A piece of advice given from Lisa Ober

UART: What advice would you give someone who is just starting with pastels?

Lisa: Never give up on pastel.  It is worth the reward.  It is worth the few little challenges that it poses, like the susceptibility, the smearing.  It is worth figuring out a work around for that because the luminosity you get with pastels is spectacular.  The amount of layers and textures you can create in pastel is rewarding.  If you don’t give up on pastel you will end up loving it.
Whole interview.