I'll admit, before I cracked open the first container of PanPastels, I hadn't looked into how to use them.  I was, however, pleasantly surprised by how user friendly and natural feeling they were, right from the first swipe of the Sofft Tool.  If you've ever thought that pastels were intimidating, be prepared to throw what you think you know out the window.

PanPastels are ultra-smooth, low dust pastels packed into containers.  So smooth, in fact, that they move and act more like paint than pastel.  High quality, lightfast  pigments are is used, but with minimal binders and fillers, creating rich, luscious products.  One of the wonderful properties of pastels of all sorts is an unlimited open time.  Unlike paints, which dry and have a limited open time, you can move pastels around again and again until its just right.  If you're not happy, its easy to pick up and subtract, too.  Once you get it just right, today, tomorrow or next week, a quick spray of Krylon Workable Fixitif makes it permanent.

The Sofft Tools really are as intuitive as the manufacturer claims.  They're easy to control and comfortable to hold and an assortment of shapes and sizes means that there really is a tool for every job.  And the economical price point means that you can invest in one of each without breaking the bank.

Though the PanPastels are easy to use, I started off simply so as not to get in over my head right off the bat. 

This tag started off as some random circles penciled in and the gone over with a metallic green colored pencil.

As you can see, the PanPastels give you the opportunity to have varying coverage.  Though it looks like I had some trouble using the
Sofft Tools, I was actually looking for a casual, fun effect.  The Sofft Tools are easy to manage and control so when you want neat, crrisp lines, you can have that, too.

I wasn't ready to start blending colors yet, just to get the hang of application.  You can see where I started to butt the colors up together.

Again, you can see the ability to have varying degrees of coverage.

For the next tag, I got ahead of myself and forgot to take pictures in progrees.  I went in with the same metallic green colored pencil and added a freeform vine with leaves.  With some color on the leaves, I got into blending the background.  Starting with the same color as the leaves, I laid down a block of color in the corner.  Though it looks like there is an intermediate color, its really just the result of blending in the magenta with the orange color.  The last color to blend in was the violet at the top of the card.

There are a number of ways to blend the pastels, but in this case, I laid two colors next to each other and blended them where they met in a more traditional manner.  Other ways to achieve blended colors are by loading two colors at once onto the Sofft Tool or to load one color and then use the surfce of a second color as a blending palette.  When you're done, simply wipe away the blended color from the PanPastel surface with either Sofft Tool Sponge or and paper towel.

This tag starts with a collage element as a focal point, adhered with gel medium.  The ability to bend the colors so readily means that you can match any color.  The collage element's color was matched quite easily, and pushing the color out onto the tag helps to ground and integrate it with the card.

After the turquoise was added, a color that picked up on the wings and shells was laid in in varying degrees of coverage.

A freeform border was added for an antique feel.

After fixing the pastel with Krylon Workable Fixitif, the last couple of collage elements were added in.

The last tag starts with more colored pencil work, this time a quote about art.

A meandering swath of color in the center of the tag goes in over the text.

In the end, I added too much to this tag and had to start over, so you'll notice the text is a bit different and the swath of greenish yellow pastel is a bit different, too.

In the end, the turquoise was a nice contrast to the center color and a heavier border helped give the tag some definition.  White pastel turns out to be a great blending agent creating an ethereal, soft quality and helping to move color around without added vibrancy from more pigment.

At the end of each tag, a quick spray of Krylon Workable Fixitif keeps the pastels from continuing to move.  The beauty of the Workable Fixitif is that you can add color right over the top of it and keep working.  A final spray of a clear finish such as Krylon Crystal Clear, Matte, or Satin Finish sprays will do the trick.

I hope you've found my experiments with PanPastels to be inspiring. I hope they've helped throw away your old thoughts about what pastels are and are not.  This easy to use, forgiving medium to a pleasure to work with and one that you can be successful with right away.  I'd love to hear what you think.  You can email me at jessica@joggles.com.

S U P P L I E S
PanPastels & Sofft Tools  *  Tags of all sizes and shapes 8  *  Watercolor paper sheets, pads, & journals  *  Joggles collage sheets
Altered by Design collage sheets  *  Rubber stamps of all kinds  *  cheesecloth  *  7 Gypsies Rubber Band book kit
All kinds of 7 Gypsies blank books & kits

Click here to go back to the Multimedia gallery or here to see Barb's experiments.