Soft Pastel Stories

Colourful Chronicles

Learn new techniques, hear artist's stories, and stay up to date on Soft Pastel News.

  • Pets and pastels by tricia findlay feat

    Pets and Pastels

    If you’re like me and the thousands of others out there, we are a nation of pet lovers. I read recently that almost one in two households in the UK has a furry, scaly or feathered friend.

    Tricia Findlay

    5th July, 2024

  • Being brave with colour by julie ford 1 feat

    Being Brave With Colour

    One of my biggest ‘ah ha’ moments has been discovering that ‘copying’ rather than ‘creating’ can result in very dull work. So, what do I mean by that?

    Julie Ford

    27th June, 2024

  • A soft pastel painting of a tree during golden hour.

    Discovering Reflected Color

    When asked to identify the color of a shadow, it is common to respond that it would be a darker color of whatever is in shadow.  A shadow of a tree on green grass would be a darker green.  A shadow of the same tree on dirt would be a darker brown.

    Tracey Maras

    13th June, 2024

  • Garden of colour and flight by daniel porter feat

    Garden of Colour and Flight

    On two sides looking out the windows is the woods, the view begins not four foot off the sidewalls where trees and open forest floor slope up and gently away. When the spring rain comes, water gathers in the high places and forms water falling streams that run toward and alongside the studio heading toward…

    Daniel Porter

    4th June, 2024

  • Working with a limited colour palette with liz myhill cover

    Working with a Limited Colour Palette

    Introduction Limiting our palette may seem counter-intuitive when there is such a huge range of pastel colours available, all in beautiful and enticing colours. But have you ever found yourself stuck in a moment of indecision because there are just too many colours to choose from and you don't know where to begin? Or working…

    Liz Myhill

    23rd May, 2024

  • Unison colour pastels wet and dry with liz myhill feat

    Wet and Dry Pastels

    A written guide exploring ways to use your pastels both wet and dry or combine with other media to create loose and lively work. Unison Colour pastels have the wonderful quality of lending themselves to working in combination with water for a looser, more painterly effect in your pastel drawings. Working on a robust paper…

    Liz Myhill

    23rd May, 2024

  • Anti twilight arch by cathy pearce feat b

    Anti-Twilight Arch

    I feel particularly blessed to be living in the Wiltshire countryside with its huge open spaces and beautiful sweeping plains. Also I feel incredibly lucky to be living in a position where I see this view of what we locally call Oliver’s Castle.

    Cathy Pearce

    10th May, 2024

Colour Chart Guidance

We believe the colours in our web based colour chart are a faithful representation of our pastel range. But with any colours portrayed on the internet, there’s a whole heap of variables which mean that what you see, may not be what we see. That said, there’s some things that can be done to mitigate some of the variance.

Mobile phone and tablet screens tend to be pretty good for colour, so they’re always worth using, when viewing our colour chart.

We hate to say it, but cheaper computer displays, including laptops, can be rather hit and miss, in both colour and contrast, so they might not reveal the depth of the colour, as well as the true tone.

If you’re really keen on getting your computer up to speed on colour representation, you can use a calibration device to reach your display's fullest potential.

With all that said, if you think we’re way off the mark with any of the colours then, by all means let us know, and we’ll give it another shot.