Art Mediums & Color Theory: Pastels, Encaustic, and Light

Pastels: Origin and Evolution

Pastel sticks are soft bars of dried powder made from mixing pigment with very little binder, usually gum tragacanth. The paste formed is molded into bar-like shapes.

Features of Pastels

• Pastels are mainly characterized by their brightness. Because they contain very little binder, their colors are exceptionally vibrant.
• The finished pastel painting has a soft, matte appearance. The pigment is finely shredded and delicately embedded between the fibers and grains of the support.
• Precisely because the pigments are only lightly bound to the paper's grain, if permanent colors and good quality paper are used, pastels can be one of the most permanent painting techniques, especially when protected with glass framing.
• Fixative can be applied, but in very small quantities, as it can diminish the color's luminosity.
• Pastels can be used for both drawing and painting. Due to their minimal binder, they produce bright colors but are very delicate, as the pigment powder can easily fall off the paper.
• A significant advantage is that pastels allow for full-color painting without the inconvenience of drying time.
• The quality of a pastel painting lies in the freshness of its application. Paintings should not be overloaded or overworked to avoid losing their spontaneous charm.

Composition of Pastels

Soft pastel sticks or crayons are made from powdered pigment. The binder is typically a natural gum, such as gum tragacanth, or a synthetic binder like methylcellulose.

Wax Painting: History and Characteristics

Wax painting, or encaustic painting, involves pigments bound with wax. This ancient technique mixes pigment with melted beeswax, applied in a liquid state.

Solvent Composition for Wax Paints

Like oil pastels, wax paints can be dissolved in turpentine and alcohol.

Features of Wax Paints

• The colors of wax paint are applied by rubbing the wax onto the support and can be smeared with the fingers.
• Their colors are opaque, allowing them to be painted on dark surfaces.
• They are a quick, expressive, and easy-to-use medium.
• Like oil pastels, they melt with heat and dissolve in alcohol and turpentine.
• Wax paints are harder, more waterproof, and less malleable than oil pastels. Their hardened layer retains color.
• Their colors are less opaque than those of oil pastels.
• They can be fixed with special fixatives.

Understanding Color Theory: Additive Synthesis

A mixture of colored lights is called additive synthesis. This is because results are obtained by adding light to light.

Primary Additive Synthesis Colors

Red, green, and blue-violet lights are called primary additive synthesis colors because, by changing their relative intensities, a wide range of colors can be obtained through them.

Complementary Colors Explained

Complementary colors are those that tend to cancel each other out when mixed, leading to somewhat opaque, gray, or even black results, depending on the proportion of each color used. The most fundamental pairs are:

• Yellow - Blue
• Magenta - Green
• Cyan - Red

Achromatic Brightness Scale

An achromatic brightness scale is a strip of cardboard representing a gradual transition from lighter gray (or almost white) to darker tones.