ABOUT THIS workshop

Soft Pastel is a stunning vibrant medium which offers the user all the control of a drawing medium coupled with the most vibrant, saturated colours of any of the fine art mediums.

Over the duration of this weekend workshop Dave will guide participants step-by step through his methodical process of creating a colourful still life pastel drawing. The course will be divided into 4 sections from subject and planning to finishing touches and for each section Dave will demonstrate his approach then allow participants to work on their own drawings with one-to-one guidance. Over the 2-days you will get guidance in all aspects of pastel drawing including subject choice and composition, colour theory and how to create vibrant colour mixes through cross hatching and layering.

Previous pastel experience in particular isn’t essential especially for oil or watercolour painters but participants should have a working knowledge of basic colour theory and good drawing skills. This course is not suitable for beginners in art.

Materials needed

A) 2 x full size sheets of good quality Pastel Card. This is far superior to the cheaper embossed papers and will cost you approx €6 per sheet. Good brands to get are :
- Sennelier Pastel Card (available from KM Evans, Cork Art Supplies and Jacksons)
- Canson Mi-Teintes TOUCH (not regular mi-teintes)
- PastelMat
Make sure that you get mid to dark tones - sepia, tobacco, Sienna, blue-grey are good ones to use for landscape

Alternately you can get a pad of the same pastel card which costs around €30 - €45

B) ‘Pastels’ refers to soft or chalk pastels - ‘Oil Pastels’ are a different product and incompatible with soft pastels.

If you already have a range of good quality pastels you may use these but make sure that you have a range of dark tones included.

I recommend Rembrandt Pastels are they are reasonably priced, readily available and hold their shape well leaving minimal dust. A pack of 30 Rembrandt half pastels starts at around €30 and they go up in price from there. Individual replacement full size Rembrandt pastels are then available for around €2. They are available from KM Evans, Cork Art supplies and Jacksons (there will be VAT and customs charges on UK orders from Jacksons)

Meet Dave

My art is an equal combination of creativity and analytical thinking."

Dave West was born and raised in South Wales and is now settled in Balbriggan, North County Dublin. He studied at the Carmarthenshire College of Art & Design and recently completed a degree in Art History with the Open University. He has had numerous solo exhibitions. He has exhibited widely in Group Shows including the Royal Hibernian Academy, Royal Ulster Academy and Eígse, and in the UK with the Royal West of England Academy, Royal Society of Oil Painters, Royal Society of Marine Artists, The New English Art Club, The Royal Society of British Artists, and the UK Pastel Society, at which he won the 2013 Schminke Award. In 2017 he won the Mayoral Gold Award at the 'Art In The Open' Plein Air painting festival.