What you’ll paint
A small landscape on sanded paper: sky, land, and focal area. Hard pastel block-in, soft pastel finishes.
Paper & sets
- Sanded paper (UART, PastelMat) or toned heavyweight paper.
- Hard pastels / pastel pencils for drawing + block-in.
- Soft pastels for finishing color and accents.
Value plan
- 3 values: sky (light), land (mid), focal (dark or light contrast).
- Keep each group separate—avoid muddy blending.
- Atmospheric depth: cooler + lower contrast in distance.
Step-by-step
1
Sketch & block-in
Light drawing with hard pastel; mass big shapes in clear value groups.
2
Fix (optional)
A light spray of workable fixative helps lock early layers.
3
Temperature passes
Add warm/cool shifts inside each value area; keep strokes directional.
4
Soft pastel accents
Use soft pastels for selective, high-chroma notes at light edges or focal areas.
5
Edge control
Soften background edges; sharpen near your focal point. Avoid over-blending.
Tips
- Use light pressure early; build pressure as you finish.
- Lift mistakes gently with kneaded eraser instead of rubbing.
- Use fewer, broader strokes for clean, luminous color.
Troubleshooting
- Muddy color: Too many layers—lift and re-state big shapes.
- Flat depth: Same edges everywhere—soften background, reduce contrast.
- Visible grain: Save softest pastels for final pass only.