Pastels

Creative Spotlite Newsletter

Pastel Painting Lessons & Techniques

Step By Step Pastel Painting Lessons

  • Solar Living

    Lachlan Donald

    By Mike Mahon

    This demonstration is based on a photo of the Taos mountains taken in the early evening from El Prado, a suburb in the northern part of Taos, New Mexico

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  • "Memories"

    Lachlan Donald

    by Mike Mahon

    I don't always have something to say, nor am I always inspired. Painting is enough of a struggle without the added burden of making a statement. Thus, I let the subject speak to me, and I simply serve as the editor and interpreter for my audience.

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  • Down East Sunset

    Lachlan Donald

    During a trip to my family's summer home in Maine, my dad suggested a drive around to the "back shore," or ocean-side, of the island. The time was just after sunset on a rather bleary day, and I was struck by the muted but many-hued colors of the sky and water.

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  • Step By Step Pastel Portrait

    Lachlan Donald

    By Nancy Moskovitz

    I truly don't recall how many painting sessions it took to reach this stage. The delicacy of flesh tones has fascinated artists for centuries. Pastels are perfect for the subtle variations that define her form in a soft or front light.

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  • Sandy and Charlie - Pastel Demonstration

    Lachlan Donald

    By Lesley Ann Hartman

    In response to many enquiries I have put together this demonstration page which gives a little information regarding how to build up pastel artwork. The picture itself is of a commission which is now in Ontario Canada and is of two much loved family dogs.

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  • Pastel Pet Portrait Demo

    Lachlan Donald

    By Julia Morton

    When I paint a portrait, I often use several photographs as reference -- one for colour, one for composition, and maybe another that shows a close up of the facial features. Here are the basic steps that I follow

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  • Soft Pastel Demo

    Lachlan Donald

    By Dan Gray

    A demo of a pastel painted Febuary 17th '04, at Ships Point, Gulf of Georgia. A "Calm Day".

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  • Pastel Demonstration

    Lachlan Donald

    By Betsy Kellum

    Using a pastel pencil, I sketch the setup on German made Ersta sanded paper. The sanded paper gives me plenty of tooth to work with, since I like to put many layers of pastel, and this paper can hold lots of pigment...

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  • Audubon Marsh

    Lachlan Donald

    By Amy Sanders, PPSCC

    Winter is a quiet time on old Cape Cod (not as quiet as it used to be, but still pretty quiet). One particularly cold and windy day (about 20 degrees with a strong 15 mph or so bitter wind whipping off the water) a friend asked me if I was interested in going for a walk along the Wellfleet Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary's marsh walk. I cannot imagine what she was thinking choosing such a cold day, or what I was thinking when I accepted, but it was incredibly beautiful

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  • Child's Portrait in Pastel

    Lachlan Donald

    By Liz van der Werff

    Child's Portrait in Pastel - Animated Step-By-Step from Photo to Fine Art

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  • "Out on the Open Ocean"

    Lachlan Donald

    By Amy Sanders, PPSCC

    Last summer, I took my brother's family on a whale watch off the coast of Cape Cod while they were visiting from Santa Fe. The weather was positively spectacular and we saw plenty of very active whales. This is the first in a series of paintings that I hope will come from the oodles of photographs that I took (with my new digital camera) on that trip.

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  • Apple Tutorial in Pastels

    Lachlan Donald

    By Colin Bradley

    This tutorial will show you how to draw an apple using pastel pencils in 6 easy steps.

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  • Laying Dog

    Lachlan Donald

    By Colin Bradley

    Step by step pastel pencil drawing of a dog.

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  • Pastel Portrait: Step-by-Step

    Lachlan Donald

    By Sharon Barrett Kennedy

    I usually work from photographs. While it's often helpful to see the subject in person, I don't have time nor a place to arrange sittings. I frequently work very late at night, and since I do artwork in and around everything else in my life, working from a photograph far better fits my schedule!

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  • Tabby Cat Pastel Pencil Lesson

    Lachlan Donald

    By Colin Bradley

    Step by step pastel pencil drawing tutorial of a cat.

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