What Kind of Chalk to Use for Chalkboard Art
By some measures, chalk might exist the ultimate art supply. It'due south affordable, erasable, non-toxic, and it'south like shooting fish in a barrel to apply. While many fine art supplies crave technique, prep, training, or required supplies, chalk is piece of cake and versatile –a fun and outgoing art project for children and adults. Indoor chalkboard art walls are a fun manner to have an interactive art surface/communication board in a home or office, and making chalk art on outside services with sidewalk chalk is a fun activity that tin can be done all year round (as long equally information technology's not a rainy day).
For a few years, one of my professional roles was to create on-campus opportunities for graduate students to play together and to make art together (and hopefully, playfully make art together). Ane of our most successful projects was a large chalkboard wall located next to our niggling free art supply library. Although the chalkboard wall projection was inherited from previous leaders, it became my favorite project to steward. Tucked away in a less-trafficked corridor of the school, I loved how the chalkboard wall would spontaneously nascency new, anonymous art- often seemingly overnight.
One day, as I was purchasing chalk to resupply the chalk tray that nosotros kept well-nigh the chalkboard wall, I decided to run across what would happen if we replaced standard chalk with cheap entry-level creative person pastels. The consequence was astounding: the chalkboard wall which had previously only been able to display art made with a few basic pastel colors burst into color equally artists (and brave non-artists) embraced the new full pallet of chalk which gave them vibrant colors, shading, highlighting, and a stunning new range of art on our shared chalkboard art wall.
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The Problem with using Chalk for Chalkboard Art:
Historically, both blackboard chalk and sidewalk chalk were made generally from the mineral of the aforementioned name: chalk. Although some blackboard chalk is still fabricated using this soft form of limestone comprised mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), sidewalk chalk today has binders and pigments added to create resistance to breakage when used past small hands and uncoordinated movements. The problem is that this base ingredient, chalk, isn't translucent (which would assist carry pigment) and instead is a highly pigmented white (which actually blocks paint).
Because the base material is actively muting color, and because pigments are- relatively- a very expensive fabric- in gild to keep sidewalk chalk inexpensive, most manufacturers but produce faintly pastel sidewalk chalk. Currently no manufacturer makes sidewalk chalk in bright hues and deep shades needed for more creative chalk art. Even Crayloa'south Neon "Super bright" sidewalk chalk is faintly pigmented.
And most of the fourth dimension this is ok! For many uses –like leaving letters or cute drawings on a chalkboard message wall in a family kitchen, letting kids get fresh air drawing outside– the pastel colors of standard writing chalk or sidewalk chalk are perfect! A few bones colors go far piece of cake to draw colorful scenes and messages on surfaces. It'due south cheap, easy to clean, and in applications where specific color tone and shade don't thing, the stake pigments of standard chalk or sidewalk chalk are more than sufficient to communicate a bulletin or illustrate a simple kid'south drawing.
The Statement for Swapping Chalk with Pastels
Artist Pastels are an art supply fabricated from a alloy of powdered pigments, chalk, and a binder. Swapping regular sidewalk with artist pastels (sometimes chosen "soft pastels) is an easy way to instantly boost the "wow" factor of your chalk art. Instead of soft pinks, pale yellows, and pastel blues typical for chalk, artist pastels provide a well-nigh infinite palette of vibrant principal colors, realistic skin tones, shaded light colors for highlighting, and just about any other color you can imagine.
Although in the by chalk and pastels were very different products, modern creative person pastels and modernistic chalk/sidewalk chalk are actually very like products. Art pastels were once very expensive and breakable sticks of pigment mixed with a lilliputian bit of folder, while chalk was a stone-like form of calcium carbonate mineral. Over the years, and as unlike manufacturers have experimented with different formulas, the gap between the ii products has narrowed. Chalk is now made with binder and pigment, and artist pastels are formulated to be affordable and much less brittle than they were in the past.
Today, these products are divided mostly by what their manufacturer's value most: ease of utilise versus colour quality. Sidewalk chalk is produced with the aim of being resistant to breakage and easy to clean upwards; while artist pastel manufacturers prioritize smooth blending and depth of color.
NOTES:
Should you lot buy nice pastels? It depends. Entry level soft pastels accept more binder and a petty less paint, making them a bit paler but much cheaper and more resistant to breakage. Luxury/professional grade artist pastels tend to be richer in color and smoother to blend, but very very brittle because the pigment content is so high. For this reason, unless you're doing professional chalk art, entry-level pastels are perfect for chalkboard walls and outdoor fine art. I recommend starting with entry-level pastels then adding nicer pastels in singles and keeping your eye out for pastels of all types at garage sales and thrift stores.
Planning ahead: blackboard chalk is fairly hard, while sidewalk chalk is formulated to be a niggling softer in texture (and smoother to write with on crude surfaces similar cement). Artist pastels tend to be even softer. This means you get less coverage from the aforementioned amount of fabric. Expect to become through pastels adequately apace – particularly when working on a large projection. If yous're working on a project and don't desire to run out in the heart, a good rule of thumb is to buy two or even three times every bit much chalk pastels every bit yous think you might need.
Note: chalk pastels and oil pastels are not the aforementioned production!
Exist sure and read the packaging to exist sure that you do non purchase oil-based pastels. Oil pastels accept an oily crayon–similar texture instead of a chalky texture. Oil pastels will not wipe clean upwards easily like chalk pastels. If you accidentally get oil pastels on your chalkboard wall yous can use a Magic Eraser and Dawn dish lather to remove the oil-based markings.
Source: https://www.hawk-hill.com/chalkboard-art-tips/
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