by Bethany | August 20, 2020


Colourblock Pastel Lesson with Bethany Fields


I was contacted by Colourblock Pastels to see if I would be interested in trying their pastels in my studio! Of course, one can *never* have too many pastels (haha) and I was excited for the challenge. They sent me a complimentary set to try out!

You can click here or the video image below to watch my painting lesson and review. I’ve also posted some step by step shots of my process! I remember when I was learning to paint, I needed and loved still images of a pastel coming together.  Those process shots helped me process the color choices and layering. I hope these do the same for you!

My full lesson Patreon index was just updated this week! Check out some of my other lessons here.


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I painted this on Uart 500 grit paper. I have a large roll I purchased from Dakota Pastels  and I cut my paper about 30 pieces at a time. This helps me have a nice stack ready to go! The unmounted Uart paper does tend to curl but if you store it flat, this lessens over time. I live in a very dry climate which also reduces the curl.  For those living in more humid environs, the curl is more challenging. Uart also has mounted papers and if you’re determined, you can also mount it yourself!

Using just one line of pastels stretched me to veer away from my “normal” techniques of layering different hardnesses.  I am very accustomed to working from harder to softer pastels across the gamut of brands currently on the market.  Most of my work has between 8 and 10 manufacturers represented!  Colourblock should be considered hard pastels.  (Remember, soft pastel is the medium…but there is a range of hardness within the medium depending on the brand).

Layering hard pastels together can be challenging since the pigment doesn’t go down as easily.  I do love a challenge though!

This is the palette I chose from the 100 piece set:

Colourblock Palette Review by Bethany Fields

Watch the video by clicking below! It’s about 20 minutes long.



Since I was testing my ability to create this painting from one pastel line, I decided to stick with what I know! Painting a beautiful Palo Duro Canyon scene with some nice warm and cool color complements was an obvious choice.  I also carefully studied the 100 piece set to make sure I had the approximate colors from which to choose.

I  begin with a mechanical graphite pencil sketch to establish the loose outlines of my major shapes.  Here, I’ve decided to paint more of a panorama than the reference photo suggests.



Continuing with the theme, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – I’m using the darkest blue for the shadowed/dark tree forms and a nice sunny orange for the ground plane. This is how I usually approach landscapes in the beginning stages.

I am working towards an alcohol wash here so am not worrying too much about making specific marks.  I’m really just filling in these areas so I can paint the color into the paper with my brush.  This forms a nice “value map” to follow for subsequent layers.

Bethany Fields Painting Lessons


A nice drippy layer of alcohol (surgical spirits) washes in the pigment.  Using nice sanded paper like Uart is wonderful for this! Water does buckle unmounted Uart so use it sparingly if you don’t have rubbing alcohol.  You can also use OMS (odorless mineral spirits) but it takes a bit longer to dry. Washing in the pigment helps melt the pastel into the paper which reveals your tooth.  This is wonderful when you plan on layering your pastels.



I’m slowly adding in various colors in nice values of warm greens and also some blues in the sky. I did notice some inconsistency in texture (hardness) between the color range but with some adjustments to my touch and pressure, I was able to compensate. The pastels also seem to have a slight coating on the outside (similar to the Rembrandt line of pastels).  Once this layer was removed by the sanded paper, the pastels were smooth and laid down nicely.



Painting paths into my work is always a joy.  Luckily, the Colourblock had a nice peach hue that is very similar to the canyon colors I normally use in my working studio set!

Bethany Fields Colourblock Review


I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly this painting came together.  The colors played nicely and since I was using a fairly limited palette, there is some lovely color harmony.

Bethany Fields Colourblock Review






I was cautiously optimistic about working with these pastels.  Most student grade pastels are difficult to work with, especially when you’re used to the best of the best! I was pleasantly surprised at the nice hues when the set arrived. Most student and beginning sets are full of overly saturated crayon colors that are difficult to use for a landscape. This set has some nice warm greens, some beautiful yellows, that peachy color I love for paths, and some fairly light value blues for skies and water (as well as darker values of blue). There are also quite a few pinks, reds, purples, oranges, some neutral browns, grays and black and white. The pastels are wrapped in a thin tissue paper wrapping but it’s easy to remove.  I also liked the size of the pastels – they are big enough to snap in half to save and catalogue.  The square edges help with different mark making.

Some things to note:

  • These pastels definitely belong among the harder pastels brands.
  • They worked well on my professional grade paper but would be more difficult to use on flatter papers.
  • The alcohol washed them nicely and I didn’t notice too much of a saturation shift once they were wet! They worked and behaved the same as my normal pastels in this regard.
  • I have no idea of their color fastness! Time will tell…
  • The cardboard wrapper comes with a color chart of the palette.  This color chart is not arranged in the same format as the pastels are arranged in the box! Hopefully, this is some useful feedback for Colourblock and they can alter their marketing materials to better align with the pastel arrangement. As it is, it took me a second to figure out the colors I was using compared to the color chart.
  • I shared my constructive feedback with the Colourblock team and they are excited to broaden their horizons into the pastel world.  They are diligently working towards developing their brand into an intermediate and professional grade of pastels.

All in all, I was very pleased with using the Colourblock on my Uart papers.  Of course, pastels work differently on various papers! I would suggest you use a nice sanded surface to try these out.  Harder pastels are…well, just harder! They don’t layer as well as the finest artist grade pastels and it is difficult to compare the two. These will work on flat paper, but the layering would be difficult. I solved this problem with my sanded paper and my application of a wet underpainting in the beginning stages.

If you are a beginner or student of pastel and would like to expand and curate your palette, these are a great option! I also think they would work well as a class set for younger kids (the harder the pastel = less dust = less mess), for art institutes that have a paint night/learning event, and for artists and crafters interested in beginning and exploring this wonderful medium.

I have more student grade and beginning suggestions here at this link and of course, my resource page is full of information about the pastel brands I know and love.

xoxo,

Bethany


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Colourblock Review by Bethany Fields
Colourblock Pastel Review by Bethany Fields






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Colourblock Review by Bethany Fields

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