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Panpastel - to buy or not to buy

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Dawn Halliwell

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Hi folks, I recently went to an excellent demo by Les Darlow, where he introduced us to panpastel. The results where very effective, but I just wondered if anyone else on here uses them and what you think. They are quite expensive and I am on a limited budget(aren't we all!), so just wanted a few opinions before I persuade hubby to buy me some for Xmas. My concerns are how easy are they to use, they didn't seem to show the grain of the paper the same(but he used different paper to demon them,so that might be why) and are they as vibrant as other pastels? By the way, I mostly paint landscapes/seascapes in pastel like this. Thanks, Dawn

Sylvia Evans

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Lovely painting Dawn....never heard of pan pastels must go and discover.

Edited
by SylviaEvans

Michael Robinson

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Absolutely beautiful painting Dawn. I do love the beautiful colourful works that pastel artists produce, have tried them myself on several occasions but always go back to paint because of the dust.

Dawn Halliwell

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Thanks everyone. The dust doesn't bother me with pastel at the mo, Syd. The only advantage I can see with panpastel is the ability to mix the colours, but I have managed so far with the small box of inexpensive pastels I have been using.

C D

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I haven't used Pan pastels but my gut feeling is that they will encourage users to blend far too much. There's nothing wrong with blending...I do it, like many others...but blending needs to be balanced with more assertive mark-making. Using a sponge applicator (which is what is required with pan pastels) just strikes me as being a wee bit soft, and if it is used for all the mark-making then they will probably look rather similar to each other. Hand-held pastel sticks deliver pressure, unique marks, and deep, strong colour. You've got a lovely sunset colour in that sea-water....I'd agree with the others in just carrying on with what you're doing, with the pastels you've got.

Dawn Halliwell

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Well, I have had a go with panpastels. I bought 5 for the grand total of £5 from ebay made up of blues and pinks, so decided they were worth a punt. Oilydust has a point, it would be easy to do too much blending and I did use sticks as well to get a bit of texture into my painting. I like the limited palette I used for getting a softened effect and the slight haziness you get at night.

Alan Owen

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maybe I am a little bit behind times and I am sorry if every one knows of these pastel they are very handy for lots of things on watercolours they can make a white yacht sail easily,,, they can be used to do fine lines in pastel and are quite hard , for sharpeing to point ,for portrait painting is nice ,,and they are lovely to draw with as well , tree trunks over a watercolour ,etc

Michael Robinson

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Love your second painting Dawn. Just a bit puzzled Alan, are they pastel pencils rather than pan pastel in your illustration?
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Lewis Cooper

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Thanks for that Alan...I've never fancied pastels, having tried them a couple of times, but I can see that those pastel pencils might well come in handy with watercolour...for the reason you gave. I'll have to get some.

David Perry

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Dawn, i think Syd was saying that the panpastels are a gimmick madenof pastel dust .Save your money and buy some really nice quality pastels. Thats what he was saying I think, and I probably agree with him. David

Julie Ford

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I have to say I do like using pan pastels. They are very economical. I did this on pastelmat starting with pan pastels but using soft pastels over the top. I  like being able to blend initially without filling the tooth of the paper. This means I can layer easily. Hope that helps

Ant Holder

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I am tempted to purchase PanPastels as I have seen some incredible work using them, but all with PITT pencils and Polychromos. 
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