Pigeon Cove in pastels
Posted: March 12, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized 29 CommentsWe survived the ice storm without losing power. In fact, in this area it was not as bad as predicted, which meant that I had some studio time to play with pastels. I’ve never used pastels much, but last week my friend Susanne Strater gave me a much appreciated lesson in her studio, and now I am trying to follow up by practicing more on my own.
I found an old set of 36 colours at home so that’s what I used for this sketch. I don’t have any special pastel paper but I wanted to practice what I learned with her, so for this scene in Pigeon Cove, MA, I used some toned watercolour paper from Hahnemuhle. I know there are better surfaces out there, but in an ice storm I wasn’t prepared to drive to the store to get a pad of the good stuff.
In my photo archives I have a series of photos from an early morning outing to Pigeon Cove last year. I’m planning on painting some of those in watercolour, but I thought I’d start with a pastel sketch of moored boats in calm water. Working in pastel is a great way to figure out colour and values since you can layer the rich colours and add white for highlights. But I’m learning a few things about pastels. 1: They sure are messy. 2: I can’t put them on my scanner. 3: It’s hard to get exactly the colour you want (at least from the old set I have) and that takes getting used to. But I sure did have fun doing this and I can’t wait to see how it evolves in the watercolour version.
It is sure a pretty pastel drawing. But messy! I used to love oil pastels. But I had to put a sheet on the floor under me and my easel, put on an old pair of shes I left there when done, and often gloves. Before I realized this precaution, I found I had dragged pieces of oil pastels throughout the house and stepped on them.. So I haven’t used them for years. But they sure are pretty and fun to use.
Hi Judy. It seems to me that pastels need a room of their own. But I was very careful on my watercolour table and so far, no damage with dust. We’ll see where this goes!
This is beautiful. BTW. I have often tried to comment but it required a login. A few years ago I went through all the steps and for whatever reason it didn’t work. I am subscribed but, could not like, or comment. I decided to try today, because I was amazed at this piece, not having used pastels in a long time, I thought it was fantastic.
Nora, WordPress is weird like that. I have heard this from so many people. But your comment made it through today and I am happy to hear from you! Thanks so much for having a look at my little pastel drawing. I will certainly be doing more of these!
Looks fun Shari!
Your experiment with pastels is lovely. I like the simplicity of the colour blocks which in offers me a sense of serenity and calmness, a much needed perspective in these turbulent days. I’ve tried pastels a few times and my experiments did not lead to feelings of calmness – LOL.
Shari, your work is always so exceptional. I think of you every time we go down to our harbour in French Creek and that’s weekly at least. It’s a working harbour and there are fishing boats galore. Boats are a very tough subject for me but you make it look easy. Love this pastel. Love all your work on water and dry land! Lol Thanks for sharing.
And thank you for writing!! I really appreciate it.
Love your pastel. Looking forward to the watercolor. Those are some boats I’d like to paint. Often times there are too many in the picture this is such a great composition. Have you seen Catherine Gill’s work that combines watercolor and pastels?
Hi Pat,
I love Catherine Gill’s work. I have her book too. I am going to have another look at it so I can see how she mixes pastel and watercolour. Thanks for that reminder.
Shari
Nice! Pastels give it a luscious feel! Do you work from light to dark in pastels?
Good question! I work all over the place, mostly looking at shapes rather than values first. I learned a lot by doing this. I thought the whites would cover the darks but I realized that I need to put the whites on clean paper. In this one I did middle values, then darks, then highlights.
Beautiful! I’ve always admired pastels but never tried. I had wondered if they would be messy. I think I’ll stick to watercolours. 🙂
Very nice. Myself, I never got past the messiness of pastels to make a go at learning to use them.
Couldn’t agree more about the messiness of pastels (not so with oil pastels) which is why I only use them outside in summer – the better to have their dust on the ground. But your pastel painting is wonderful. Love the colours. They’re strong and vibrant.
What fun! Terrific result.
I’m glad to see you trying pastels. I have been curious to try them and recently caught a great sale at Blick on a set. It’s on back order so I’ll have to wait. I want to try them because I love to draw and it seems like it combine drawing and painting.
I’ll LOVE watercolor painting and always will!!!
You might try scanning with your phone in the Notes section.
Thanks Cheryl. I have tried that for documents but never for sketches.
What’s the difference between taking a photo with your phone and scanning with your phone?
I love pastels and yes they are messy, alternatively I have been playing with Conte a Paris pastel pencils and they are really fun. The pencils are less messy and they can be sharpened to a nice point. Maybe give them a try?
Thanks Maureen. Yes, pencils sound great too. I just looked up what Chris uses and they look wonderful. I may give them a try!
Hi Shari
Really nice! I like how you allowed the paper to show through the pastel in some places – gaining another colour in the process. As with all of your work – I love how masterly you portray depth – so strong 🙂
Pastel was my favourite medium for portraiture. I liked using CarbOthello pencils – they had a good balance of chalk vs whatever the binding agent was. I would use an electric pencil sharpener so that I could draw without having to stop too often. Yes, there was waste, but it meant more to me to not have to lose momentum while drawing.
Danger-wise, one had only so many opportunities to layer and to blend colours before they could turn to dust and reveal only the paper’s surface. But with practice, such mishaps can be avoided. My favourite pastel paper was a very rich, warm, deep-flecked gray, with a soft, rough surface but no noticeable embossed pattern (or screen mark).
When done, I would spray my work with fixative – sometimes, laying the work in a side-mouted cardboard box and spraying a very light cloud above it (so that the finely dispursed spray could gently fall onto the surface evenly). If fixative was not available, hairspray worked in a pinch – but that is really going back in time 😉
Thanks for today’s pastel – really enjoyed it 🙂
Chris, thanks for sharing your process. Since I am such a newbie to this, it’s really helpful to hear how other people use pastels.
I looked up the pencils. Those are really beautiful, and I guess with a thinner pencil you can really draw a bit more than with a chunky block.
I actually really love the richness of the colour, and the textures you’ve created. It’s so much fun to explore different materials to represent what we see.
Ginie, thanks for having a look!
I lLOVE your pastel painting!
Recently a friend gave me an unused large set of pastels. I too have been experimenting on watercolor paper! Some of my “experiments” are awful! And then one or two…not so bad actually!
They are messy! I bought gloves to use with each trial of painting time.
Thanks for sharing this experimental time with an unfamiliar media. I appreciate your lovely version. Thank you for sharing….b
Bernadette, lucky you. What a thoughtful gift and the best way to experiment, right?
I think gloves are a very good idea. I may try that next time, although I did use Wet Ones after drawing and those worked really well!
What wonderful colours……I have a set of pastel pencils but really haven’t played with them much. Your painting is an inspiration to try them out! Love it!
I can’t wait to see what you do with them!