We’ve talked about oil pastels, but we should also talk about dry pastels, which have been in use for much longer in history.
https://theweekendbeckons.com/the-best-soft-pastels-brand-for-your-art-style-and-budget/
It’s not too hard to make pastels, you can just grind minerals and mix the pigment with water. Maybe this is why they were first used 20,000 years ago. Cave art isn’t exactly pastels, but the materials they used are basically identical.
In the 16th century northern Italy, European artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Federico Barocci were using them since the Renaissance. But they were much more popular during the 18th century because they were used for portraits – they were portable, cheaper than paint, and didn’t varnish.
Pastel drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci
https://practicalpages.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/leonardo-pastel-portraits/
However, it did become slightly unpopular for a while, especially in France, because it was “less sophisticated” than oil paint and contained a lot of dust, which was messy and contained toxic pigments like cadmium.
However, they did become widely used in the 19th century again thanks to artists Jean-François Millet, Edgar Degas, and many others. These artists were more innovative with their use of the medium: using pastel on canvas, mixing it with watercolor, and capturing a moment in life (Impressionism).
Dancers by Edgar Degas (1884-85).
The U.S started to use pastels because of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who produced pastels and created hundreds of drawings from his time in Venice. Mary Cassatt, an American artist living in France, introduced Impressionism and pastel to her friends in Philadelphia and Washington as well. All of this along with the creation of The Pastel Society of America solidified pastels as a real, global art medium.
Today, pastels are used almost identically from the time they were used during the Renaissance and are considered a desirable painting medium. Try it out!