Unable to sleep, my creative mind wondered - and it wondered right over to discover I am in fact not totally loopy for using the same technique ! I cannot draw to save myself, but have found art therapy useful for years; so thank you Peta for your tips. Love hearing a fellow Aussie voice to. "Rubber" usage unite !
Thank you so much for this informative video! I have both chalk, and oil pastels. I have been struggling with using them because getting in tight areas takes so long. You've helped me tremendously!
Thank you, you have went beyond in taking your time as to which tools to use and how to use it. I appreciate the details in how to achieve a beautiful pastel background. Yours was one of the best explanations and demonstrations. I am new to coloring and a senior with a new hobby besides beading. It’s true when they say you are never to old to learn new things.
I am so glad I found you! I now have learned, I can use pastels on backgrounds and make them beautiful, without having to spend a great deal of time, always using watercolor!!! Your tutorials are so nice to watch, and your voice is as soothing as your background musica. As always, thank you for taking the time to show us how to use pastels in our artwork.
That was fantastic. I was always told to do the pastels after you've coloured everything as the pastel won't adhere to the waxy/oily finish of the pencils but I always wondered how to go about "setting" the pastel without ruining the colouring.
Thank you for this tutorial. I just bought a 24 piece of Prismacolor pastels and am feeling a bit paranoid about trying them, but your tutorial is helping me to work up the courage to do so. 😊
Your videos are wonderful, I have learned so much watching. I enjoy your explanations and demonstrations of techniques. I also want to complement you on your selection of background music as well. Spanish guitars are one of my favorite forms of relaxing music. Thank you for all your beautiful work and sharing it with us.
What an EXCELLENT TUTORIAL!!! I have recently finished my first Artist's Edition of Secret Garden. The Secret Door. I have been searching for instruction on "how" to do the background, other than with a million shaded pencil strokes. I would never have even known about pastels and how they are used. Alas, I wish I had watched your tutorial BEFORE I did my big picture! I threw caution to the winds and shaded in a soft black path leading away from my secret door - and it really looked dreadful. Fortunately I have now been able to erase most of the dark path. Live and learn :-(
Greetings!!! I think using soft pastels in the background is a great idea, i have a set already and now I have a great use for them, i was going to try a light wash in watercolors, but using soft pastels is a better idea!!!! I give it a 10+++!! Thank You!!
Enjoyed. Thanks! I use masking tape rather than plastic wrap & as long as one remembers to first touch it to your skin or clothing so it won't damage paper, it works great.
+Peta Hewitt ....I'm in the process of publishing my own fashion coloring book & just wanted to make sure that you knew that your video was inspirational. Keep up the good work!
Hi Peta, your videos are part of my obsession you are the reason why I fell in love with my inktense! I have a couple of ideas for you and your watchers! Instead of shaving the "chalk" you can actually rub the pad or whatever you are using directly on to the pastel and color the background. As well my suggestion would be to use the pastels after you have colored the pictured. The soft pastels do not adhere to colored pencils. Good Luck!!!!!
You were just recommended to me by---uh---can't remember her name---she did a video on 10 Tips for Colouring---anyway, I don't know if you see comments written 7 years after your Tutorial, but I just followed you colouring the duck pond (to Classical Music, no less!!) and enjoyed it thoroughly!! Are you still doing these videos?? xx Lynn in NYC
Thank you for sharing this tutorial on using the soft pastels as a BG in this process! I am using this method to bring life to a piece I did on youtube an credited this tip back to you!
Did you ever try pastel pencils like Faber-Castell Pitt pastels? Got them as a gift but don't know how to use them. Thanks a lot for taking the time to teach us all those beautiful and fun techniques 😊
Thank you thank you thank you! I sooooooo need these types of teaching videos!!!!!!! Please do lots more teaching videos, it truly helps a beginner like me!!!!! Best Wishes, Renee
Agreed! I'm sitting here with a finished picture but empty background and I was lost on what to do! Now I'm omw to Amazon for pastels!! Lol. I did find a cpl hanging around from my daughter so I'll play/test/practice with these until I get mine in the mail 😊
HI Peta, you can try holding the electric eraser the same way you hold a pencil or marker, and use either your thumb or index finger to press the button, and your middle finger to support the lower part of the "device". and use heavy duty or used alkaline batteries. That way it will reduce the vibration of the motor. For me i actually brought one from Daiso for $2 and fit it with Derwent electric eraser refills.
Did you ever tried foil transfer sheets or gold leaves on your coloring books? Thank you, I love your tutorials, coloring is so much soothing than knitting for me.
I'm just starting this hobby. Do you always use the pastels for the background before coloring in the page? I love the idea of this process because penciling in backgrounds seems very daunting to me. Thanks for your help.
+Deanna Gearinger Not always, i like to mix it up. Some pages I do the pastels first, some last (check out my video for this here) and some I colour the back grounds in pencil. It depends on the picture and the feel that I'm after.
My mother and I love your videos. We have talked about pastels and this video really helped. I have one question for you. Does the fixate hurt the paper at all? Cause wrinkles or the paper to bend? The after picture it seemed to look really good so I am going to guess that it doesnt, but how does handle aging, will the paper fold and wrinkle the older it is? Thank You and Happy Coloring!
I sure miss you and I said a prayer for you. I am hoping you are well, skipping along through this world we live in. Take care of yourself and that cute puppy; I guess he is a dog by now. Have blessed days and color when you can. God bless!
Well, after watching this, I don't know why I was so intimidated by the pastels. I've had a set for about a year and now I'm going to try mine out as soon as I get some makeup pads.
would this work with oil pastels? I bought a set of derwent academy 36 oil pastes ready for watching this video, not realising they where different. :( also anyone know what workable fixative I can get in the UK? thanks Peta I love your vids and tutorials, I am very new to colouring, I sufer with depression and was trying to find something I liked doing when I am depressed to take my mind off things. I am not very good really but hoping I will improve with practice. I have the polychromos pencils and the derwent inktense. I love using the inktense in the magical city and your vids etc have been a real help to me. This hobby has really helped me feel better and so have your videos!! so Thanks again x
Do you absolutely have to use the fixative on the pastels? I love the idea of the pastel backgrounds but not sure about wanting the fixative in my colouring books. Thanks in advance!
Peta, I am just wondering if fixative is really necessary for pastels? I heard that it smells bad and alters the colours of the pastels, etc. Thanks in advance! I love your work :)
Thanks I really want to know how to do this. Mostly I have seen it done when people have coloured the picture. In Scotland, rubbers are rubbers, but in Canada they are erasers, box cutters are utility knives.
Your videos are so helpful - very easy to understand and follow. Love all the useful hacks as well. Have you ever thought about teaching via the online Skillshare platform ? You should!!!
can you use hairspray instead of fixative? i went to art school when i was young and i remember we used hairspray to fix them,but i'm not sure if i made that up or not :)
+Yvette Williams I guess we can also use an inexpensive dollar store steel foot or nail grinders, what do you think? I even experimented with a plastic bread knife and it worked fine but I'm worried about breaking my pastels with the knife. My mom took the razor from a pencil sharpener and with a lit candle she melted the end of an old recycled plastic marker and stuck the razor on to create an exato knife like tool that works great. She got mad at me for saying she's always trying to outsmart me...... What can I say? Mom's always know best...... but don't tell her! Lol.....
Thank u so much for this tutorial! I was looking for a technique that was easier than colored pencils for backgrounds ! I have a question, is it necessary to spray the fixative on or can I just leave it be? Will it rub off?
+Charli Starr I'm afraid you need fixative. Pastels don't adhere as well to paper as pencils do. Some people report success with using hair spray but i use a proper workable matt fixative as it is actually designed for art work.
+Marianna Botte I used a mixture of different gel pens. I find gel pens are hit or miss. Some will be good and some will be bad from the same set. Cheap ones can be just fine. I did find that 'Jelly Rolls' are a bit too juicy for doing fine areas and 'Smiggles' take a LOOOONG time to dry (2 days... seriously!). I prefer to use the cheap ones. I know there are some great brands over in the U.S. but we don't have them in Australia and it would be too expensive for me to import them to try.
+Beauty for Fabulous Forties It depends on the eraser used. I stick with the soft white erasers or the kneaded erasers. I haven't noticed any difference with the quality of the tooth when applying pencils afterwards.
Fantastic video, well done and extremely helpful to me as a novice colorist. What is the guitar music in the background? I love it, and would like to add it to my music library.
+Yvonne Anagnost Sorry. The music actually was one bundled with a video editing program so it's not a 'real' song so to speak. My husband chooses them when he edits my videos.
Another question. Do you ever take pages out of your coloring book and put it in an album? If so, what is the best way to disassemble coloring books? I don't think I want to deal with coloring close to the binding edge. I am waiting to receive my first order of coloring books; i.e. secret garden and enchanted forest. Thanks for your help.
+Deanna Gearinger I know many people who do this and it works well. I personally don't. I think you could possibly take it to a printer and ask them about removing the binding.
+Peta Hewitt I just took my books to my local office supply store and had them spiral bound. It was very inexpensive. I find that it is much easier to color my pages.
hello😀 great video! how can I make a dark or black background? I have seen some people do that in this book and it looks great! Can u make a tutorial on how to do that?
+line fristad I haven't had much experience with black backgrounds. I know some people have success by painting acrylic inks onto the page. I have coloured in a black background with a large faber castell pitt pen in one book recently. You would have to check that it won't bleed through the page first. Some people, very pains-takingly, colour densely with a black pencil and some people combine different media to get a nice, dense black.
Heather Hanson, hi. I bought the workavle fixative so thx for that. I asked my hubby yesterday to spray it on a picture I thought I was finished & he did. Then, I got another idea for the picture so I grabbed it & added more pencil, marker & erased some stuff to make it better. Then I asked him again to spray it but use the 'final' fixative his time. He says...'that's what I used the last time I sprayed it'. So now, I'm confused so I tried it myself on another picture, using the final fixative, then coloured over it, added pastels, & even erased something to see if it worked. It did!!! So, how do they consider the 'final' fixative final? You can still work on it after it's sprayed on? I'm wondering why you need this final one @ all now. What are your thoughts on this, pls?
I find that if I put my index finger to hold the page the oil in my skin, even though I have washed my hands previously,,,tend to stain my page. If I use an eraser to remove the pastel it still leaves a stain. Use a tissue or a piece of fabric to avoid this.
+Michelle Meireles when you're done with this book you could also use some permanent markers and gel pens to color and personalize the cover for your one of a kind masterpiece. I want to keep all my books as heirloom for my grandchildren to come so they know how fierce their Nana was.
+Michelle Meireles you could also use painters masking tape together to line the plastic wrap to avoid contamination to the other page. They use it a lot to stretch watercolor papers. I tried on my coloring books and it works great, it doesn't stick to the paper at all once you're done. You can also use rubber cement on the areas you want to protect and once it dries you can rub it right off like magic! Sorry if I talk too much, you teach us so many wonderful techniques from years of practice and I try to share the most basic which is all I know.
+Michelle Meireles i'm assuming if you can do it with soft pastels, why not eye shadows? They're made of mica pigmented powders and have wonderful shimmering colors and effects, plus they're super inexpensive at the dollar store. I'll try this this week and let you all know here how it turns out! Watching your videos gives me so many ideas I'm going crazy in my head.........i need some tea now!
+Michelle Meireles also, what if instead of grinding the pastel we can just lightly color the area with the pastel than use the pad to smudge all over. I think it should work as well as waste minimum pastel pigment since you'll be helping the pastel fill the paper fibers first before smudging. Also i'll try grinding some of the pastel direct in the matte finish paper sealer or mudpudge than lightly apply it in layers with a brush like watercolor but less watery and see what can be achieved.....i'm telling you, the ideas just keep on popping.....
my secret garden when I use soft pastel my paper peel off and the colour seems a little bit darker, imagine that background of the paper mixed with pastel and turned the colour more dark than actually it is.
+Ana Patrícia Barbosa Hi Ana. the old original print run of Secret Garden was unfortunately printed on poor quality paper. It would peel even when colouring a second layer in pencils. later print runs were on better paper which handles all media quite well. I'm sorry but it sounds like you have one of these old books.
Pretty much every other person I have seen demonstrating pastels, started by tearing the page out of the book and suggesting that you tear it out. The tearing apart of the books hurt my heart.