Jessica Crabtree

The process I use to create my pastels involves several steps that make the paintings unique in texture and style.

I paint on suede matboard, which is essentially a soft velvet pile on a sturdy paper backing. In most of my pictures, the background you see is the actual suede. I use mostly soft pastels for large areas and hard pastels with firm edges for lines and fine details.

After I have transferred a scale drawing of my picture onto a fine grid, I apply a chalk layer of deep color to the wider areas in a technique similar to base-coating in oil painting. This helps create an appearance of depth and texture and prevents the background from showing through.

The chalk must be worked into the pile to layer well. To do this I use my fingers (very messy!) and paper tortillions (also known as blending stumps).

 
Most paintings require several layers in different shades of color. Once they are applied, I blend the layers of chalk together by scrubbing the suede with a clipped paintbrush to loosen the chalk and molding areas of shadow and highlight with my hands for a smooth, even texture.

The photo at the left shows my painting Comanche Boy, (12x16), half-way to completion.

I add the finest details last, such as edging, whiskers and fine hairs, or areas of bright white that are hard to keep clean. Once I have made sure the rest of the suede is clean, the painting is framed immediately.

High-quality pastels keep their color extremely well, and the thorough layering process ensures that the image is much more durable than any medium on paper. However I highly discourage removing the painting from its original custom-built frame.