
© irene waters 2014
(6 photos) Although pastels have been in use since the Renaissance, Edgar Degas developed the pastel technique and used it as his medium almost exclusively after 1885. What are pastels? It depends what term of speech you are using. Degas’ painting above is known as a pastel. To pastel (verb) means to paint/draw a pastel. As a noun pastel also refers to the stick used to create the painting. This stick or crayon consists of a pure powdered pigment and a binder which does not add to or change the colour of the pigment. Using this medium creates vibrant colours which are the closest of any art medium to the pigment colour. Degas painting (above) used the media known as soft pastel which gives the brightest colours of all the pastel medias. My nephew’s artwork (age 7) (below) used mainly hard pastel allowing him finer lines.

© irene waters 2014

© irene waters 2014
If however, where the word pastel is used as an adjective it means soft in colour such as these paintings below. None are done with pastels and yet they are pastel scenes.

© irene waters 2014

© irene waters 2014

© irene waters 2014
For more entries in Cees Fun Fotos visit here.
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About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
Interesting post Irene. I do love Degas, as I also love children’s drawings.
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My husband gave me the Degas the first Christmas we had. I gave him an Anzac biscuit. My nephew I think is going to be quite talented. His mother put one of his drawings on facebook which I just loved. I asked if they could give it to me as a Christmas present and was told that a policeman who had watched him drawing it had been gifted it by my nephew.
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Hi Irene, your Art is lovely, and match well with this week challenge.
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Thanks Elizabeth. I really enjoy looking at art but sadly don’t have a creative bone in my body.
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Hi Irene, I thought they were your painting, anyway you have good taste for paintings.
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I wish Elizabeth 🙂
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Great post. 😀
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Thanks Raewyn.
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Pingback: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge-Pastels | WoollyMuses
Impressive.
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Thank you Simon. Cheers
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These are great photos for pastels Irene. Thanks for playing.
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It’s alway fun Cee. Thanks for hosting.
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Thanks for a nice review of pastels with wonderful photos – I just read that the EU is thinking of banning cadmium -based red, orange and yellow artist paints because of pollution worries. There are no adequate substitutes and I can’t imagine artists generate enough pollution from their paints!
So I guess all art coming from the EU will now be without reds, oranges and yellows – a dark and gloomy future indeed!
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That’s crazy Noelle. Maybe they are talking about industrial paint rather than artists paint. Yes it would be a gloomy world without those colours.
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I love the house on the water.
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Yes it’s great. That was painted on the tiles in the bathroom of a hotel I stayed in. I loved it hence the photo.
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I’m an art teacher and love your nephew’s drawings. But I think they may be felt markers, not pastels. Doesn’t really matter – I’m glad he’s encouraged to pursue his art interests.
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Sharon you could well be right. I’m just a proud aunt. I haven’t many of his drawings as they live in Switzerland but some I see his parents put on facebook I think for his age are superb. My brother was talented and won a number of art shows when young but when we left the country and moved to the city he didn’t pick up a paintbrush again. I just hope that my nephew doesn’t follow suit.
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