Painting Pienza in Pastels

Course Description

Painting Pienza in Pastels 6 week course. $25 per class, $150 Thursdays March 26 - April 30 2026 Live Online Classes • Recorded and Downloadable Welcome to Painting Pienza using Pastels. I will be teaching soft pastel in an impressionist style, working directly from my reference photographs. You’ll learn how to loosen the hard, flat edges often found in photographs while preserving depth and dimension. Together, we’ll break down each image into values, tones, and positive/negative shapes to create expressive, atmospheric pastel paintings. This is a new, theme-based pastel series, and I will be offering additional collections throughout the year — from waves and clouds to seashells and animal portraits. We will explore how to capture subtle atmospheric effects, especially in the sky, and how to master the tones and nuances that are essential to a successful impressionistic pastel painting. We will also cover a variety of pastel application methods and underpainting techniques. This step-by-step course is designed to be fun, enriching, and creatively freeing, as we create one-of-a-kind impressionist Tuscan Landscapes and we can’t forget the famous beautiful doorways of Pienza, Italy. This course is suitable for all artistic levels. Each session includes a downloadable class recording for you to review at your own pace. Reference images for every class will be emailed to you in advance. So you can print them out prior to the start of class. Recommended supply sources include Blick.com and DakotaPastels.com. Please note: This course is non-refundable because it includes downloadable content. Materials list: - Faber-Castell soft pastel set-assorted colors half stick set of 72 - Upgrade set would be Rembrandt 60 half assorted - UArt Premium sanded pastel paper pad 9x12 with Glassine 600 grade beige - Stabilo CarbOthello Pastel Pencil set of 60 - Rubbing Alcohol 70% or 91% - Princeton velvet touch brush-wash ¼ or ½ inch - Sofft Pastel Tool w/ cover - Artist Tape - Artist board to tape pastel paper to - Paper Towels - Wet ones - Pencil Sharpener - Kneaded Eraser - Scissors