Beginner pastels

Spaces are LIMITED            Classes are Forming for the Fall of 2022              (8)-Week Course $200.00

 Classes are forming for the Fall of 2021

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

   The history of pastels can be traced back to the Renaissance. The medium is said to have originated in Italy during the 16th century and it became a favorite of the masters, including DaVinci and Michelangelo. They used the “chalks” for sketching, when at that time there were only a few colors in their palette - black, white, and red. To put it in perspective, there are more than 1,600 hues on the market today! In the 1800’s the technique was used by masters such as Monet, Gauguin, Degas and many other fine artists.  In this (8)-week program, you will learn to “paint” with pastels which requires basic drawing skills and can become as simple or complicated as any other medium. Pastel painting is considered to be one of the most complicated mediums due to the pure color, under-painting and papers used. In this course you will begin with basics, such as learning how to put down color with different pressures. You will learn to block out colors and blend those colors on different papers with different types of pastels. Kelly will be drawing demos on different papers before we delve into the weekly process. Each class will be (2)-hours and will show how to paint still lives, landscapes, and figures with simple stylization techniques.

COURSE OUTLINE:

WEEK: 1 & 2

On our first day, we will discuss pastels and look at pastel work from the masters and current contemporary works.  We will then discuss the tools & papers used to create different effects and archival pieces. You will practice different blending techniques and effects.

WEEK: 3 & 4

We will practice on still life’s each week to understand how to create the composition of still life’s and framing compositions. We will work on shading and color value. We will consider depth and lighting to effect your composition. 

We will critique work and encourage the artists visions at the end of each class. 

WEEK: 5 & 6

We will work with photographs and look at the figure and how to change or enhance colors and skin tones. You will start to work on how to create realistic colors on fruit, landscapes and skin 

We will Critique each piece created to discuss the tones and colors used. 

WEEK: 7 & 8

We learn about under painting. This technique works well with oil painting, acrylic painting and pastels You will learn some fun and advanced techniques to enhance your work. You will learn about color theory and its applications in pastels and all mediums. We’ll discuss fixing (keeping the pastels from shifting) & framing techniques of the artwork.  On the last day, students will be encouraged to bring their favorite piece in and we will let the artist explain their favorite parts and what they’ve learned.  We will then critique the works and show our support of each artist’s process.

Lecture: Kelly will explain the next step to learning more advanced techniques to draw either still lives, landscapes or the figure (portraiture). We will also discuss fine art applications and contemporary applications of pastels in clothing, wallpaper and so on. This class leads to the Advanced Pastel Drawing Class 

MATERIALS: (Please bring all your materials to class every week)

    • Charcoal pencils in (medium) density

    • Vine or willow charcoal (several sticks)

    • Rough newsprint pad (18x24”)

    • Kneaded eraser 

    • Blending tools (foam brushes or makeup blending tools such as foam triangles)

    • Drawing clipboard 

    • Several sticks of soft color pastel (basic set)

    • Archival pastel paper in varieties of grey (approximately 8 sheets)

    • Drawing clipboard .

Materials can be ordered online at: Dakota Pastels or picked up at: Dick Blick located in Carle Place, 11514

Child classes are held M-F at: Art & Soul Studios in Nesconset, 11767