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Utilising Pastels for Animal Artistry
Pastels are indeed an excellent tool for creating detailed and lifelike animal drawings. The soft, vibrant hues that pastels offer can be used to capture the unique textures and colours of fur, feathers, and scales. The versatility of pastels allows artists to layer colours and create depth, enhancing the realism of the animal subject. With their ability to blend seamlessly, pastels are ideal for creating the soft transitions often found in animal fur and skin. In addition, pastels can be used on a variety of surfaces, including high-quality sketchbooks and art boards available at The Sydney Art Store. Whether you're a professional artist or a hobbyist, using pastels for animal drawings can open up new avenues of creativity and artistic expression.
What Are the Different Types of Pastels and How Do They Perform?
Pastels come in several forms—soft, hard, oil, and pencil—and each brings a unique texture and performance quality to artwork. Soft pastels are highly pigmented and ideal for expressive, painterly techniques, blending easily across textured paper or pastel board. Hard pastels offer more control and precision, making them excellent for detailed work or underdrawings. Oil pastels, with their creamy texture, allow for bold strokes and layering similar to painting, while pastel pencils combine pigment with control for intricate compositions. Each type serves different creative purposes, so understanding their characteristics is essential. Artists often mix formats within a single piece, using soft pastels for vibrant colour and pastel pencils for sharp highlights. Choosing the right pastel medium ensures both creative freedom and the ability to achieve your desired visual effect.
What Are the Advantages of Using Soft Pastels for Expressive Work?
Sennelier Oil Pastel Set 24 Assorted Portrait
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Sennelier Oil Pastels
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Sennelier Oil Pastel Set 24 Still Life
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Soft pastels are favoured for their rich pigmentation and ability to create expressive, atmospheric effects. They blend effortlessly, allowing artists to transition smoothly between colours or build contrast through layering. Because they contain minimal binder, soft pastels offer brilliant saturation and a tactile, velvety finish that’s difficult to achieve with other mediums. They’re especially suited for landscapes, portraits, and abstract work, where movement and emotion are central. Artists can smudge, blend, or layer strokes to create anything from dreamy gradients to bold textural marks. While soft pastels are delicate and can smudge easily, proper technique and surface selection make them highly versatile. Their responsiveness to pressure and layering makes them ideal for developing style and spontaneity—key elements in expressive art.
Why Do Artists Choose The Sydney Art Store for Their Pastel Supplies?
The Sydney Art Store is trusted by professional and emerging artists alike for its exceptional range of pastels and pastel accessories. With carefully selected brands known for high pigment load, lightfastness, and performance, we offer both soft and oil pastel options suitable for a wide range of techniques. Whether you’re seeking velvety soft pastels for delicate layering or richly pigmented oil pastels for bolder strokes, our product range supports both traditional and contemporary styles. We also provide quality surfaces and fixatives, allowing you to complete pastel pieces from start to finish using professional-grade tools. With a focus on providing top-tier products and materials, The Sydney Art Store ensures you have everything you need to bring your pastel artworks to life.