{"id":1336511,"date":"2023-12-29T00:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T07:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artistsnetwork.com\/?p=1336511"},"modified":"2024-01-10T23:13:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T06:13:03","slug":"a-less-wasteful-art-collecting-pastel-pigment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artistsnetwork.com\/art-mediums\/a-less-wasteful-art-collecting-pastel-pigment\/","title":{"rendered":"A Less Wasteful Art: Collecting Pastel Pigment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Pastel Shaper exists because Heather Goldstein is a good listener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Originally, Heather tried using mesh and capturing the shavings in a mason jar. The Pastel Shaper has a conical mesh insert that can be used to shape the pastel into a point or a flat side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody talked about using sandpaper to shape their pastels and how much valuable pigment that wastes,\u201d said Heather. \u201cAnd then one guy said he used wire mesh, and I thought, \u2018Well if you\u2019re using wire mesh, couldn\u2019t you collect the pigment?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s how, at age 17, Goldstein invented the Pastel Shaper<\/a>. Now, as the Director of New Product Development at Jerry\u2019s Artarama, she has developed many other products (including her personal favorite, the Painter\u2019s Color<\/a>), but the pastel shaper is the longest-selling of her products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Pastel Shaper has been available for 20 or so years, but many pastel artists aren\u2019t aware of it or how great it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why waste the pigment? The jars capture the shaved pastel, making it simple to re-use.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can twist your pastel to create a point for detail work, or you can rub it in the edge to create a flat side,\u201d Goldstein says. \u201cReally you can shape it however you want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Creating a soft point for more detailed work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All of the shaved pigment collects in the jar. Goldstein likes to have one container for each hue. \u201cI have a set of 7 jars\u2014ROYGBIV. So I have all my purples in one, all of my yellows in another, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This collected pigment\u2014a lovely, complex mixture of multiple colors of each hue\u2014can be utilized in several ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the Pastel Shaper In Action!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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