Pictorial technique that foresees the use of pigments mixed with water, adhered with substances (an infusion of barley or linen, Arabic gum, Marseilles soap) and successively reduced into sticks and dried. The colours are graduated thanks to the addition of white clay. Anything with sufficient roughness, in order to retain a part of the colour, may be used for the support of pastel drawings so that, from the 18th Century (period in which the technique reaches its maximum splendor) a particular care in the preparation of paper or canvas supports through the application of a gummy mixture of powdered marble and pumice began. Besides the technique, the term also indicates the drawing stick used and the executed work.