HANDMADE PASTEL COLOUR CHARTS SINCE 2012

There are many reasons for purchasing a set of handmade pastel colour charts. First of all it can help you manage your pastel collection. If you are like many other pastel artists you will remove the pastel wrapper and break the pastel stick into a number of manageable sizes. Then when the pastel stick comes to the end of it’s natural life it is very difficult to know the exact colour reference of that pastel. With a handmade colour chart it is easy to compare that last little piece of pastel to the colours on the chart and identify the exact colour you need. Tip: For greater accuracy, make a small colour swatch and compare that with the colour swatches on the chart.

Printed charts are ok but not completely accurate due to the printing process. A handmade pastel colour chart uses the actual pastel pigment sticks so they provide an accurate representation of each pastel colour. This can make all the difference when buying a new colour. You can be sure the colour you see on the handmade chart is the colour you get. Note: The hue, chroma and temperature are not affected by the laminating process but glossy laminating pouches do produce an apparent deepening or enriching of the colours. This is likened to a clear coat of varnish over an oil painting.

Handmade pastel colour charts could save you money. High quality pastels are not cheap so you don’t want to buy colours you don’t need. Some colours are so similar that one colour could be used in place of two or three very similar colours. Unless you are a professional representational artist you may not require the full range of colours. Handmade pastel colour charts can help identify similarities and subtle differences between colours. The only way to precisely judge between those differences is through a handmade pastel colour chart. Printed charts may not display the subtle differences accurately enough.

Although this might not be a primary consideration for purchasing a set of handmade colour charts they are in themselves a thing of beauty. Hang them in your studio as items of decoration as well as for immediate reference to your colour options. Use a bulldog clip to hang to your wall for easy removal and to view information printed on the reverse of some charts. Note: Please always remember to handle your charts with care so as not to disturb the dry pigment inside the laminated pouch.

Colour charts are also useful for wet media artists who rely on colour mixing.
An exercise for the wet media artist is to try and match the colours on the charts through colour mixing of oils or acrylics. A small dab of the mixed colour can be placed directly onto the laminated chart to see how it compares. Once a good match has been made the dab of paint can be easily and quickly removed from the laminated surface. Note: Do not use Matt laminated charts for the colour matching exercise.

MANAGE YOUR PASTEL COLLECTION

THE COLOUR YOU SEE IS THE COLOUR YOU GET

EXACT COLOUR HUE, TEMPERATURE AND CHROMA

SAVE MONEY - AVOID BUYING SIMILAR COLOURS

BEAUTIFUL AND PRACTICAL - STUDIO WALL DECORATION

COLOUR MATCHING EXERCISE FOR WET MEDIA

BUILD YOUR COLLECTION AS YOU WORK BY REFERRING TO AN ACCURATE COLOUR CHART

AVAILABLE ON HIGH QUALITY CLEAN WHITE PAPER

AVAILABLE IN MATT AND GLOSSY FINISH

All charts are designed and made by GLYN RAND. Glyn is a sole trader and makes these lovely hand coloured pastel charts in his spare time. As an art enthusiast Glyn loves to purchase and play with a great variety of art materials. Glyn decided to purchase the full range of Unison pastels having fallen in love with the brand after buying a set of heavenly shades (now discontinued). It wasn't long before he had made his own colour chart which looked so good he thought others might like one too. Pastel Colour Charts have now been purchased by customers from as far away as Canada and USA to France, Finland, Spain and Greece. On top of this hundreds have been sold throughout the UK through Unisoncolour.com and Jacksonsart.com.

Recommendations for beginners

If you are new to pastel painting I would recommend starting your collection with a starter set of around 36 colours. If you fall in love with pastels you will definitely want to increase your range of colours. Now would be a good time to invest in a handmade pastel colour chart. Keep it near you to refer to when pastel painting; in this way you will soon be able to identify the colours that are lacking from the starter set. Soon you will have identified a number of additional colours that you can buy to build your collection.

Tip 1: Having a wide range of values is very important if you are a realist painter. Seven tenths of our vision sees in terms of value.
Tip 2: Greys and dull colours are essential in making the brighter colours really stand out so make sure you don’t neglect to collect a good amount of these.
Tip 3: Consider collecting at least one shade and one tint of each pure colour. Having the option to nuance your colours in this way can have a big impact on the final artwork.