[.ca] Pastels (ISBN 0929261089)

Not Recommended for Beginners:
Although this book, like most other Walter Foster books, is geared towards beginnners, I would caution any beginner that is considering the purchase of this book. _Pastels_ was published in 1988 and sorely needs to be updated to include the better and more workable surfaces that are available to today's pastelist. Mr. DeMille, although a very talented artist and pastelist, uses this book to tout his personal preference for velour surfaces. Out of the 26 "demonstrations" in the book, 19 of them are done on velour and 3 are done on regular sandpaper. Velour is not only a difficult surface for beginners to work on, but it is extremely difficult to frame and will constantly shed fiber particles and pastel all over the mat. If you want a velour look, try using suede mat board instead -- it costs a lot more, but it doesn't shed. As for the sandpaper, many pastelists use it but, again, be aware! Sandpaper is not archival, much less acid-free. Your best bet is to use special pastel paper that has a coated or sanded surface. In summary, this book is sadly outdated and I would recommend that you purchase more updated books, such as the pastelist's "bible", "The Pastel Book : Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist" by Bill Creevy.