Online Workshop: Northern France

Hello everyone!

I invite you to join me for a live drawing session in a one-day online workshop hosted by the Lectoroom.

I’m preparing an exciting scene for you from the northern coast of France, where rare little houses stand side by side with boulders as tall as they are.

During the workshop, we will explore the main subject and composition together, think about tonal masses, and work on combining individual elements while emphasizing the core idea of the scene using primarily tonal contrast. We’ll create preliminary sketches and complete one pastel artwork.

Materials to Prepare for the Workshop

Paper
For this session, abrasive paper is recommended, size 40×50 cm (such as Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, Artspectrum, or similar). Choose a neutral paper color like gray-blue, gray-pink, or umber, with a medium tone. You’ll also need light-colored sheets for pencil or charcoal sketches. For sketches, any format from A5 to A3 will work.

Pastel
Artists who are already passionate about this medium usually have their own curated set assembled from various brands. All pastel brands blend well in different layers. With experience, each artist develops preferences for specific brands due to their unique color palettes, softness, or hardness.

It’s always beneficial to have a diverse set of pastel. While colors can be blended to achieve the desired shade, it’s helpful to plan ahead for a range of dark, medium, and light tones. How many do you have, and what shades are they?
Dark neutral tones are particularly useful for any landscape, as they help define shadow areas. These might include gray-violet, gray-green, muted, or slightly more saturated hues.

I rarely use bright colors, and they tend to accumulate in my boxes. What I use the most are these complex, dusty, neutral tones, ranging from dark to light.

Prepare a set of at least 48 dry pastel sticks from various brands. Pay special attention to muted, smoky shades.

You may also need a few pastel pencils for finer details.

The partner of our workshop, Bombora Publishing House, will raffle off three copies of my book "Pastel" among the participants. You can find the conditions for participation on the Lectoroom website, where you can also register for the class.

Thank you to everyone who writes reviews for my book—I value each and every one of them!

Looking forward to seeing you at the workshop on August 15!