NuPastel - a quick approach to starting and finishing

The drawings in this post are all from life and are completed within 20-45 minutes.

NuPastel is a dry pastel product that was originally made by Eberhard-Faber, the company has traded hands several times over the past 30 years and is presently manufactured by Berol/Prismacolor. NuPastel is harder than most chalk pastels but also is quite easy to rub into the paper or smear around on the surface. It may also be manipulated with paint brushes, ground to a fine powder with a sanding block and erases quite easily with a kneaded eraser.

I tend to draw with the long edge of a stick broken in half, not only to mass in large areas but also to put down line. I advise drawing with straight lines particularly when one is struggling with defining shape. Converting curves to angles is fairly simple when you draw with the awkard long edge of a straight block of pastel.

Black and White on Toned Paper

The above image was created using nupastel Prussian blue and white.

The above drawing was done using black and white charcoal.

The image above was created using black and white prismacolor pencil along with burnt ochre to add warm flesh tones in the light and warm reflected light.

Drawing on toned paper is an incredible time saver. If used effectively the value of the toned paper becomes the mid tone that represents the darkest values in the areas receiving light and the lightest values in the shadow areas that represent reflected light. The other challenge is never letting the black pencil and white mix together as it creates an undesirable blue-gray color inconsistent with the tone and hue of the paper.