Portraiture In Oil Pastel

Session 1

Introduction, Color sketching with oil pastel

The first class will introduce students to oil pastels. This one-hour introductory presentation will provide an overview of oil pastels, including their history and technology. I’ll cover different types of oil pastels, their unique characteristics, various application methods, mixing techniques, suitable surfaces, and ways to combine oil pastels with other materials. The class will conclude with a Q&A session.

After the class, participants will receive a pre-recorded, narrated demonstration on using oil pastels for quick portrait color sketches. These sketches can serve as preliminary studies before starting a larger oil painting. Oil pastels allow for rapid application and yield more expressive, colorful results that you can later incorporate into your oil painting.

Session 2

Building on a scribble

The second class will feature a feedback session on participants’ work from the previous week, including live feedback and overpaints, followed by a Q&A.

After the class, participants will receive a pre-recorded and narrated demonstration on creating an expressive, colorful portrait using oil pastels, starting from a simple scribble. We’ll set aside strict rules of anatomy and form, focusing instead on a more abstract and formalist representation of a person’s likeness. This approach encourages improvisation, embraces mistakes, and involves repainting to build a rich, punchy, and expressive portrait.

Session 3

Light and Shadow

The third class will feature a feedback session on participants’ work from the previous week, including live feedback and overpaints, followed by a Q&A.

After the class, participants will receive a pre-recorded and narrated demonstration. In this session, we’ll dive into a rendering of light and shadow with oil pastels. We’ll begin by setting up a portrait with carefully chosen lighting. Starting with a precise underdrawing in charcoal, we’ll then approach the portrait using a methodical “chiaroscuro” technique. This involves
Portrait Painting with Oil Pastel Online Course for The New School of Art 2
rendering light and shadow to create convincing volume and depth in the portrait.

Session 4

Suggesting a detail

The fourth class will feature a feedback session on participants’ work from the previous week, including live feedback and overpaints, followed by a Q&A.
After the class, participants will receive a pre-recorded and narrated demonstration. This final class demonstration will focus on refining your oil pastel portrait with finer details. It will show how to work on intricate elements and subtle nuances using an expressive medium like oil pastel. More importantly, it will teach you how to suggest details that aren’t explicitly drawn, creating a more cohesive and picturesque look in your portrait paintings.

Session 5

Finale

The final class will feature a feedback session on participantsʼ work they did during the week (with live feedback and overpaints) a Q&A.