I recently bought pastels and had no idea what to do with them. Now, I do. Thank you for this video.

PETA , you are a master colorist and teacher. Every single demo is a work of art.

Unable to sleep, my creative mind wondered - and it wondered right over to discover I am in fact not totally loopy for using the same technique ! I cannot draw to save myself, but have found art therapy useful for years; so thank you Peta for your tips. Love hearing a fellow Aussie voice to. "Rubber" usage unite !

Thank you Peta, would have been scribbling with a pencil for days unless I tried this, which I did and it came out great!

Cheap Eyeshadow from the dollar store works great too. No shaving needed.

Great tips - many thanks for sharing! I just started using pastels to hand-color my black and white photographs and these techniques will work great!

I am so glad I found you! I now have learned, I can use pastels on backgrounds and make them beautiful, without having to spend a great deal of time, always using watercolor!!! Your tutorials are so nice to watch, and your voice is as soothing as your background musica. As always, thank you for taking the time to show us how to use pastels in our artwork.

Peta, You are simply THE BEST!! You have taught me everything I consider important about adult coloring. You have made the hobby a joy!

Thank you so much for this informative video! I have both chalk, and oil pastels. I have been struggling with using them because getting in tight areas takes so long. You've helped me tremendously!

I sure miss you and I said a prayer for you. I am hoping you are well, skipping along through this world we live in. Take care of yourself and that cute puppy; I guess he is a dog by now. Have blessed days and color when you can. God bless!

Thank you, you have went beyond in taking your time as to which tools to use and how to use it. I appreciate the details in how to achieve a beautiful pastel background. Yours was one of the best explanations and demonstrations. I am new to coloring and a senior with a new hobby besides beading. It’s true when they say you are never to old to learn new things.

Lovely backgrounds. I’ve done the same technique but I didn’t have any pastels so I used pencil shavings. Turned out wonderful.

Enjoyed. Thanks! I use masking tape rather than plastic wrap & as long as one remembers to first touch it to your skin or clothing so it won't damage paper, it works great.

Awesome. You never cease to amaze me with your artistic skills.

PETA,you are a wonderful teacher and you are a very wonderful coloring. I Love to watch your videos.

Excellent tutorial, very well done. Thankyou.

What an EXCELLENT TUTORIAL!!! I have recently finished my first Artist's Edition of Secret Garden. The Secret Door. I have been searching for instruction on "how" to do the background, other than with a million shaded pencil strokes. I would never have even known about pastels and how they are used. Alas, I wish I had watched your tutorial BEFORE I did my big picture! I threw caution to the winds and shaded in a soft black path leading away from my secret door - and it really looked dreadful. Fortunately I have now been able to erase most of the dark path. Live and learn :-(

WONDERFUL video! Thank you so much for sharing your time and talents with us!

Absolutely great tutorial! Thank you for sharing your technique. Finished picture is really lovely as well.

keep your amazing videos going. I love them! the vibrancy of colour, the technics you show us. thank you so much.

I will have to give this a try. Great idea. 👍

That was fantastic. I was always told to do the pastels after you've coloured everything as the pastel won't adhere to the waxy/oily finish of the pencils but I always wondered how to go about "setting" the pastel without ruining the colouring.

Essential for another view of this video. Thanks again, Peta Hewitt, this time for a re-education.

Thank you for the review! I saw this book on Amazon and wanted to get a glimpse before purchasing. It is a beautiful book!

Thank you for this tutorial. I just bought a 24 piece of Prismacolor pastels and am feeling a bit paranoid about trying them, but your tutorial is helping me to work up the courage to do so. 😊

Thank you thank you thank you! I sooooooo need these types of teaching videos!!!!!!! Please do lots more teaching videos, it truly helps a beginner like me!!!!! Best Wishes, Renee

Hi Peta, your videos are part of my obsession you are the reason why I fell in love with my inktense! I have a couple of ideas for you and your watchers! Instead of shaving the "chalk" you can actually rub the pad or whatever you are using directly on to the pastel and color the background. As well my suggestion would be to use the pastels after you have colored the pictured. The soft pastels do not adhere to colored pencils. Good Luck!!!!!

Your videos are wonderful, I have learned so much watching. I enjoy your explanations and demonstrations of techniques. I also want to complement you on your selection of background music as well. Spanish guitars are one of my favorite forms of relaxing music. Thank you for all your beautiful work and sharing it with us.

Your videos are always very Helpful and Fun to watch, thank you Peta!

You're a great teacher, by the way.

Well, after watching this, I don't know why I was so intimidated by the pastels. I've had a set for about a year and now I'm going to try mine out as soon as I get some makeup pads.

Thank you for sharing this tutorial on using the soft pastels as a BG in this process! I am using this method to bring life to a piece I did on youtube an credited this tip back to you!

HI Peta, you can try holding the electric eraser the same way you hold a pencil or marker, and use either your thumb or index finger to press the button, and your middle finger to support the lower part of the "device". and use heavy duty or used alkaline batteries. That way it will reduce the vibration of the motor. For me i actually brought one from Daiso for $2 and fit it with Derwent electric eraser refills.

Thanks Peta. I've wondered how I can make a nice even background. I'm going to try that.

Greetings!!! I think using soft pastels in the background is a great idea, i have a set already and now I have a great use for them, i was going to try a light wash in watercolors, but using soft pastels is a better idea!!!! I give it a 10+++!! Thank You!!

ty so much for posting the video im a complete beginner of this books im learning so much .

You were just recommended to me by---uh---can't remember her name---she did a video on 10 Tips for Colouring---anyway, I don't know if you see comments written 7 years after your Tutorial, but I just followed you colouring the duck pond (to Classical Music, no less!!) and enjoyed it thoroughly!! Are you still doing these videos?? xx Lynn in NYC

Enjoy your tutorials so much..I just started coloring adult coloring books, and need your help. Thanks

Peta ♥ So pretty, thank you for mentioning all of the supplies we will need to buy. I must buy one of the beautiful coloring books.

excellent tutorial, exactly what i need!

Very nice! I tried it and it came out nicely! You have taught me so much!

Great video I use hairspray has a fixative works same much cheaper no fumes

Love how you do your colouring tutorials can you do one using water colour pencils please x

Thankyou so very helpful.👏🌈🌟

Did you ever try pastel pencils like Faber-Castell Pitt pastels? Got them as a gift but don't know how to use them. Thanks a lot for taking the time to teach us all those beautiful and fun techniques 😊

Sangat kreatif saya suka..😊 artnya bagus..i love it

This is perfect I’ve never known how to use pastels

you could use the eraser to create some stripes of sunlight reaching in too. :)

beautiful results! thanks for sharing

ouch. Beautiful work. thank you for sharing

Yep definitely subscribed love the video thanks!!!!

Thanks I really want to know how to do this. Mostly I have seen it done when people have coloured the picture. In Scotland, rubbers are rubbers, but in Canada they are erasers, box cutters are utility knives.

Excellent demo.

I call it a rubber too and I'm in the UK...

I found a tiny grater from Walmart that works so well and quick for grinding down the chalk. The cost was like 1.00.

Your videos are so helpful - very easy to understand and follow. Love all the useful hacks as well. Have you ever thought about teaching via the online Skillshare platform ? You should!!!

Did you ever tried foil transfer sheets or gold leaves on your coloring books? Thank you, I love your tutorials, coloring is so much soothing than knitting for me.

My mother and I love your videos. We have talked about pastels and this video really helped. I have one question for you. Does the fixate hurt the paper at all? Cause wrinkles or the paper to bend? The after picture it seemed to look really good so I am going to guess that it doesnt, but how does handle aging, will the paper fold and wrinkle the older it is? Thank You and Happy Coloring!

what brand of pastel do you use ?i Is it soft chalk pastel or soft pastel?

Great tutorial, thank you! :)

What will happen if ill spray it on picture colored with watercolor pencils(dry,no water used)?

can you use hairspray instead of fixative? i went to art school when i was young and i remember we used hairspray to fix them,but i'm not sure if i made that up or not :)

Peta, I am just wondering if fixative is really necessary for pastels? I heard that it smells bad and alters the colours of the pastels, etc. Thanks in advance! I love your work :)

would this work with oil pastels? I bought a set of derwent academy 36 oil pastes ready for watching this video, not realising they where different. :( also anyone know what workable fixative I can get in the UK? thanks Peta I love your vids and tutorials, I am very new to colouring, I sufer with depression and was trying to find something I liked doing when I am depressed to take my mind off things. I am not very good really but hoping I will improve with practice. I have the polychromos pencils and the derwent inktense. I love using the inktense in the magical city and your vids etc have been a real help to me. This hobby has really helped me feel better and so have your videos!! so Thanks again x

I find that if I put my index finger to hold the page the oil in my skin, even though I have washed my hands previously,,,tend to stain my page. If I use an eraser to remove the pastel it still leaves a stain. Use a tissue or a piece of fabric to avoid this.

I'm just starting this hobby. Do you always use the pastels for the background before coloring in the page? I love the idea of this process because penciling in backgrounds seems very daunting to me. Thanks for your help.

Do you absolutely have to use the fixative on the pastels? I love the idea of the pastel backgrounds but not sure about wanting the fixative in my colouring books. Thanks in advance!

Fantastic video! I'm wondering if the or workable fixative would allow me to use the intense pencils and a water brush?

Hi just wondering if Derwent soft pastel pencils would work for this technique as well? Love your videos thanks for sharing 😊

I can't wait to try this technique! But what gel pens did you use in that enchanted forest picture? It looked so silvery and metallic!

Heather Hanson, hi. I bought the workavle fixative so thx for that. I asked my hubby yesterday to spray it on a picture I thought I was finished & he did. Then, I got another idea for the picture so I grabbed it & added more pencil, marker & erased some stuff to make it better. Then I asked him again to spray it but use the 'final' fixative his time. He says...'that's what I used the last time I sprayed it'. So now, I'm confused so I tried it myself on another picture, using the final fixative, then coloured over it, added pastels, & even erased something to see if it worked. It did!!! So, how do they consider the 'final' fixative final? You can still work on it after it's sprayed on? I'm wondering why you need this final one @ all now. What are your thoughts on this, pls?

Peta Hewitt I always perfer top quality! What is the best top quality of pastels u recommend?

can you use felt tips and alcohol markers on top of the fixative? awesome video. Can't wait to try this technique out

Can this be done with oil pastels as well as chalk pastels?

Does it work with regular chalks too?

can this be done with oil pastels crayon

Fantastic video, well done and extremely helpful to me as a novice colorist. What is the guitar music in the background? I love it, and would like to add it to my music library.

Hello Peta, Do you find that using rubbers damages the tooth of the paper? Thank you for the lovely video. Tracy (Canada)

Wouldn't using oil pastels leave a more richer color on the page? Is there a downside to using oil-based pastels? Anyone??

Thank u so much for this tutorial! I was looking for a technique that was easier than colored pencils for backgrounds ! I have a question, is it necessary to spray the fixative on or can I just leave it be? Will it rub off?

hello😀 great video! how can I make a dark or black background? I have seen some people do that in this book and it looks great! Can u make a tutorial on how to do that?

We call them rubbers here too. My kids think I am wierd if I say eraser 😂

Another question. Do you ever take pages out of your coloring book and put it in an album? If so, what is the best way to disassemble coloring books? I don't think I want to deal with coloring close to the binding edge. I am waiting to receive my first order of coloring books; i.e. secret garden and enchanted forest. Thanks for your help.

Hi! Where is your fish video? I can't find it! :-)

what s the name of the company for qtips

dry pastels?

We call erasers rubbers too here in England. Many folk joke and say eraser is the posh word for it 😜

Can you colour with pencils OVER the Fixative once you've sprayed your image?

how long did you waited to start coloring after spraying it?

Did you ever tried matte finish modpodge to seal the pastel down?

Pretty much every other person I have seen demonstrating pastels, started by tearing the page out of the book and suggesting that you tear it out. The tearing apart of the books hurt my heart.

my secret garden when I use soft pastel my paper peel off and the colour seems a little bit darker, imagine that background of the paper mixed with pastel and turned the colour more dark than actually it is.

I'm British and we say rubbers too

why do you and not just use it as a crayon?

only person I saw that used an object to get the chalk dust and used something soft instead of their fingers. Just my art teacher said

"Beaudy"

In America we call rubbers=condoms

You can call the eraser whatever you'd like. Did people give you a bit of a hard time about that? Sigh.