In this pastel painting workshop, I’ll demonstrate some basic pastel painting techniques that you can use when you draw and paint with pastels.
The purpose of this pastel portrait tutorial is to experiment with the medium of pastels and above all, to have fun!
In this pastel painting lesson, we won’t worry about getting things “perfect”. We’ll just focus on learning how to draw with pastels and enjoy ourselves in the process!
Materials used:I painted this pastel portrait using Prismacolor NuPastels, which are hard pastels that come in thin, rectangular stick form. Because these pastels are hard (as opposed to soft ones, like Rembrandt, Schmincke, or Sennelier), they are less messy and it is easier to achieve tighter control and greater detail – making them a fun choice for learning how to use pastels.
The pastel paper that I used was Sennelier La Carte Pastel Card, which has a slightly abrasive surface. This is an excellent pastel paper because the pastel adheres easily to the surface, yet it is still easy to blend. The pastel pigment shows up extremely well on Sennelier La Carte, making the colors rich and strong. This is a great paper for learning how to use pastels.
How to Use Pastels Step-by-StepFor this pastel painting workshop on how to use pastels, I used a photo of my friend Kevin dressed as a cowboy as the reference photo. I chose this photo because I felt it had a lot of personality and would make a fun pastel portrait.
