Painting Brilliant Skies & Water in Pastel: Secrets to Bringing Light and Life to Your Landscapes by Liz Haywood-Sullivan – Paperback: 128 pages; North Light Books (May 10, 2013) Best Seller

No two elements of the landscape bring the artist greater inspiration--or greater challenge--than sky and water. Get them right and you have magic. Get them wrong and your whole painting is off. In this book, popular pastel artist and teacher Liz Haywood-Sullivan shares her secrets for getting them both right, every time.

Painting Sunlight and Shadow with Pastels: Essential Techniques for Brilliant Effects by Maggie Price – Paperback: 128 pages; North Light Books (Apr 6, 2011) Best Seller

Whether you work outdoors or indoors, understanding the effects of light and shadow is key to making your art lifelike and engaging.

All About Techniques in Pastel by Richard McKinley – Paperback: 128 pages; North Light Books; Pap/DVD edition (Dec 10, 2010) Best Seller

Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (September 1, 1998)

The Big Book of Painting Nature in Pastel by S. Allyn Schaeffer, John Shaw (Photographer) – Paperback: 192 pages; Watson-Guptill (Aug 1993) Best Seller

Creative Painting With Pastel by Carole Katchen – Paperback: North Light Books; 144 pages; (Aug 1997) Best Seller

Harley Brown's Eternal Truths for Every Artist by Harley Brown, Lewis Barrett Lehrman – Hardcover: 144 pages; International Artist Publishing (Mar 2001) Best Seller

Harley Brown offers artists his "truths" for painting success—the stuff he hopes they teach in art school. A well-established artist, Brown has gained a large following with his frank, no-nonsense approach to teaching art.

Pastel for the Serious Beginner by Larry Blovits – Paperback: 144 pages; Watson-Guptill (Oct 1, 1996) Best Seller

Look at the brilliant landscape on the front cover of this book and the glowing still life below and imagine achieving such soft, luminous effects in your own pastel paintings. Thanks to the practical instruction in these pages, you will soon know how to use the beautiful, delicate pastel medium to create light-filled landscapes, sophisticated still lifes, and pleasing portraits. Beginning with materials and methods, then moving on to practical, step-by-step demonstrations, master pastelist Larry Blovits shares with readers the time-tested theories and techniques he employs in producing his widely admired, award winning paintings.

The Encyclopedia of Pastel Techniques by Judy Martin – Paperback: 192 pages; Sterling Publishing (Oct 1, 2003)

Through discussions of soft and hard pastels, oil pastels, water-soluble pastels, and pastel pencils, you’ll discover the best medium for your project. Find out how to choose paper, apply color, and use fixatives. Hundreds of color photographs and illustrations, plus detailed instructions, show how to execute techniques.

The 5 Essentials in Every Powerful Painting by Ramon Kelley – Hardcover: 128 pages; International Artist Publishing (Sep 2001)

Over five main chapters, Ramon demonstrates in oil and pastel the 5 essential concepts that, when used effectively, result in powerful, unique paintings.

Pastel by Daniel E. Greene, Joe Singer (Editor) – Paperback: 160 pages; Watson-Guptill; 1st edition (Sep 1, 1985) Best Seller

The Best of Pastel by Constance Flavell Pratt – Hardcover: 144 pages; North Light Books (Sep 1996)

Pastels are pure pigment, taken from the stones of the earth. One of the oldest of all media, pure pigment paintings have been found on the walls of caves in Altamira, Spain and Lascaux, France. "The Best of Pastels" is a wonderful collection of more than two hundred works of art created by masters in the medium of pastel. Juried by award-winning pastel artists Constance Flavell Pratt and Janet Monafo, with an introduction by Flora B. Giffuni, founder of the Pastel Society of America, this is an essential volume for all who are fascinated by the beautiful medium of pastel.

Pastel Book: Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist (Paperback) by Bill Creevy – Paperback: 176 pages; Watson-Guptill; 2nd edition (Aug 1999)

Absolutely the most thorough guide to pastel materials and techniques ever assembled in a single volume, this is the book for anyone working with pastels, from beginners to experienced artists looking to develop more professional skills. 450 color illustrations.

Pastel Painter's Solution Book: 50 Pastel Painting Problems and How to Solve Them by David Cuthbert – Hardcover: 144 pages; North Light Books; 1st edition (Mar 1, 1996)

In The Pastel Painter's Solution Book, painter and teacher David Cuthbert highlights some of the common problems and provides simple and logical solutions. Each problem is illustrated with a typical beginner's picture, while the suggested solution features the work of a professional painter dealing with a similar subject.

The Best of Pastel 2 by Kristina Feliciano (Editor), Pastel Society of America (Compiler) – Hardcover: 144 pages; Quarry Books; 2nd edition (Mar 1999) Best Seller

This second edition of "The Best of Pastel " continues to honor the best artists from around the world working in pastels. Selected from hundreds of entries, the 130 images presented in these pages represent the most talented artists and their works in a wide array of styles, techniques, and subjects, including landscapes, portraits, still-lifes, and abstracts.

Displays one per page, each work is reproduced in color and features artist, title, materials, dimensions, and the inspiration for the work in the artist's own words. Includes an essay by Alden Baker on how to critique your own work.

Master Strokes: A Step-By-Step Guide to Using the Techniques of the Masters for Pastels by Hazel Harrison – Hardcover: 96 pages; Sterling Publications (May 1999) Best Seller

This volume contains seven “lessons” that focus on a painting by a great artist, provide background information, and give a detailed evaluation of the techniques. In addition, “how-to” instructions are provided. Master Strokes: Pastel teaches atmospheric and urban landscapes, still lifes, and portraits through a study of works by Turner, Constable, de La Tour, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Courbet.

Capturing the Light in Pastel by Lionel Aggett – Paperback: 128 pages; David & Charles (Aug 1998) Best Seller

When most people think of depicting light, watercolor is what comes to mind, but Aggett enjoys the immediacy and versatility of pastel. The proof is in his stunning illustrations, which fully prove the medium's ability to handle any lighting situation beautifully. In this highly recommended book, he depicts the same scene under differing conditions and even paints a Mediterranean scene in "English" light and English scene in "Mediterranean" light to illustrate a point.

Capturing Light & Color With Pastel by Doug Dawson – Paperback: 144 pages; North Light Books, Reprint edition (Sep 1995) Best Seller

Pastel Drawing: Expert Answers to Questions Every Artist Asks by Barbara Benedetti Newton – Paperback: 224 pages; Barron's Educational Series (Jun 1, 2013) Best Seller

Titles in Barron's growing Art Answers series provide practical, on-the-spot answers to questions every artist confronts while working on a project,.

Pastel Pointers: Top 100 Secrets for Beautiful Paintings by Richard McKinley – Paperback: 128 pages; North Light Books; Paperback / DVD edition (Dec 10, 2010) Best Seller

Richard McKinley has been a professional artist for over 35 years. Factor in nearly as many years of teaching experience, and that adds up to a whole lot of know-how to share. In Pastel Pointers, he lays it all out: information on tools, materials, color, composition, landscape elements, finishes and more.

Pastel Painting Techniques by Guy Roddon – Unknown Binding: 116 pages; B. T. Batsford (1979)

Reader review: This book shows 17 (anonymous) painters as they build up pastel paintings. Step-by-step colour photographs show each stage and intelligent commentary directs your attention to the important aspects. Each of the paintings is in a completely different style and they include a variety of landscape, interior, figure, and still life subjects.

The paintings step out from the formulaic heavily worked approach epitomized in Watson-Guptil books with many refreshing variations on familiar genres. Simple quick sketches to carefully worked out masterpieces show the vibrancy and flexibility of pastel painting at its best.

Painting With Pastels by Peter D. Johnson Paperback: 128 pages; Bracken Books (1992)

The ideal introduction to the medium of pastel, this book begins with a commonsense guide to the choice of materials and to their care and organisation. Following chapters advise on the techniques of painting landscapes and portraits, still lifes, buildings, water and sky with the subtle and often disregarded pastel medium. Full colour illustrations and line drawings will provide a real inspiration and valuable guidance for the amateur artist moving into pastel painting.

Pastel Painting by LEMA Publications – Paperback: 96 pages; LEMA Publications (Sep 1999)

Pastel Painter's Pocket Palette: Practical Visual Advice on How to Create over 600 Pastel Colors from a Small Basic Range by Rosalind Cuthbert – Hardcover; North Light Books (Sep 1992)

Shows how to combine pastel colors using a basic sixteen color starting palette to create hundreds of different tints and shades.

Painting Flowers & Gardens in Watercolor and Pastel by Alison Hoblyn – Hardcover: 128 pages; David & Charles UK (Aug 1997)