Expressive Portrait Drawing with Soft Pastels
A course by Chris Gambrell , Artist and Fashion Illustrator
Learn how to combine mark-making, composition, and color using soft pastels to create captivating portraits filled with emotion
Learn how to combine mark-making, composition, and color using soft pastels to create captivating portraits filled with emotion
Through the use of color, texture, and expressive strokes, a pastel portrait has the power to transfix its viewer’s attention. Artist and fashion illustrator Chris Gambrell is passionate about capturing the movement and character of his subjects. He has worked with major European fashion houses and editorials, including VOGUE and Artists & Illustrators magazine.
Discover the feeling of crushing pastels onto paper to create depth and layers. Experiment with different mark-making techniques, learn to balance colors, and create striking pastel portrait compositions filled with mood and rhythm.
What will you learn in this online course?
16 lessons & 22 downloads
- 98% positive reviews (282)
- 7,209 students
- 16 lessons (3h 18m)
- 22 additional resources (8 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Draw a portrait with soft pastels using a reference photograph.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for drawing enthusiasts and anyone interested in using soft pastels to create striking portraits.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience with soft pastels is required to take this course, just the curiosity to explore portrait drawing with this medium.
As for materials, you will need a basic range of soft pastels, a pencil, an eraser, standard 80gsm A4 paper, an A3 size sketchpad, and fixative spray. Optional materials are mentioned at the beginning of the course.
Reviews
A course by Chris Gambrell
Exploring form, color, and texture through portraiture is a passion Chris carries with him since his teenage years in Bristol, UK. Always seeking to give a fresh perspective on movement and character, he could usually be found at local cafés, filling his sketchbooks with expressive renderings. Chris got his first comissioned work soon after graduating with an illustration degree at the University of the West of England and transitioned into fashion illustration soon after, with clients like Zara clothing.
Following his return from a twelve-year sabbatical in 2016, he started an Instagram account to document his artwork, which gave way to numerous work opportunities. He began illustrating for major European fashion houses and editorials. In 2020, he was chosen by VOGUE to be one of seven artists to draw his favorite looks from VOGUE’s Runway archive pages. Since then, his vibrant portraits have been featured in numerous exhibitions and art galleries. His most recent commissions include the book cover illustration for–art critic from The Guardian–Jonathan Jones’s biography on Artemisia Gentileschi.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Pastel Portraiture Fundamentals
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Introduction to Materials
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The Importance of Keeping a Sketchbook
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Mark Making
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Colour Study
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Sourcing References
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U3
Creating Your Pastel Portrait
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Initial Sketching 1
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Initial Sketching 2
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Proportions 1
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Proportions 2
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Details
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Making an Image Work as a Piece
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Colour Work
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U4
Sharing Your Work
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Fixing the Work and Packaging
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Photographing and Social Media
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FP
Final project
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X Pastel Portait
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
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Meet expert teachers
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Certificates
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
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FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
koutna.marianna
I really like to paint with soft pastels. I decided to take this course in order to improve my work by harmonizing and balancing image colors. Thank you to the lecturer and I recommend :-)
nikitatsyu4
PlusThis is a very valuable course that not only taught how to paint with soft pastel but also the color theory and the proportions. Highly recomened
federicafreguglia
Molto interessante
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ascalefi
Excelente curso. As bases para a composição de trabalhos com pastel seco.
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vmmg55
Curso con estructura sencilla y a nivel introductorio. El instructor demuestra conocimiento y es didáctico. Sugiero reorganizar algunas lecciones para dar cabida a más ejemplos utilizando las tizas pastel.
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