Chalk Pastel Techniques of the Masters


First invented by artists wanting to express the rich variety of colours found in paints, in a dry and easily portable medium. Learn how to competently build up layers of pastel colours to convey form, tonal relationships and relative warm and cool values. From the time of Leonardo da Vinci onwards, artists experimented with developing pastels as a means of combining the benefits of the naturally occurring drawing medium of the chalk pencil with the rich variety of pigments used in paints. Over eight weeks and in combination with some fundamental skills in drawing, learn how to build up layers of pastel colours to convey a sense of form, tonal relationships and relative warm and cool values in colour. The approach to teaching in this class is to offer the student one on one tuition at ALL times. Thus the class fully caters for both the very beginner and those with some previous experience.


COURSE OUTLINE

  • Class 1 – Natural black and white chalks on blue – grey paper: This class will look at the limited range of natural chalks available to artists prior to the invention of pastel. The class will also introduce students to the use of a coloured ground as a mid-tone.
  • Class 2 – Dead colour pastel drawing: We will examine the initial layers of a pastel drawing.
  • Classes 3 to 6 – Dead colour and full colour pastel drawing: We will examine how to build up successive layers of colour over an initial dead colour pastel drawing as a means of conveying relative warm and cool values.
  • Class 7 & 8 – Depicting landscape in pastel: The final two classes will look at the role of pastel as a sketching material to record the ephemeral qualities of light, tone and colour within the landscape.


PLANNED LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Critically select a “palette” of colours that coincide with any image or object to be depicted.
  2. Have gained and developed fundamental skills in seeing and recording correct proportion, tone and relative warm and cool values.
  3. Make use of a variety of coloured papers, employing the paper as a mid-tone and building up successive pastel colours in both thin and more opaque layering.
  4. Build up a pastel in layers from dead colour to full colour.
  5. Gain an understanding of the difference, similarities and the integrated use of natural chalk pigments and artificially bound pastel colours.


MATERIALS

  • Faber Castel box 38 soft chalk pastels (this and all materials are essential)
  • A variety of A3 coloured papers – buff and blue-grey
  • Oil-based black chalk pencil
  • White chalk pencil
  • Stanley knife for sharpening
  • Kneadable eraser
  • Two paper stumps


When:
Wednesday 10 October - 28 November 2018
9.30 AM - 12.00 PM 

Where:
WEA Sydney
72 Bathurst Street