A Less Wasteful Art: Collecting Pastel Pigment
The Pastel Shaper exists because Heather Goldstein is a good listener.
As a high school student working part-time in an art supply store, Goldstein listened to artists and asked questions. At that time, pastels were her medium of choice, so she was especially tuned into the tips and conversations with pastel artists.
“Everybody talked about using sandpaper to shape their pastels and how much valuable pigment that wastes,” said Heather. “And then one guy said he used wire mesh, and I thought, ‘Well if you’re using wire mesh, couldn’t you collect the pigment?’”
And that’s how, at age 17, Goldstein invented the Pastel Shaper. Now, as the Director of New Product Development at Jerry’s Artarama, she has developed many other products (including her personal favorite, the Painter’s Color), but the pastel shaper is the longest-selling of her products.
“The Pastel Shaper has been available for 20 or so years, but many pastel artists aren’t aware of it or how great it is.”
The Pastel Shaper, with a cone-shaped wire mesh that fits over a glass jar, is designed to shape a dry pastel while capturing the powdery shavings neatly.
“You can twist your pastel to create a point for detail work, or you can rub it in the edge to create a flat side,” Goldstein says. “Really you can shape it however you want.”
All of the shaved pigment collects in the jar. Goldstein likes to have one container for each hue. “I have a set of 7 jars—ROYGBIV. So I have all my purples in one, all of my yellows in another, and so on.”
This collected pigment—a lovely, complex mixture of multiple colors of each hue—can be utilized in several ways.
See the Pastel Shaper In Action!
With one technique, you can use pastel brushes to pick up pigment and apply it to or blend it on the surface.
Another technique—one perhaps fewer pastel artists have tried—is to mix the pigment with a medium (below, we use Black Mountain’s Acrylic Gloss Medium) to create a paint.
These are just some examples of how to use this collected pigment. Explore all kinds of possibilities by collecting pigment using a Pastel Shaper, but most importantly, don’t waste that lovely, valuable pigment.
Want to see more product recommendations and demos? Check out our Product Guides page!
The Pastel Shaper: A Tool That’s So Simple, It’s Brilliant
The Pastel Shaper’s unique jar collects the pastel powder created by shaping your pastels; use it for painting backgrounds with pastel brushes, blocking in backgrounds with solvents, painting with soft pastel tools or foam applicators, or even your finger. No more wasting valuable pigment by sharpening on a sanding pad!
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