How to learn to draw with pastels. Pastel techniques - drawing lesson for beginners

Among the many techniques and tools used by modern artists, pastel stands out for its unusual texture and brightness of color. It’s not easy to draw a portrait in pastels, but if you become interested in this direction, improve your own skills and make efforts to obtain the desired result, you can achieve what you want. Moreover, the process itself brings pleasure and draws you into the work headlong.

Before you start drawing with pastels, it is important to understand the features of this technique, as well as acquire the necessary materials for the creative process. The same set of tools is not suitable for beginners and professionals, so preparation for the creative process will be different. Only after this can you begin to figure out how to draw a portrait with pastels.

Benefits of painting with pastels

Many artists of different levels of professionalism prefer pastel painting to all other techniques. A portrait using this technique looks unusual and allows you to convey the slightest features of the artist’s mood. Other benefits of pastels include:

• simplicity of the process - pastel lays down easily, especially if you select all the materials and tools correctly;
• variety of colors - pastel is known for its soft transitions and combination of different shades;
• light fastness - unlike many other paints, it does not fade in the sun;
• velvety surface.

These advantages contribute to the popularity and love among artists who happily use pastels: the portrait technique with this tool allows you to make a beautiful and unusual image of a person. Although it is not as easy as novice artists would like.

Drawing tools for beginners

Drawing with pastels must begin with the preparation of materials and a place for future creativity. This artist's tool comes in several types: dry, oil and wax pastels. Dry, in turn, can be soft and hard.

In addition, you will need:

• special paper;
• brushes;
• a drawing board or any other flat surface on which you can attach a drawing sheet;
• an eraser that can be used to carefully remove excess lines;
• regular sandpaper, with which you can sharpen the chalk if necessary.

These tools are essential for drawing pastel portraits for beginners. To learn and comprehend the wisdom of this technique, such a set will be enough. And in the future you will have to expand your arsenal of materials and tools.

Tools for professionals

Simple and accessible materials are used by beginners, but as they learn and develop professionalism, their range will grow and expand. In the future you can also use:

• fixatives - substances that are sprayed onto a sheet of paper before starting work to fix the future drawing;
• turpentine or other pastel thinner, which will allow you to even out and generalize the layers of paint;
• work mask to minimize the entry of chalk dust into the respiratory tract;
• canvas - used instead of paper.

Careful preparation and selection of all materials will make the process more comfortable and easier. In the process of work, each artist will be able to evaluate the usefulness and appropriateness of each tool.

Features of choosing pastels

For beginning artists, dry pastels in the form of crayons are best. It can be soft or hard, you need to purchase both types and try to draw with both. When choosing paints, you must initially understand what will be painted and what color scheme will be needed for it.

When purchasing pastels, you need to pay attention to the quality of the paints and the manufacturer. It’s better to initially pay a little more, but buy suitable materials that will be comfortable for drawing. Having mastered the subtleties and nuances of drawing with pastels and honing your skills, you can try painting with oil and wax pastels. They differ in application technique, but with some effort they are not particularly difficult.

What paper do you need for pastels?

You cannot paint with such paints on regular paper, because a portrait with pastels will blur, saturate the thin sheet and be smeared. Therefore, it is better to take special paper. The following varieties are suitable for pastels:

• paper with a coarse surface that comes in a variety of colors;
• cold pressed watercolor paper;
• charcoal pencil paper - can withstand pastels, but is more suitable for rough sketches and short-term sketches;
• paper with an “emery” coating - has a fine abrasive coating, so it holds pastels well.

Choosing paper is an important stage in preparing for drawing, since not only the comfort of the process, but also the final result will depend on it.

Rules for drawing with pastels

In order for a pastel portrait to turn out beautiful and authentic, it is important to follow some rules for its depiction. And even if the first time the result is not what you would like, as you gain skill and professionalism it will turn out to be realistic.

When creating a portrait using pastels, you need to remember the following recommendations:

1. To begin with, it is important to imagine the general image of the upcoming drawing and highlight the main features that will distinguish this person from all others. Each person's face has something unique, different from others.
2. Before you start drawing, you need to determine the color scheme of the upcoming image. What shades predominate in a person’s face and image, how do they combine with each other?
3. When starting to draw, you first need to make weak sketches and an outline, on which the entire portrait will then lie.
4. Despite the fact that the human face, as a rule, appears warm and requires appropriate colors, it will also contain cold shades.
5. For layered drawings, it is better to choose soft pastels, then the layers will easily lay on top of each other.

There are many more rules for drawing with pastels, but you can start learning with these simple recommendations, and understand and apply the remaining nuances in the process of practice.

Sequence of drawing a portrait

To draw a beautiful and believable portrait, you need to follow a certain sequence of drawing lines and layers of pastel.

Image stages include:

1. Representation of the overall image of the face, separating light and dark areas.
2. Light drawing of lines, sketch of the general concept of the drawing.
3. Detailing the contour, drawing eyes, nose, lips according to the proportions of the human face.
4. Applying layers of nude pastels with a combination of warm and cool shades.
5. Guiding the main parts of the face, detailing.
6. Final touches, giving the face a natural expression, drawing small elements.

Drawing a portrait is not an easy process, and at first it may seem to the artist that there are too many mistakes and flaws. But diligence and the desire to learn how to draw with pastels are worth the result that you get in the end. It is important to enjoy the drawing process and not despair after the first unsuccessful attempt.

The image of a human head, namely the transfer of facial proportions, is a very difficult matter. It is especially difficult to paint in color. Special crayons are best. They allow you to create smooth transitions of shades and even a beginner can get a completely realistic image. If you want to learn about a portrait, study the recommendations of the article, and most importantly, look at the step-by-step creation of a drawing with comments. This will help you complete the task yourself.

Types and their characteristics

To get a good job, you need not only to learn how to draw a portrait with pastels, but also to understand the existing types of this material. It may look different. Available on the shelves of domestic stores in the following versions:

• multi-colored crayons in a box;
• individually wrapped sticks in a set or individually;
• in a wooden frame in the form of an ordinary pencil.

The first ones are the most traditional and are presented in sets of a wide range of shades. The second ones are easy to use because they don’t get your hands dirty, and the third ones are good at doing small details, such as eyes, lips, and drawing the hair structure. The latter type is suitable for such purposes not only due to its form, but also due to its greater hardness. In addition, there is a special technique for working with it, however, it is much more complicated, and for beginners it is better to use a regular dry one.

Paper selection

If you decide to make a portrait in pastels, pay attention to the base that is best suited for this material. There are special sheets that have a soft, velvety textured surface. It is on this paper that pastels hold best and look impressive. You can, of course, use any material, but you should first try how the crayons will fit on it.

To make a portrait in pastels, very often they use not white paper, but a light shade, such as beige. It will give a certain tone to the face, and the impression of such a pattern will only improve. Don't use too bright background colors. If you only have white paper on hand, say watercolor paper, you can easily cover it with a transparent layer of paint.

Features of work

It's amazing how vibrant pastel portraits can be. Photos of the works clearly demonstrate this. Achieving such subtle color transitions is possible thanks to the structure of the paper, the artistic material itself, and the technique of shading or rubbing the applied pigment. To do this, you can use a napkin, a piece of soft cloth or even a cotton swab to work out small details. You should not use your finger, as it will get dirty too quickly and will give a dirty tint on the paper, and in addition, with this method, pastel dust particles may begin to roll off due to the presence of sebum on the surface of the finger.

It should be borne in mind that a pastel portrait must be stored very carefully. In a folder or album, you will definitely need tracing paper to separate the sheets to cover the side with the image. Most often, pastels require fixing. Special fixing compounds are sold. However, they are quite expensive. Instead, you can use regular hairspray. It often darkens the color, but this can be taken into account when completing the painting, making it a little lighter than necessary, or correcting it after processing. If you are going to store the finished pastel portrait framed, it is better to make a passe-partout from thick cardboard so that the sheet with the image does not adhere to the surface of the glass.

Preparing a Line Drawing

Before making a portrait in pastels, you need to outline the contours of the face. It is better to do this with a simple pencil or chalk itself, different in color from the shade of the paper. You can use the method of maintaining proportions by cells or use the standard scheme:

1. Create an oval face, shaped like an egg. Mark the main horizontal lines, focusing on which you will draw all the elements.

2. Outline the ears, the shape of the eyes, nose, lips in accordance with the proportions.

3. Add hair, eyebrows, neck line.

4. Detail the image.

The preliminary stage of work has been completed. Skip to the fun part.

Pastel portrait: master class

The sequence of actions when applying color shades will be as follows:

1. Do the overall skin tone of the face. You can pour powder from small dust particles onto a sheet and rub them evenly with a napkin.

2. Gradually add new shades: white in the light and brownish in the shadows. Draw the neck.

3. Gently use your eyes. In this case, you can evenly distribute the tone over the surface with a cotton swab.

4. The next step is to make the lips.

5. Be sure to work out the light and shadows around small details. Outline your hairstyle.

6. Start drawing the hair and shirt collar. Try to gradually complete the face.11. Apply finishing touches to clothing.

Let's sum it up

So, you have learned how to draw a portrait with pastels. Having studied the step-by-step sequence of work, you can make your own painting in the same way. For your first experience, try to choose the most comfortable sheet size for yourself. It is worth constantly moving away from the image, appreciating it from afar. This makes it easier to notice and correct mistakes in time. Prepare all the materials, be inspired and patient, and go paint your first pastel portrait.

I painted poppies in winter, during the holidays.
I was then ready to draw in pastels not a flawed landscape, but something adequate.
For this purpose, I dug into the people on ICQ to find out their favorite flowers. No one really inspired me, so I went to Google. When I asked for “flowers,” he gave me beautiful poppies... And I fell in love. Despite all my dislike for red... I decided that this would be the leitmotif of my new attempt at pastels. Moreover, I have excellent English paper in warm colors:

The quality of the photos is working, so I apologize in advance.

The first sheet of paper is red. Let's leave it there:

I don’t really know why I decided to choose red. But I decided to plunge into meditation in the hope of awakening my intuition, because there is even more of it here than in watercolors. Direct skin contact with color pigment - what could be more pleasant?...
What is required besides paper?
1. Pastel - I have 72 “Spectrum” colors and 12 “Gamma” colors. Cheap and cheerful. I'm afraid to even dream about "Unisson" and the like.
2. Applicators for shadows (can be seen in one of the previous posts). Strictly speaking, special shading is needed, but I have never seen them in my city. So we will use non-standard tools.
3. Fingers. I use the nameless one, and occasionally the middle one.
4. Wet wipes - periodically wipe dirty fingers so as not to stain the drawing.
5. A little plain paper, any kind - we will sprinkle pastel dust on it.
6. Well, where would I be without green tea from my favorite mug:

First of all, take a stationery knife, pastel chalk and make dust:

I didn’t really remember the colors, I typed them at random:

My conclusions:
1. There was enough dust in each pile for me to dip my finger once. You need to plan more, but you can do it as you go to control consumption.
2. At first, without getting the hang of it, the result was not dust, but shavings. It is not suitable for drawing, I just had to sweep it away from the drawing. Then I learned how to whittle away dust.
3. The colors of pastel in chalk and in dust are very different. In dust, most often, the color turns out brighter and deeper.

Initially, I sketched the outlines of future flowers with white pastel chalk (sorry, I forgot to take a photo). This is one of the most important moments for me personally - I feel fear in front of a white (in this case red) sheet, I close my eyes and apply the first small strokes, as if testing the paper, establishing contact with it. When the first contact has been made and the first slight balance has been achieved between me and the texture of the paper, I open my eyes and work more confidently until the outlines are ready.
Start filling the space with color from the background. I took the dust on my finger and rubbed it into the paper in a circular motion (extension - despite all the lessons on the Internet, I don’t know and don’t follow the techniques of drawing with pastels!). At first I didn’t understand the trick of the paper - the pigment leaves significant gaps in the rough texture of the paper. Then for some reason I got upset, stepped up and decided to sketch the background just with chalk, with strokes:

This doesn’t seem to be visible anywhere, but in those places where I shaded the background with chalk, it turned out to be a dirty surface. It’s good that the chalk only worked on a small piece.
Here you can see part of the original sketch and how I completed the top part of the background with brown tones:

Background finished:

My conclusions:
1. Still, the contact of your fingers with the dye is an amazing feeling... Imagine - you just had a blank sheet of paper, and now a drawing appears...
2. Chalk blends poorly in isolated form, but perfectly in the form of dust.
3. While I was painting the background, I began to like the paper feature - the color of the paper shows through the pigment, creating the mood of the picture - in this case, warm, sunny. The red paper supports the spots of poppies in the background and should shade the poppies in the foreground.
4. At the end of the post I will show the reference of the painting, but I will make a reservation right away - I did not set out to create a photographically realistic work. I took only the contours and colors as a basis. Further as your fingers lead.
5. Fingers are occasionally (read “constantly”) wiped on a damp cloth, very convenient. Two napkins were used for the background of this drawing.
6. I had to add dust from time to time, because I always ran out.
7. Shaders (applicators) are not suitable for the background at all (maybe I’m the only one who has this problem?), they erase more pigment than they add it to the paper.
8. Drawing greenery is the most rewarding activity. The eye rests, the soul rejoices.
9. Previously (before this drawing) I was a big idiot and did not understand the trick of colored paper for pastels at all. Therefore, apparently, my first attempt (unconsciously), painted on white watercolor paper, was unsuccessful. The color of the paper is selected individually in each specific case and allows you to emphasize the depth of pastel colors and reveal its shine.

The background is ready, and you can proceed to the poppies themselves. And then it hit me “suddenly” - I don’t have a red chalk!!! Well, that is, he is. But it's not red, it's pink. I sat in frustration for half an hour, shook my ICQ, and then remembered that I had a small “Gamma” set of 12 colors. There was a red crayon there - not the perfect scarlet color, but at least not pink.
Let's start working with the petals:

Here it turned out to be more convenient to work with shading, since the object in this case is quite small.
While I was working I needed an orange crayon. It turned out that all the orange crayons were also close to pink (though maybe I'm being paranoid), which didn't suit me at all. What should I do? The answer turned out to be super simple: mix red and yellow crayons, or rather their dust. The result is excellent.
We're done with the flowers, only the stems and bud remain:

And here is the finished result, photographed the next morning in sunlight:

The colors are a little duller than reality, but overall close to the original. Upon closer inspection, you can see how small particles of pastel sparkle in the light, refracting and reflecting it. The picture seems to glow.
Promised reference:

Ugh. I'm tired.

Thank you for attention! I will be happy to answer all your questions!

When artists were still painting their paintings using sanguine, charcoal, sepia or charcoal pencil, a new material for painting appeared - pastel. These are dry, soft, rimless pencils that resemble crayons. The pastel technique is loved by many artists.

This technique is mainly preferred by those masters for whom it is most important to convey as accurately as possible the color mood, background and atmosphere of the picture, giving way to the realism of small details.

What kind of pastel is there?

Pastels are divided into three types: dry, oil and wax. Most often, artists use dry pastels, but there are also those who prefer oil pastels (panda). Pastel gives unlimited freedom in working methods.

It is not recommended for a beginning artist to take on this material right away. It would be a good idea to start by mastering the basics of academic painting and then, with a certain consistency and experience, you can successfully use the techniques of this technique.

Dry pastel can be hard or soft. Each of them has its own characteristics. Here you need to choose based on your own preferences, but hard pastel has more binder, so it is less brittle.

How to draw with pastels?

Let's look at the most popular - the dry pastel technique. Drawing begins with a preliminary drawing. You can draw pastels with any chalk, the main thing is to be careful and barely visible. It is better that the color of such a chalk does not differ too much from the tone of the paper (gray or black) and is easily wiped off with a small rag.

You can also work with coal, as the famous artist I.I. did. Levitan.

Advice: Do not use a graphite pencil - it is not suitable for preliminary underpainting; the pastel will subsequently lie poorly on it.

When the preliminary drawing is done, you can begin to apply the main tone, breaking off a small piece (about 2-3 cm) from the pastel chalk for convenience.

After the basic color and tone relationships have been found, you need to refine the drawing by working out the volume of objects. Pastel has the ability to incomparably convey their materiality. Using techniques such as strokes, dots, lines, flat strokes and others, you can perfectly refine the shapes. You can generalize the form by rubbing (with your finger, shading), but it all depends on the tasks and interests of the artist.

Tip for beginners: decide in advance on the tonal relationship of each of the objects to convey it correctly (lightest, lightest and darkest).

All dry pastel crayons contain plain white chalk, which makes it difficult to convey richly colored shadows. The way out of this is the right tone. How to do it? Dark areas are first painted with black or dark gray, after which color is introduced using shading or shading.

When all parts of the drawing have been worked out, the artist should look at his work again from several sides to highlight the main details. These are highlighted by more careful elaboration, and minor and too contrasting details are softened by shading.

The oil pastel technique has similar techniques, but is still different from dry pastel. For example, to grind such a pastel, you will need a little more effort, and besides, you will need a brush and thinner (pinene) No. 4 for this.

In this technique, oil pastel chalk or dry coal are used for preliminary drawing. The basic tones are also drawn flat or hatched with a small piece of chalk.

The underpainting is painted with the bristles of a brush (No. 12-14), spreading it over the drawing with pinene or other analogues of thinners for oil paints.

When working with shadows, experienced artists advise that the tone matches the end result. When drawing details, shapes and textures, you don’t have to limit yourself to working methods - shade (blur) with a rag, brush, or finger.

There is a wrong approach on the part of some artists that all pastel works look too soapy and shaded. In fact, this is even better, because it’s good when it is possible to highlight accented places and blur the secondary ones! This allows the artist to realize any idea.

Good to know!

— If you have dried pastel that is difficult to write on paper, you can crush it to a powder state. By adding water to it, you get a paste that can be used to apply strokes of varying intensity;

— Famous artist Leslie Harrison is the best contemporary master of pastel painting. Her paintings are simply unique. Some even confuse them with photographs or oil paintings. According to the artist, she achieved such realism using velor or sand paper. The first one smooths out lines and colors well, and the second one sharpens important details;

— You can work with pastels on stretched canvas, but pastel painting requires a special stretcher. This was invented by the French artist Gilot. The canvas on it must be stretched using special screws - then this is what you need;

— Carefully store your pastel drawing. To do this, the work can be fixed or placed under glass.

Pastel takes its name from the Italian “a pastello”. This was the name for a drawing technique when a black pencil and red sanguine were used simultaneously. In some cases, other colors could be added. Pastel became an independent technique in the 18th century, when such masters of painting as Francois Boucher, Maurice Quentin de Latour, Delacroix and others began to use it. Then, interest in it gradually faded away, but was revived again in the middle of the 19th century. Today, pastel remains one of the most promising areas in painting. And many ladies at needlework courses choose this particular technique for training.

How to draw with pastels

Photo by Shutterstock

Pastel attracts artists because it can be used to quickly and easily achieve a fresh tone. In addition, it is quite fast in work - making a few broken strokes with pastel is as easy as shelling pears. If you learn how to use pastels correctly, you can create real masterpieces.

Types of pastels

Today there are three types of pastels: - dry; - oil; - waxy.

Oil pastels are made from a special pigment combined with linseed oil through pressing. The method of making dry pastels is practically no different from the first option. Only when creating such pencils oil is not used. The wax version of pencils is mixed with high quality wax, to which coloring pigments are added.

Typically, dry pastels are used to create full-fledged paintings. Oil painting, as a rule, is taken for educational purposes, but at the same time remains in demand for artistic purposes. Wax can also be used for teaching and for creating canvas. Each of these types has its own operating characteristics. And in order to draw correctly using the pastel technique, you need to take into account all the nuances. It is advisable to study step-by-step drawing tips. To do this, you can watch a video available on the Internet.

Dry pastel

Working with dry pastels is easy. After all, this particular version of chalk has great variability, i.e. you can use a wide variety of working techniques. The only thing you should keep in mind is that the pencils in this case are very crumbly. Therefore, you should not put too much pressure on them.

It is advisable to make a preliminary drawing for work with any chalk, which in tone will not differ too much from the tone of the paper on which you are going to create your masterpiece. The best option is to use gray chalk. If the paper is very light, you can draw an outline with charcoal. The hand at this moment must be very confident.

It is better not to use graphite pencils when drawing with pastels. Firstly, the chalk must be easily wiped off with a dry cloth. Secondly, pastels adhere very poorly to graphite.

Having prepared the base, you can proceed directly to drawing. To do this, you need to break off a piece of chalk of the desired color - approximately 2-3 cm long. Start applying the main tones. Change the crayons depending on the tone of your painting.

When you are done with the basic tones, proceed to the so-called refinement of details. At this moment, you need to work out the shape and fragments of the drawing, add volume where necessary. To make the drawing more contrast, use flat strokes. It is also recommended to work on the painting by applying pastel dots, lines, etc. Then rub the pastel thoroughly, this will make the transitions smooth, natural and almost imperceptible.

For shading, a special device is usually used - a shading. You can buy it in the store. Alternatively, you can use your own finger. Just remember to wipe it down when changing from color to color.

Experts recommend playing with color and not making it flat. For example, first apply a base of one color, and then add touches of another color on it (it is advisable to choose a contrasting option to make it look more interesting and advantageous).

People who begin to paint with dry pastels usually expect that their paintings will turn out bright and contrasting. Actually this is not true. This is due to the fact that when making such crayons, ordinary white chalk is taken as a basis.

After finishing drawing, the pastel must be fixed. Moreover, it is worth considering that you cannot paint over the dry version. Such a picture can only be fixed by placing it in a frame under glass.

Sometimes there is advice to fix dry pastels with hairspray. But you should not blindly trust this method, since the varnish pattern darkens

Oil pastel

Working with oil pastels has a number of differences from drawing with dry crayons. It is best to use light paper for oil pencil paintings. Remember that oil pastels shade much worse than dry ones, so you definitely need to take care of additional tools - thinner and a brush.