Pastel is a dry media, softer than chalk, but like chalk it has infinite brush loading. Applied with the Pastel tool , its dry pigment tends to penetrate the canvas texture proportional to the pressure with which you apply it. Pastel pigments have a fixed viscosity that is slightly less than chalk, meaning the strokes you apply leave some volume on the canvas as they break from the pigment stick. Pastels do not have a bristle component to the stroke, instead presenting a flat or angled surface of the stick. The stroke edges fall off and break up based on the texture of the canvas.
Pastel is slightly shiny, interacts with itself by smearing slightly, and dirtying the tool head slightly when applied with light pressure. It loads the canvas more than chalk, breaking up more when applied, and this gives the appearance of volume to the surface.
Pastel tool options
Edit workspace
Pastel tool options include
• Shape — defines the shape of the pastel tip
• Size — defines the size of the tool head in pixels
• Thickness — defines the aspect ratio of the tool head
• Rotation — defines the angle of head rotation in degrees
• Head Tracking — determines whether the tool head bends around the path of the user’s stroke, or remains at a fixed angle
• Trace check box — allows the Pastel tool to select the pigment color by sampling the data below the center of the tool regardless of the layer type.
Important! When you hold down the mouse button to begin the stroke, note that a single sample is performed and the resulting color is used for the duration of the stroke.