Pastel Storage

  This is my pastel box that I use on a daily basis when I’m painting.  It is a Heilman box, which is the best pastel box made, in my opinion.  As do most pastelists, I think it’s important to arrange pastels in a logical order.  This box has six sections, so I have set up the sections as reds, oranges, yellows (and browns), greens, blues and purples.  The darkest values are at the top and the lightest at the bottom.  It’s not as neatly arranged as some (Richard McKinley — how do you do that?), but it works for me.  My pastels are all different sizes and shapes, so this is about as neat as I can get it.

I do have many more pastels than this.  The ones that come in nice neat boxes, I usually keep them in their boxes.  So in addition to this, I have several boxes of pastels that I keep on my work table as well.  I always know where they are and never have trouble finding the one I want.

I have tried other types of boxes, but I really like Heilman’s the best.  This one is their original box, but I also have the Backpack box, which is smaller.  I take the smaller one for working in the field or traveling.   I also have the portable easel that attaches right into the boxes, and the boxes fit on my camera tripod, too.