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Learn how to use soft pastels to turn a landscape photo into a painting full of movement and light. with our experienced tutor Nicola Warner.
Soft pastels are all the fun of painting and drawing combined. They’re sticks of pure pigment with all the instant gratification of finding a colour you like and putting it straight down on paper. They mix and layer beautifully and there’s no waiting for paint to dry. If you’re a careful detail person you’re going to love the realism you can get with them. If you’re more relaxed and expressive you’re going to find their smoosh factor amazing. Enjoy experimenting and finding out the way you like to use them best.
Join pastel artist Nicola Warner for this one day workshop using soft pastels to paint a landscape. You will learn how to simplify and draw a landscape from a photo, then turn it into a painting. You will also learn about the different sorts of marks you can make with pastels and how to use them to create the illusion of light, shadow and distance. While any art experience is always an advantage, beginners are welcome.
Current EAC members qualify for 10% member’s discount.
To learn more about how to become a member click here.
Beginners welcome.
Paper : Pastelmat - will be provided by the tutor.
For you to bring:
Pastels :Bring what you have! The cheaper brands (like Mungyo, Reeves, Faber Castell) are ok if you just
want to have a go. BUT if you can afford to, buy a small number of artist quality pastels. The
colour range will be better and they’ll be easier to work with.
Brands range from harder to softer. Different people like different things depending on their
style, although you may find it easier avoiding very soft pastels to start with. Here a few that are
easy to get in NZ with an indication of price per stick:
1. Rembrandt ($6.95) - medium soft, Takapuna Art supplies
2. Art Spectrum ($8.60 - $10.50) - medium soft, Gordon Harris (Newmarket branch only but
they will get them in for you at another branch) or Takapuna Art Supplies
3. Sennelier ($8.95) - very soft, French Art Shop
4. Schminke ($10) - very soft, Gordon Harris, Takapuna Art Supplies used to stock them but
unsure if continuing to
5. Nupastel ($4.30) - medium hard, Takapuna Art Supplies
6. Unison ($unsure) - soft, very nice to use, Impressions in Nelson I think (hope) still sell these.
- Takapuna Art Supplies tasart.co.nz
- Gordon Harris gordonharris.co.nz
Buying pastels? Here’s ten colours to get you started with landscapes. You should be able
to do quite a lot with these.
1. Very dark purple - aka blue violet. Red violet, super dark blue or super dark green also good.
2. Very light lemon yellow - it’s white with a hint of lemon, better than plain white. Get the
softest one you can. Schminke is awesome and Art Spectrum do a super soft version as well.
3. Light burnt Sienna - it looks like dirty orange with a lot of white added.
4. Light blue grey
5. Mid phthalo blue or similar - sky colour
6. Light phthalo blue or similar - light sky colour
7. Hookers green or similar - it’s a mid-dark leaf green, quite natural without being olive
8. Dark olive green
9. Mid olive green or similar - think tree leaves
10. Light olive green or similar - it’s quite lime, almost the colour of grass