Introduction to Soft Pastels Workshop with Brenda Molyneux 12th September 2026
by Bev Dunstan
Brenda began the workshop with a detailed explanation of the different types of soft pastel and papers available to the pastel artist, provising examples of hard, medium and chalky soft versions from different manufacturers to try on sample papers.
She shared examples of the different papers – including sugar paper (be mindful to cover the whole sheet when working with this because the paper colour will fade), sand paper (good tooth), Canson pastel paper (has smooth and textured sides to the sheet), and velour (amazing texture and tooth that embraces the pastel into the depth of the surface).
Brenda explained the different pastel techniques and the attendees tried them out for themselves. These included how to use the pastel edges, sides and ends to create different marks on the paper. The use of pastel penclis was also discussed.
The next exercise entailed using the techniques of Feathering, Overlays, Pointillism and Blending to complete images of an apple that Brenda supplied for the purpose. She also presented a completed image of each for reference.
The exercise was fruitful. It allowed the student to recognise the different techniques and ultimately combine them to best effect.
Once confident, the attendees used the techniques to produce their own favorite images resulting in an amazing display of final works.
Brenda’s genuine enthusiasm for Pastel was catching and there was a definite sense of “I can do this” at the end of the workshop.
Susan Kerrigan-Harris gave us a wonderful demonstration of animal drawing in pastels in April.
Interestingly, she works in sections to finish rather than layers. Her thought is that if she did layers and got to a state where she liked it a lot, she wouldn’t want to work on it further. Doing sections that she’s really pleased with motivates her to move onto the next section and bring that to the same level.
The key to doing animals: fur direction. Use strokes, feathering, sides of pencils ‘glazing’ for different effects. Hold pencils at far end for lightness of stroke.
Sue uses pastel mat for good tooth, but lightly to move pastel around—harder strokes will stay in place. Torchons are very useful, but you can get rubber blenders but also all sorts of plastic used for other things!
She has a blog post on website which talks about her favourite colours. Purple and dark green are very useful in fur; complementary colours really add depth.
Which pastels?
You can and should mix pastel pencils with pastel sticks. Don’t get confused between pastel pencils (which can be pricey) and cheaper pastel-coloured pencils. Those won’t work well with pastel sticks.
Isopropic alcohol can be painted on dark spots to fix (aka surgical spirit). This melts the pastel and locks it into the paper, but it will bleed, so take care. It also makes your paper darker.
Pastel papers are very varied, you just have to find what you like.
More on materials
Fixative is an art, she doesn’t use it. She did use hairspray at school and it worked well.
With something like pastel mat, get on the mailing list of someone like GreatArt, and buy large sheets when it’s on sale… sheets you cut to the size you want are far more affordable than pads.
You can also reuse it, wash it off, dry flat….
Pencil sharpeners
When sharpening pencils… Sue has a video on YouTube. Ordinary sharpeners, including the big ones with handles, go blunt too quick. For pastels, use a knife/blade and then scrub on sandpaper to get to a point, sandpaper on its own will probably do.
Sue traces the underdrawing. As she wrapped up the evening she told us an anecdote about a well known artist who uses a lot of different techniques to get the basic structure down. “Anything goes in getting the basics right!”
Thank you for an excellent and entertaining demo. The list of Sue’s materials will be added soon.
The November Zoom Demonstration by Les Darlow was billed as Winter Landscape in soft pastels over watercolour.
I confess to have got a bit confused, because it wasn’t what I was expecting. It was fascinating, and brilliant, and Les is obviously a very talented artist, but it seemed to me to be all about the new materials he was using. What about those of us who have a stock of pastel paper, watercolour paper, watercolours and soft pastels that we want to use up before adding more kit to our overflowing art …box?
The materials are clearly wonderful. A new fabric for painting on, developed by Les’s students. Use for pastels or watercolour – and spray the back to help with the colour fixing. Pan pastels you apply with a sponge (I missed whether this was a wet sponge, or dry). No need for pastel dust on your fingers, clothes or the end of your nose… or anywhere else.
Les’s pictures were brilliant. Very brilliant, and I think this was part of the glory of applying the pastels with the sponge on the fabric. His work was based some pictures which were originally quite dark, and as he reminded us: It’s our picture, we can do what we like with our prompt. Any colours, crop it how you like, add or subtract. In Les’s case they were much more vibrant.
It was a fascinating demonstration, and I think most of us enjoyed it, even if we were left wondering if we could really use the same techniques with our soft pastels over dry watercolours.
Brenda kindly circulated details of the fabric and Pan Pastels from Les afterwards. If you’ve lost the email here they are again:
Those interested in the fabric should contact Chris Brookes at chris_brookes@sky.com
Les has also sent information of an offer he is promoting on his website for Christmas.
Les says: Should anyone be interested I have an offer (Ultimate Pastel Package) on my website for Christmas with over 70% off. Six downloadable books with ten step by step projects, plus six pre recorded workshops via Zoom with over 12 hours of tuition plus much more, just click the link…
Our Zoom demonstration at the end of January was from Rebecca de Mendonca, a prize-winning member of the Pastel Society. As a keen pastel painter, I loved it – and learned, or was reminded of, things I’d forgotten.
This report is mainly just notes of things Rebecca did, said or recommended. If you missed it there is a link to the recording of the zoom event in the 25 January Newsletter, together with dates of her April exhibition at Royal Wootton Bassett (Wilts) and links to tutorial activities on her website.
The View Gallery, Royal Wootton Bassett, 4th April to 18th May.This is a new gallery, which has opened this year.The exhibition, ‘Equine’, will show the work of a selection of artists, working in different media.
Why put figures in landscape pictures?
Figures in a landscape give a sense of scale. I want to tell a story through the landscape.
Take photos of landscape for reference and of people in it — rear views for privacy.
Remember to compose things in the foreground big, and then smaller further away. Also light and dark are more extreme in front. Middle tones in the (hazy) distance. Also use more saturated or intense colours in the foreground. Foreground marks tend to be more jagged, and also not blended.
Make test grades of similar hues – useful to have them at the side of your painting for reference..
Rebecca uses pastels from The New Pastel School which she runs with a friend. Note the Wild landscape set!
Tip: to put e.g. clouds on an already pastel background, use a stiff card to scrape off some of the powder so you have more chance for the top layer to stick. Lilac works well in cloud base rather than grey.
And now add people….
Placing people… place their feet, then their heads, then turn them into tadpoles! Men tend to have broader shoulders and smaller hips. Good idea to work it out at the side of your painting. Uses pastel pencil to get them placed as silhouettes. Then adjust tones etc with ordinary pastels. Don’t need fantastic detail, but do need light in the right places. On this scale you have to be very careful with your marks. Remember to add shadows that work.
Discussing some other paintings… street scenes, etc. gets more complicated because of light on blocks. Eyeline is important. Draw in eyeline, vanishing points and block grids. On streets, start with heads level as their heads should be on your eye line, allowing for height differences, and feet go up and down!
People who don’t have their feet together seem to look odd.
A good reference for drawing people is Figure drawing without a model by Ron Tiner. Develop your shorthand of a basic figure to make more than stick figures and give them body language.
A Beach scene
Rebecca did a second picture, children on a beach, after the coffee break. Her reference photos were taken on different days!
Figures on a beach… think about composition and do small sketches to get the body language. When doing groups, think of negative space. You can put them together from totally different times, but it’s easiest if the light is coming from the same point.
Create sense of space by doing figures and then concentrating on background space and how they fit in it.
Uses Conte pencils for detail including where shading — works in creases. A detail like eyelashes makes all the difference!
How to frame without the pastel making a mess
Tip for framing… apart from knocking it so loose pastel comes off, frame the painting with a second mount with a larger opening between the primary mount and the picture so that any dust falls down between the primary mount and glass.
All images are screen grabs from Rebecca’s talk. Copyright remains with her.
