Live Stream Today 1pm ET & A New Pastel Class!

Hi friends! Today we will paint a pretty snowy cardinal using soft pastels during a live stream. Sarah will be in the studio too! The gangs all here as they say:) I wanted to share a pastel lesson today to celebrate my new course Soft Pastel for Beginners! You can read more about that and get 50% off later in this blog post. 🙂

I am going to be working on velour paper but you can use any pastel or drawing (even watercolor paper) you like. I opted for velour because my live stream camera picks up EVERY little sound and you don’t hear the pastel sound on velour LOL! Below is an example I did on Hahnemule Ingres pastel paper which is a typical pastel paper.

You can use any pastels you have, simply hold them up to the screen next to the chart below to choose similar colors.

You can watch the live stream, or the replay, in the player below but if you want to chat live with us or ask questions as we go be sure to watch on YouTube.

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Pastel pencils (white, black, red)

• Soft pastels: http://shrsl.com/1fog4 or https://amzn.to/2MROKUk

• Velour pastel paper or Canson Mi Tintes or Ingres

• If working on regular pastel paper you may want a fixative, this is the one I use

• Kneaded eraser

• Reference photos: Bird #1, Bird #2

OK, Now some Exciting News!!! And 50% off!

My Pastel Class is Open for Enrollment! I have been working on this course for so long because I wanted to create a course that would take a beginner from using pastels for the first time to creating beautiful paintings with confidence and ease. I wanted it to use basic supplies that could be purchased inexpensively (or the student can use what they have) and I wanted to teach you about other materials that might better suit your style and preferences. This new course, Soft Pastel for Beginners, was born out of the desire to inspire you on your artistic journey!

In this course you will learn about the supplies for soft pastel painting and the techniques for using them so you can build a strong foundation. You will learn many ways to apply the pastel to create beautiful blends and the skills to create terrific textures.

I’ll show you how to care for your finished paintings, from using fixative, storing and cutting specialized mats and framing advice to display your stunning creations!

In this course I recommend a simple list of materials to get you started:

• Good quality, yet student grade pastels (set of 48 or higher) *or use what you have if you already own them.

• A small set of pastel pencils (optional but inexpensive and so handy!)

• Canson Mi Tintes pastel paper

• Workable fixative

• And studio basics like transfer paper, low tack tape, a kneaded eraserkneaded eraser, pencil, ruler and spray bottle of water.

I believe that soft pastel is a medium anyone can enjoy but the most common issue students have with pastel is the mess on your hands and the “scratchiness” on the paper. If that sounds like you I’ll show you pan pastels, these are cakes of extra soft pastel that you apply with foam applicator. I will show you how they are used and how you can translate a stick pastel technique to pan pastels and vice versa.

I hope you join me on this pastel adventure and I am giving all of my friends 50% off with coupon code COLOR (or simply use one of the special discount links in this blog post) through the end of February.

Thank you for all of the support and encouragement you have given me as I worked on Soft Pastels for Beginners. I appreciate it so much. I hope you love the class and til next time happy crafting!