Ounces of Solution A

Solution D
24 Fluid Ounces of Preservative solution
4 Fluid Ounces of Solution A

Solution E
24 Fluid Ounces of Preservative solution
2 Fluid Ounces of Solution A

Directions:
Make up the solutions and store in bottles that you have labeled as Solution A-E and Preservative Solution. ( 6 bottles)  When you make solution A, which is the mother for all the other solutions, let the mixture soak about twenty-four hours in a warm place while a gel forms on the top.  Then whisk the solution until the gel and water become one. If you put this into an old soda bottle, you can gently mix by moving the bottle gently from side to side. Place a cap on the bottle for storage. There may still be some traces of gum or preservative that are not yet absorbed but this is nothing to worry about.

The strength of the binding solution is what determines the softness of the pastel. Here are a few general guidelines for using the solutions.

Solution A:  Cadmium red, cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, alizarin crimson
Solution B:  Cerulean blue
Solution C:  Precipitated chalk, titanium white, zinc white, ivory black, viridian, phthalo blue, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, Mars violet, chromium green oxide
Solution D:  Raw sienna, yellow ochre, Indian red, Prussian blue
Solution E:  Burnt Umber, raw umber
Preservation solution Alone:  Burnt sienna, terre verte

Six steps to success:

White Starter Paste and White Chalk

Start by grinding
3 parts precipitated chalk
1 part  Titanium Dioxide pigment and a little solution C
12 Tablespoons chalk
4 Tablespoons Titanium Dioxide
Solution C a teaspoon at the time until a paste forms.  (15-20 teaspoons)

Use a bowl or a flat non porous surface like glass to mix these ingredients.  Mix chalk and pigment dry before adding solution C. Adjust the mixture with solution C or chalk to form a paste that is the consistency of play dough.

Set this mixture aside. Some will be used as pure white pastel sticks and some used as paste to make color graduations with other pigments.

Deb would like to remind you to think safety first when working with pigments.

Divide the dough ball into smaller pieces and set aside about two thirds of the pieces to be used as white paste stock.

Take the other third and shape the dough into pastel sticks.

Lay the white pastel sticks you have made on news print for an hour or two so that the newsprint can absorb excess moisture and then transfer to plastic wrap that has been wrinkled.  The plastic wrap will keep the pigments from cracking as they dry completely. The pastel sticks should be ready to use within the next day or two.

If you need them in a hurry you can try putting them in the oven at 150° F.  This way you can test them for the desired softness and if you need to adjust you can.  If the color takes easily to a surface,  the binder is right, but if your pastel crumbles during drying or breaks under slight pressure, it needs a stronger binder.  If the color does not take easily to a surface, the pastel is too hard and a weaker binder is needed.  You need to experiment here because some earth colors like terre verte or burnt sienna tend to dry too hard even when they are ground in plain water.   However, when they are mixed with a small amount of chalk or black pigment, they become very soft and lay down well.

Keep notes and you will become an expert.
Start with a clean glass surface or other non-porus work surface.

Choose your working pigment.   Refer to your formula recipes and your notes always.

Measure out the pigment to be used. In this example we are using 2 oz of Ultramarine Blue.

Add a sufficient amount of Solution C.  Keep adding the binding solution C by teaspoons until the paste is of the consistency that is dry enough to keep it from adhering to the fingers.  Use your putty knife to grind the paste into a smooth cake and then slice the cake into portions to be used as Ultramarine blue pastel sticks and then some to be used
 to make custom tints or shades.

Use the putty knife to grind the pigment into the paste. Finally, the mixture becomes a paste that can be formed into a pastel stick.

 Make notes of your mistakes/adjustments.

Roll the paste into a manageable size and make your pastel in the shape and size you would like.

Here I just made a long rope of the pastel paste and cut it into four pieces.

 Taking one of the four pieces of my final  pastel roll, I  begin to mix another custom color by adding white paste.

Continue to grind and mold the paste until you get the mixture completely smooth.

Now roll your new custom color into a long pastel log and cut into four pieces.
Set three of them aside.

Taking the one custom piece, mix with one of the premade pure white pastel log pieces. You now are going to make another custom color of that will be a lighter version of the other two you have already made.

Use the putty knife again to smooth the mix and form your new custom pastel color log.

Once again, roll your new custom color into a log and reserve three of the pieces.  Take one  piece and add it to the last premix white paste.

What you end up with is 5 value tints of your color.

Of course, this is using one pigment color and then using white to make tints.

You can and should use color pigments to grade your custom colors as well. By mixing different pigments together you can make different shades to work with and then create tints from your new custom shades.

To take the mixture further with more tints, just mix your custom colors with the next darkest or lighest tint and make an in-between custom color.

This photograph is showing the all the color tints that have been made. Now it is time to make them into the shapes and sizes that you want. Lay them on absorbent paper until some of the moisture has been absorbed then move to wrinkled plastic wrap to dry.  Or...you can move them to the oven as previously stated.

Store your new custom pastels in boxes that are lined with foam, or use premade boxes that you can buy from art supply houses.

Photograph is of finished pastels made in various shapes for various techniques. I tend to like the triangle shape that I have  learned to make.   It gives me edges that I like and also fits in my fingers well.

Note that the pastels are drying on a wrinkled plastic sack.  When the pastels have completely dryed, they will be slightly lighter in color than they are when they are wet.

Deb, llis, and Carly Learning to make pastels was fun. Many thanks to Terry Ludwig, Don Jusko, Rob Howard and many other pastel artist friends that wish to remain nameless who helped with technical information.
The Making Homemade Pastels Workshop was a big success!

This color thesis on DVD, $35.00.
5"X5" Laminated Real Color Wheel $10.00