7″x5″ pastel on sanded board.  This is what playing with color looks like to me.  

 I paint, often.  My pastel boxes see frequent use.  My Aunt Nancy has a great saying “every time you use something you increase its value”. By that definition my pastels are priceless.  My husband teaches our children through his actions, and his lessons, that caring and maintaining things is important.  Our bikes are well oiled, and our tools put away clean.  So today I did some pastel maintenance.

Here is 1/2 of my backpack pastel box.  It has many broken and dirty pastel sticks.  The sticks are camouflaged with generic grey dust.  Wait to see what they look like clean, I know the color is under there…

Ta da!  Don’t you want to color now? 

There are several ways to “clean” your pastel sticks. I wiped mine with an old towel (you could use tissues, or paper towels).  You can also shake a few at a time in a couple cups of rice or cornstarch.  You can also dust your entire box with a feather duster (outside, and hold your breath).  

Then enjoy playing with color.