Why did Edgar Degas increasingly use pastels during the 1880s?

During the 1880s, Edgar Degas increasingly turned to pastel as a primary medium as he moved away from printmaking to focus on more complex artistic experimentation.1

His shift toward pastel was driven by a desire to explore and refine his compositions through a systematic process. Degas began creating charcoal drawings on tracing paper, which he would retrace multiple times before applying pastel. This method allowed him to produce a "family" of related compositions, enabling him to manipulate subtle nuances of gesture and detail while elevating the fundamental elements of his work—color, form, and composition—to a new level of independence.1

These sequences served as challenging artistic exercises that allowed him to move beyond simple subject matter, reflecting his evolution into a more innovative and complex artist.12