A hands-on exploration of all the major pastel papers and pastel lines currently on the market, with an identification of their strengths and weaknesses. Includes personalized recommendations about what materials to use based on the students’ interests, budget, and existing materials. This session is primarily lecture and demonstration and is intended for artists who are new to pastel. (All materials are provided)

A simple but compelling value structure makes for a strong painting. This session focuses on learning to see values and how to simplify those values into “notans,” which are specialized thumbnails that help you distill a scene to a simple and harmonious grey-scale design. Exercises cover how to use simple tools to create and evaluate notans and how to use a notan to create a value painting. (All materials are provided)

(Pre-requisite: Designing with Values: Notan) This session teaches you how to use the Munsell color system and various simple tools and techniques to correctly identify the attributers of a color, and covers how to translate a notan into a value-correct color study or painting. It also explores ways our perception can mislead us as artists and how to use that knowledge to make our paintings appear more realistic. Includes exercises in assessing pastels by value, hue, chroma and temperature, as well as three key application techniques essential for maximizing the luminosity of pastel paintings. (Bring your easel and pastels; paper is provided.)

(Pre-requisite: Designing with Values: Color) Covers practical topics on how to manage your pastel box over time, including organizing your pastel box contents, keeping them clean, and replacing used or lost “favorites.” Surveys different types of pastel storage options and identifies key features of good storage solutions. (Depending on the interests of the participants, will cover storage options for both studio and travel/plein air painting.) This session also includes individual advice on how to (re)organize your box. (Bring all of your pastels plus your pastel box)

This session focuses on how to use a notan as a guide to underpainting using a grisaille-based technique, where you apply a single color to establishes the light and dark masses of your painting. You then apply color over the grisaille, which guides your subsequent choice of color value. This technique is very useful for establishing a strong value structure to your painting and helps build textural effects. It is especially effective on toned papers. (Bring your easel and pastels; paper is provided.).

This session surveys a number of different approaches for applying the first layer of your painting (the underpainting) in multiple colors. It covers a variety of techniques that include using watercolor, thinned oil, acrylic and washed or rubbed-in pastel; provides tips on which technique works best with which papers; and explores different under-color selection strategies. Directed exercises include practice with both dry and wet techniques on different types of pastel papers. (Bring your easel and pastels; paper is provided.)

This session explores the different ways pastel can be applied to enliven your finished paintings and subtly reinforce what your want to communicate in your painting. It explains the importance of edges and how to use them effectively, and, via a slide show, how outstanding paintings often include unique types of mark making. There are focused exercises to expand your mark-making repertoire, along with recommendations on how to grow your mark-making skills over time. (Bring your easel and pastels; paper is provided.)