How many does it take?

When I first started getting serious with pastel, I bought a set of 45 sticks, landscape set of Rembrant pastels.  Oh boy, I thought I had so many!   Oh boy, was I wrong!    I really couldn't tell you how many I actually have now, but its several hundred for sure.

So why would I ever buy more at this point?   Its kinda like spices--you might have several in your kitchen, but there might be a dish you wish to make, and need yet another spice.   That's like pastels, some are harder, some soft as butter, some brands have better greens, some have better darks.   And, its just kinda the way a pastelist is, we must have them allll! 

But how many does it take to make a painting?  Really very few.   Most paintings have a gamut of colors that are within a certain range.   I often take note of colors in things like flower arrangements, home decor books and the like, looking for color ideas I could use in a painting.   Recently I wanted to paint a white horse in blues with white. 

I also wanted to do something special for a lady who'd been very generous with me in the past.   So I went on her facebook page and snagged a photo of her very favorite horse, Seth.   Now, I normally wouldn't suggest using photos from someone without permission, but since this was to be sent to her as a gift, I didn't think she'd mind.

The top tray is the limited selection I used to paint Seth;
mostly the blues, greys, purples and a few peachy and pale yellow tones.
I added some darks from another brand, and a few pastel pencils for detail.