Using Polychromos for Larger Pictures

There are two types of Polychromos product, the pastel sticks and coloured pencils. When doing larger pastel pictures you can use Polychromos Sticks to cover larger areas but I would not include Polychromos Pencils.  You can't mix the Polychromos colouring pencils and the pastel pencils because they are two different consistencies.  The pastel pencil is chalk based and the Polychromos coloured pencils are oil based. The way you mix Polychromos coloured pencil colours is to use the special spirit that is made for the task. For example, you can put two or more colours on, mix with the spirit and you have your colour.  However it is permanent so it is a bit of a risk.You can also use Soft Pastels for backgrounds.  It’s very difficult to mix soft pastel with the pastel pencils in a subject. When using Polychromos pastel sticks on a background instead of pastel pencils, be aware that some of the stronger colours can tend to mark the paper.  Soft pastel doesn't do this but does have a tendency to come off the Fabriano Ingres Paper.  The Fabriano Ingres 160gsm paper that I sell and the Faber-Castell pitt pastel pencils go perfectly together.Soft pastel does not work quite as well on its own on pastel paper.  If using Soft Pastel, I always put a ‘key’ on with pastel pencil first, this means using a ground colour of mid-grey or a light colour first before putting the soft pastel on top.Do you use Polychromos Pastel Sticks in your pictures? Let us know in the comments below.