Almost 2 months ago, I committed to opening a new arts space in the Historical District of Water Valley, Mississippi, at 26 South Main, and I am stunned by the amount of time and effort [and money] this transition has required.

Next week, artists in the historic district of Water Valley will open their arts spaces for Art Crawl, and this week, I am getting some more things framed and hung for that event.

Interior of Jacki Kellum Studios and Gallery
at 26 South Main in Water Valley, Mississippi

As you see in the above photo, my gallery currently looks like a parlor, and I like the way it looks, but after Art Crawl, I plan to move some of the furniture out of my main space and make 26 South Main more of a working studio than it is now.

I plan to do my acrylic and oil painting at 26 South Main.

I’ll also teach painting there, and I’ll begin offering Arty Parties there.

Meanwhile, I’ll do my watercolor and pastel painting in my home studio.

But again, getting all my work spaces set up has been yet another huge task.

My set up for pastels and red chalk drawings in my home studio in Water Valley, Mississippi

I am enrolled in a pastel landscape class with Alain Picard, and my greatest take-away from Alain’s Class so far is to paint in pastel with your paper completely vertical. Here is my set up:

I organize my pastels in wooden trays, and I have the trays easy to see and reach in a series of open racks. I have both a standing and a seated vertical easel for pastel painting. For sketching, I have a table easel in a vertical position. I learned the lesson of working in pastel on a vertical easel the hard way. If my paper is not vertical, pastel dust flakes down on my drawings, and that result becomes a disastrous mud pie.

As I have transformed my home studio into a functional workspace for pastel painting, an old exression has contnuously run through my head: “I’m fixing to….”

What Does the Expression Mean, “I’m Fixing To?”

“I’m Fixing To” is a Southern expression  that might have more than one meaning.

For years, folks would ask me when I was going to do pastel portraits again, and my response was often, “I’m fixing to get back at that.” But in reality, I knew that at that moment, the idea of my doing pastel portraits was only a pipe dream–a long-range hope.  At that moment, “I’m fixing to” was not an immediate plan, but now that I have an additional work space–set up specifically for pastels and red chalk, I can actually see that I truly am “fixing to” do all kind of pastel painting.

The set up for pastel painting is not like the set up for other types of painting. The primary difference is that because pastel artists don’t mix colors, they need a large number of individual sticks of color.

Image Credit: Gibbes Museum

Without some type of organizaion system, an artist’s collection of pastels can become an insurmountable mess. In this post, I’ll share my set up for painting wih pastels:

Image Credit: Meeden on Amazon

I have the 10-layer set of art boxes that are perfect for organizing sticks of soft pastel. Although the drawers work perfectly, I like my pastels to be more accessible than they are when stored inide the boxes. I bought some racks from Amazon that are perfect for storing the Meeden drawers openly.

ROJASOP Shoe Rack Organizer, 8-Tier Metal Shoe Rack
Image Credit: Amazon

The Meeden drawers fit on the shorter Rojasop racks, and at a glance, I can see the colors I have available.

You can connect the racks any way that you want. I use the shorter shelves for the pastel drawers. Each drawer of colors has its own rack.

On the taller shelves, I store finished drawings and papers in paper racks.

Wire Paper Racks 12″ x 12″
Image Credit: Craftelevier on Amazon

Pastel Dust can be a problem for artists. To keep the pastel dust from settling back on your work in progress, it is essential that you work on an upright surface.

Image Credit: Amazon

I have mounted a 24 x 36 dry erase board to the wall, and I tape my pastel paper to that surface.

Elitehood Ipad Stand
Image Credit: Amazon

When I am working from a photo, I lift my image–on my Ipad–to eye level. The Ipad stand is next to my upright drawing surface.

I have several sets of soft pastels, including a large set of Sennelier soft pastels. I also have the Nomad set of 56 Blue Earth Soft Pastels:

Blue Earth Pastels – A Great Less Expensive Professional Soft Pastel – Focus on the Nomad Set of 56 Colors

I plan to buy the Alain Picard Set of Terry Ludwig Soft Pastels for Landscapes as soon as possible.

Terry Ludwig Pastels – Alain Picard Landscape Set

For some extra bright colors, I am temporarily using Rubens Soft Pastels:

Rubens Soft Pastels – This Might Be the Less Expensive but Functional Brand of Professional Pastels I’ve Been Looking For

The cheaper pastels are bad about filling the grain of the paper with dust. When the grain of the paper is filled, it is almost imossible to add more pastel marks.

Image Credit: Amazon

I have purchased a set of 96 Nupastels to make my initial layer of color thinner and less dusty. Nupastels are hard pastels. They are less dusty than soft pastels.

Stabilo CarbOthello Pastel Pencils
Image Credit: Dick Blick

I have also bought a set of 60 Stabilo CarbOthello Pastel Pencils for drawing and the first layers.

Cigar Cutter for Cutting Full Sticks of Pastels

Utility Knife and Extra Blades to Shapen Nupastels and other pastels to a point.

Sketch Drawing Tools with Sketch Wipe Scrapers, Rub Sponge, Kneaded Eraser and Sandpaper Sharpeners [I rarely use the blenders. If I do use them, it is only for tiny areas. I strive not to blend or smudge my pastel marks.]