Breaking Color---Analysis
Pastel is the ideal medium for the effects of optical mixing better known as "broken color." The aim is to blend the colors in the eyes of the viewer from a distance, the very concept used by the original impressionists. Here, I am going to explain a visual effect of application in the medium of pastels.Broken color is an art term used to describe an uneven layer of color so that it partially covers the surface allowing colors beneath to show through. Another description is to lay colors side-by-side where the colors optically mix forming another color or a different shade of color. There are many different ways to achieve this. Since pastel works both as a drawing and painting medium, there are much broader choices of application. Line strokes in the method of hatching and crosshatching can be used to create the effects of broken color. Other methods consist of feathering, scumbling, sgraffito, and stippling. The method I want to bring to light, is a basic method I often use---side strokes.
------------The side stroke is exactly what the term implies, using the side of the pastel stick to apply pigment. Most pastelists use this method to cover large areas of the surface with masses of color, but there are more artistic and creative ways of using it if one knows how to embrace it. An advantage of this method is very expressive in a quiet manner, being less rendered and less define than its relative method---line strokes. It helps create mood and a feeling of softness in your work.
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Two things that should be considered when exploring broken color; the surface you intend to use and the color of that surface. For pastelists, there are a variety of surface textures made commercially or even the ability to prep them in your own home. Surfaces range in different textures, tooth, and colors. To get impressionistic effects, the choice of surface can be used as a tool and are often times key. Heavy sanded papers and boards hold more pastel as well as layers, but are finer in tooth which can make your colors less broken. The tooth of pastel paper or charcoal paper offer more visible grainy effects. As for color choices; darker surfaces help darken colors, whereas lighter colors lighten them---but only if you allow the surface color to show through. Neutral colors are most often used because they work well for both. Let's look at an example.
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Two things that should be considered when exploring broken color; the surface you intend to use and the color of that surface. For pastelists, there are a variety of surface textures made commercially or even the ability to prep them in your own home. Surfaces range in different textures, tooth, and colors. To get impressionistic effects, the choice of surface can be used as a tool and are often times key. Heavy sanded papers and boards hold more pastel as well as layers, but are finer in tooth which can make your colors less broken. The tooth of pastel paper or charcoal paper offer more visible grainy effects. As for color choices; darker surfaces help darken colors, whereas lighter colors lighten them---but only if you allow the surface color to show through. Neutral colors are most often used because they work well for both. Let's look at an example.
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Pictured on this blog is a pastel painting I've done entirely using the side st
roke method. Its title, "Kristopher." This portrait was done on olive color Strathmore Pastel paper of medium weight. The paper, similar to Canson's Mi-Teintes pastel paper, offers a subtle texture. As you can see in the close up view, I've utilized the tooth (grain) of the paper for breaking color. The paper color can be seen through the less dense application of pastel. You will also notice there are areas where pastel have completely covered the paper grain from heavier applications, making it more difficult to see its texture. These areas have even amounts of pigment by filling in the grains. When using the tooth of a surface for breaking color, use the side of your pastel stick. Instead of rendering the image with thin lines, mass the elements in with broad strokes, short strokes, and long strokes with the flat edge/side of the pastel stick. The result is similar in effect to having different colors painted side-by-side throughout a work such as notable artist Georges Seurat has done in Pointillism.
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roke method. Its title, "Kristopher." This portrait was done on olive color Strathmore Pastel paper of medium weight. The paper, similar to Canson's Mi-Teintes pastel paper, offers a subtle texture. As you can see in the close up view, I've utilized the tooth (grain) of the paper for breaking color. The paper color can be seen through the less dense application of pastel. You will also notice there are areas where pastel have completely covered the paper grain from heavier applications, making it more difficult to see its texture. These areas have even amounts of pigment by filling in the grains. When using the tooth of a surface for breaking color, use the side of your pastel stick. Instead of rendering the image with thin lines, mass the elements in with broad strokes, short strokes, and long strokes with the flat edge/side of the pastel stick. The result is similar in effect to having different colors painted side-by-side throughout a work such as notable artist Georges Seurat has done in Pointillism.
Analyzing further into detail, the side stroke method offers many different effects by varying the amount of pressure when applying the pastel onto paper. As mentioned before, the more pressure you apply, the more pastel color will show by filling in the grain. Shown in the second close up here, I used moderate pressure in areas so that the dark green does not become too dark and distracting to the work overall. I wanted the tooth of the paper to help create light with color vibration. With the white collar of the shirt, I used heavy application where the light strongly touches it, but moderate usage in the shadow areas where the color of the paper would help shade the pigment. The fading effect of color is also based on pressure used. As the green of the shirt recedes from the childs face, I used less pressure---fading the work into the paper.
Again, the side stroke method if fairly basic. Utilizing the techniques in creating certain effects is a bit more challenging. Practice technique and know your ability is the best way to overcome obstacles. Allow the colors to blend in your eyes and not on paper. Many impressionist paintings were intended to be looked and admired at a distance, not up close and personal.
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