Discover the vibrant, hands-on world of chalk pastels in this welcoming and creative course for beginners and returning students. Combining the immediacy of drawing with the rich colour and expressive qualities of painting, chalk pastels are a versatile medium that allows artists to create bold, beautiful artwork with confidence. Whether you are picking up pastels for the first time or looking to strengthen your skills, this practical course will guide you through the materials, techniques and creative processes that make pastel art so enjoyable. Learn how to select the right pastels and papers to suit your style and budget, and explore the differences between soft and hard pastels, pastel pencils, powdered pastels and other related media.

Through a series of engaging exercises and projects, you'll develop essential techniques including blending, layering, hatching, cross-hatching, tonal studies and colour application. Create landscapes, still lifes and portraits while learning how to use tonal values, complementary colours and analogous colour schemes to bring your artwork to life.

DELIVERY MODE

Face to face

ART MATERIALS

Art materials and surfaces will be discussed and explained for the first session. No need to bring art materials until week two

COURSE OUTLINE

• Explore how to choose a range of pastels to suit you (and your budget) in the first session of this course  
• Discover the differences and uses for hard and soft pastels, oil and chalk pastels, crayons, round or square pastel sticks, pastel pencils, powdered pastels and more  
• Learn which surface, colour and texture of paper to choose depending on the subject 
• Explore uses for other drawing materials that work well with pastels - charcoal (willow & compressed), rubbers (hard & soft), torchons, sponges, fixatives and more

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• How to create pleasing results using side strokes, fine edges, hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, blending, shadows and more
• How to create a landscape with one colour concentrating on tonal values
• How to create a still life study without colour using only black&white
• How to create a landscape, still life or portrait using complementary colours
• How to render with pastels a colourfully, clothed life model
• How to create a portrait, still life or landscape with analogous colours
• How to keep artwork vibrant, building rich hues and layering light over dark