When To Use Pastel Pencil Base Colours

When you put any pastel pencil on paper you have to be mindful of the colour you are putting on.  If it’s a dark colour like a dark green, brown or even some of the medium colours you know that it’s going to make a mark on the paper.  Whatever you put on is going to register and we know we cannot put light on top of dark very easily - so we are stuck with that colour.  How are we going to change that colour if it’s the wrong one?  The base colours act like a cushion and these soften the effects of those dark colours hitting the paper and creating the problem mentioned.  Look at the picture you are doing and dissect it section by section. Look at each section and think for example: I need a soft brown and you pick up maybe 177 (Walnut Brown in the faber-castell pitt pastel pencil range). This is a dark brown and you think "That’s the colour I would like to put on." If you put it directly on the paper, you are stuck with it and it’s a very harsh colour. So what you can do is soften it. Therefore you might try 273 (Warm Grey IV) for instance and put that on first. Then you can put on 177 and this will change it from being a harsh colour to a soft brown. It will still be dark and if you feel that it’s not quite dark enough then you can add just a little bit of black. Only a touch and it will deepen it still further.  I always recommend using a separate piece of paper to experiment before applying a combination of colours to your original work. I highly recommend my Sand Coloured Ingres 160gsm Pastel Paper by Fabriano which is available on our store.