Drawing with Pastels (five-session workshop)

Explore the rich and vibrant medium of pastel drawing. Learn different application techniques like blending and cross-hatching to create still-life, landscape, and self-portrait drawings. Experiment with using pastels combined with other media like charcoal, acrylic, watercolor, and gouache. Utilize color and design to express a vision and evoke experience.

The beginning of each class will include lecture and demonstration; and then you will work on your projects while we discuss your work. We will see new ways of understanding the work, and we will find solutions to issues in the work.

Special Notes

This is an in-person class which will take place onsite at Fleisher. Please review our COVID-19 community safety policies for current guidelines.

Tuition Assistance is Available

To make our classes and workshops accessible to everyone, Fleisher offers tuition assistance every term so that everyone can join our creative community. Tuition assistance applications can be completed once registration is open by clicking here. The deadline to apply for spring term assistance is Friday, March 10; Notifications will be sent by Monday, March 13.

What you will learn:

  • How and when to utilize pastel pencil, hard pastel, and soft pastel

  • Color theory: analogous color, complementary color, contrast, color harmony/cohesion

  • Application techniques: blending, layering, cross-hatching

  • Linear and tonal modeling

  • Techniques for using pastels in combination with other media (gouache, watercolor, acrylic, charcoal)

  • Approaches to composition

Required supplies:

  • Sargent Art (or other brand) soft pastels — set of at least 12 colors

  • Canson Mi-teintes Pastel Paper Pad — Assorted colors (12×16 inch, 24 sheets)

  • Accessories: Soft cloth for blending, spray fixative

  • Paint: Gouache, watercolor or acrylic paint. One small (#2-4) and one medium (#14-16) paint brush

  • Stick of vine or compressed charcoal

  • Optional: Arches Cover Stock. 22×30 inch 250 gsm. White, off-white, cream, gray, and/or black

  • Optional: Hard pastels and pastel pencils are highly recommended but not required. It’s possible to purchase pencils individually for experimentation, rather than a full set, in addition to the soft pastel set that is required.