Buyer Assessment of the Month: Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels

We’re bringing again Buyer Opinions of the Month. Depart an informative and detailed evaluation on Jackson’s Web site and be in to win a £25 Jackson’s Voucher in addition to have your evaluation printed right here. This month Derbyshire-based artist Geoff Chilton shares his ideas on Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels.
Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels
Reviewed by Geoff Chilton
A bit like Marmite, pastels are humorous issues – you both love them or hate them. However when you’re used to portray with pure pigment, there’s nothing fairly prefer it. I’ve been utilizing pastels for over twenty years and the seek for that elusive ‘good’ high quality has turn into one thing of an obsession. I purchased just a few of Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels just a few years in the past and I used to be actually stunned on the high quality.

Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels
I don’t like ‘chalky’ pastels; the smoother the higher for me, however the mixture of the proper stick and the proper paper is essential. The Jackson’s pastels will keep placed on nearly any floor, from coarse ‘honeycomb’ papers to clean cartridge. As an expert artist I’m always striving for one thing indefinable in my work and I don’t need to need to suppose an excessive amount of about supplies, I have to know precisely what they’ll do and these Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels are extraordinarily dependable. In my combined media work, I generally use gentle pastels on prime of an underpainting of acrylics and even layers of dry oils, the latter mixture could be very satisfying and one which I exploit so much, notably over a scrubbed floor.

Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels
I incessantly use them on thick smoothish cartridge paper, too and so they keep put very well. There are many manufacturers in the marketplace which can be far more costly, however a pastel that prices £4.80 isn’t essentially twice pretty much as good as one which prices £2.40! In fact, it relies upon what you’re searching for however the good factor concerning the Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels is the truth that they’re so adaptable. In a pure pastel portray I can construct up many layers of pigment with a lightweight spray of fixative and work any color on prime, even hues which can be a lot darker, and there’s a number of pigment within the Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels which makes them fairly intense. Due to this depth and the smoothness of the stick itself, they mix properly collectively, so that you don’t want to purchase dozens of pastels of various tints when you don’t need to.

Coast Street, Isle of Siel, 2021
Geoff Chilton
Pastel on Ingres paper, 76 x 50 cm | 30 x 20 in
I like the truth that they arrive in themed units, too, with 14 associated colors: Darkish, Panorama, Woodland and many others. Although my newest buy was a set of 14 colors which you get to decide on your self, a good way to construct up a palette of precisely you colors you need. Their mossy greens and olives are good for portray the colors of the Derbyshire moorland the place I do a lot of my sketching.
My expertise with Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels has inspired me to attempt a few of their different merchandise: Jackson’s Artist Oil Paints that are superbly buttery and odor chic! I’ve additionally used their Jackson’s Skilled Acrylic Paint too and to date I’ve been impressed with the outcomes.

Coastal Panorama, Isle of Mull, 2023
Geoff Chilton
Combined media (oil, gentle pastel, charcoal) on board, 61 x 50 cm | 24 x 20 in
About Geoff Chilton
Geoff Chilton is an award-winning skilled artist who works from his studio in Buxton, Derbyshire. He’s Resident Artist on the Inexperienced Man Gallery, Buxton. He has exhibited with the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Royal Cambrian Academy and the Manchester Academy of Nice Artwork, of which he was a former council member, the Colin Jellicoe Gallery in Manchester, the Woodstone Gallery, Lincolnshire and the Jetty Gallery, Oban. His work is in personal collections within the UK and as distant as Norway and Japan
Additional Studying
Utilizing Tender Pastels for Observational Drawing
Jacqueline Vivid Opinions Jackson’s Tender Pastels
Contained in the Sketchbook of Sarah Dyer
Jackson’s Artist Pigments: Color Data and Historical past
Store Jackson’s Handmade Tender Pastels on jacksonsart.com