Friends Of The Month – Terry Ludwig Pastels

Symi had the pleasure of meeting Terry and his team a few years ago in New Mexico and couldn’t help be impressed with how they run their family business.

Terry is an instructor and artist himself, who was frustrated with the lack of colour options available and few choices for very soft pastels, so he began experimenting with formulas for making his own pastels back in 1995. His goal was to create a vast array of colour in pastels that were uniformly soft across all densities of hue. Terry began creating his own rectangular shaped pastels to achieve the array of colors he needed, combined with the ability to use the edge of a pastel to create more detailed art. Terry Ludwig Pastels sells to artists all over the world, and we couldn’t be more happy to introduce you to this company.

Terry told us, “There are a number of ways to use brushes while painting with pastels. One way is to lightly scumble (to blur the outlines) of the pastels for softer edges. Another method is to scumble lightly to start to establish an underpainting’’. He went on to say, ‘‘After the underpainting has been formed, add either water or rubbing alcohol and use as watercolor. It will help to establish your shapes and values. Allow it to dry and continue on”. We asked Terry about how you could remove pastels that have built up, to which he explained, “Use a stiff brush to remove the layers. Afterwards, reapply the new pastels you wish to use”.

POPULAR BRUSHES FOR PASTELS:
Series 43. Pure Squirrel ‘Tinter’
For the scumbling effect.

Series 306. Fan Blender
As the name suggests, is for blending.

Series 501 or 502
A stiff nylon for removing layers.

Rubber Tip Tool Set
Made from silicone. Ideal for applying, removing, scraping and moving colour.

Please take the time to visit Terry’s website: www.terryludwig.com