Pastel Portraits with Justin Maas

Regular price $ 39.99 USD

✍️ Learn how to create rich, realistic pastel portraits with virtuoso Justin Maas.

💪 Gain confidence in this "most misunderstood medium" with Justin's expert guidance.

✍️ Explore different types of pastel and several drawing methods while creating four portraits.

♾️ Get lifetime access with purchase. Go at your own pace, revisit forever.

🗓️ All class content comes out Sunday, May 3.

Class Outline

This class comprises ~4.5 hours of HD video instruction with multiple portrait tutorials and inspiring reference photos.

Lesson 1: Intro to Pastels as a Medium (11m46s)

Learn about the history, unique properties, and crucial differences between types of pastels and how to layer them.

Lesson 2: Quick Pastel Portrait #1 - Direct Drawing Method (14m12s)

Learn an advanced technique of mapping features and values directly, using a loose grip and light pressure to protect your paper's surface.

Working from "general to specific," you will use a neutral pencil to lay a structural foundation of proportions and basic shapes before introducing whites and darks to visualize the hierarchy of values.

The direct drawing method can be intimidating. In this lesson, you'll gain the confidence to efficiently block in essential elements and establish a solid structural foundation for your portrait without over-erasing.

Lesson 3: Quick Pastel Portrait #2 - Transfer Method (10m46s)

Learn to build upon your transferred drawing by lightly strengthening key lines without losing accurate proportions beneath your pastel layers.

Practice working from general to specific, using hard pastel pencils to establish a hierarchy of midtone values and broad swaths of light and dark.

By keeping this stage loose to maintain the drawing's energy, you ensure that your initial hard pencil work can be easily layered over with softer pastel sticks later in the process.

Lesson 4: Quick Pastel Portrait #3 - Planar Method (10m55s)

Learn how to block in a portrait by visualizing the face as a series of shapes and values rather than simple lines.

Explore using vibrant base colors or grayscale values to establish a foundation on sanded paper, allowing for easier adjustments before transitioning to the precision of pastel pencils.

Prepare for the next stage of the process by understanding how to transfer your initial sketch to the final surface to begin the full portrait.

Lesson 5: Fully Rendered Pastel Portrait (3h39m)

In this culmination of the previous four lessons, Justin guides you through an intensive, nearly four-hour journey to complete a professional-level pastel portrait from start to finish.

Learn to navigate the medium's complexities as you are led step-by-step and stroke-by-stroke through every stage, from the initial block-in to the final delicate highlights.

Benefitting from Justin's engaging, articulate instruction, you will gain invaluable confidence with both pastels and portraiture along the way.

Meet Your Teacher

Justin Maas is a Canadian portrait artist who has been working professionally for more than 20 years. He is best known for his “famous faces” series of portraits on Instagram, where he posts daily drawings of your favorite celebrities for his 450,000+ followers.

Maas’ pastel portraits have been reposted and retweeted by hundreds of celebrities including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Queen Latifah, Paul McCartney, Mr Bean, Ice Cube, Viola Davis, Ewan McGregor and many more.

A multi-award winning artist, Justin is a Senior Signature Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists (SFCA), an Elected Member of the Society of Canadian Artists (SCA) and the author of Drawing Realistic Pencil Portraits Step by Step from Penguin Random House.

“When I was a teenager, a critic once said of my work, ‘Why not just take a photo?’ That has always stuck with me and challenged me to try to make my portrait drawings show something that a photo can’t.

"By playing with focal points, areas of detail and contrast, I like to think that my drawings go beyond what most photos say about the subject.”

Lifetime Access - Anytime, Anywhere

With your purchase, you’ll get lifetime access to the class on Sktchy, where you can contact Justin, connect with fellow students from around the world and get constructive feedback on your class art via desktop and any iOS or Android mobile devices.

FAQs

What tools do I need to participate?

Drawing Pencils (example)
Eraser (example)
Pastels - Pan (example)
Pastels - Pencils (example)
Pastels - Sticks (example)
Pastel Pan Knife (example)
Pastel Paper - Basic (example)
Pastel Paper - Velvet (example)
Tortillions (example)
Utility Knife (example)

Is the content all new?

Yes! Justin created these video lessons specifically for this class.

Can I go at my own pace?

Yes! You keep lifetime access to ALL class content, so you can go at your own pace and revisit forever.

What skill level do I need for this class?

This class is suitable for artists of all skill levels, from beginners on up.

Do I get lifetime access to the class?

Yes! Your purchase gets you lifetime access to ALL class content, so you can go at your own pace and revisit forever.

Where do I access the class?

You can access the class on Sktchy, which is free to join.

What is your refund policy?

Get a full refund, with no questions asked, within 24 hours of purchase.