Pastel drawing is a form of art that lies somewhere between drawing and painting. It’s like you’re painting with a stick of color. Pastel painting can produce very rich textures and opaque vivid colors, which is why a lot of artists like or liked to use them, including Leonardo da Vinci. Pastels are essentially pure color pigment that is combined with a binding agent to form a stick. There are 4 main types of pastels, oil, soft and hard chalk pastels, and pencils. Soft chalk pastels are the most widely used and the easiest to work with and blend, while the hard pastels are generally used to produce a sharper drawing with more defined lines. Most pastels are usually drawn on textured paper which allows the chalk to grab hold of the paper without any unintentional smearing or smudging.