Pastel Portrait Tutorial ~ How to draw Realistic glowing SKIN TONES using Pastel Pencils

Ever wondered how to achieve glowing skin tones with pastels? Try my three-step technique. Outline, Stroke Underdrawing, Rich Colour Stage and the Detail Stage. Be sure to watch it right through till the end because here and there I'll be slowing things down in real time so you can take a closer look. So let's dive in and take a look. I'm going to use a quarter grid again just to make it sort of straightforward for you. Focusing on drawing in big shapes to start with. Keeping a distance from my pencil tip so it keeps it nice and loose. Here you can see me just measuring one size against the other. So you're looking at the spaces in relation to each other. And then just really just get a feel for it really. Just getting an overall feel of each shape within that area. I tend to draw a line down where the angle of the face is. So through the nose and the mouth and getting the proportions of those in. But it's all guesswork to start with. Just using imaginary angles. You've got to sort of jump in and deepen with the freehand method. I know it's a quarter grid but you're doing a lot of freehand within these spaces. And you've just got to go for it because everything can be changed anyway. So just get that initial feel down first. Now this is the best putty rubber I've ever found. It's Faber-Castell. It's amazing how you can just shape it into a point. And then you can sculpture your lines to make things into the correct shape. After you've got the lines in sort of loosely. Then it's time now to sort of tighten up a little bit. So sharpen the pencil. Go a bit closer to the point of the pencil as well. And start to pull a little bit of detail. I'm always double checking as well. The alignment on a vertical plane. And also on a horizontal plane. Just to make sure everything lines up correctly. What I've found over the years is that. If you keep your reference image smaller. So you see the whole thing. It becomes easier to draw. You don't get a distorted view then. If you focus too much on the actual details. It can get a little bit tunneled vision. And then you lose that subtle energy in the feeling of the portrait. So try and bring that feeling of the portrait inside your heart as you draw it. Here's the colours I'll be using for the lights of the underdrawing. And mid-tones. And for the darks. These here. Now here's the trick to start with. The way I get the glow is to put the white down first. And then build up very, very slowly. With colour on top. Now for the underdrawing. All this is, is to get the shapes correct. So I'm moving the outline. Correcting the shapes. Making sure the form is there. So it's just creating a little bit of form. And that means it's just getting a bit of shattering there. To create a little bit of 3D look to it. But obviously it's just basic. So I'm not worried about getting the values right. The chroma. The temperature. All it is, is just making sure everything is prepared for when I start putting the colours on. So just enjoy the flow. And the freedom of just mixing these colours. And for the underdrawing I'm not using black. I'm using brown and blue. For the dark areas. In the pupil. And orange and blue for the white of the eyes. But here you can see I'm using red. Yellow ochre. And then you put in your white over the top of that. To create a little bit of texture. And it's like I say it's just very, very basic to start with this is. And for shadows I'm using green and red. And then yellow ochre just to warm it up. So I'm going through this pretty quick. So I don't want to spend a lot of time putting the details in. And the real time with that. So to de-saturate him. All I'm doing is using the complementary colours. So I'm using red and green. If anything is a bit warmer I'm using yellow ochre with it. And if it's cooler use a bit of blue. Now in the lips here I'm using green and red to create shadows. Here again just using that white. Just to get that sort of texture in there a little bit. And also to create a little bit of form. Getting it in nice and loosely. Getting a feel for the portrait as well. So I'm drawing this from inside my heart. I'm not tunnel vision. So I'm just really enjoying the freedom of just expressing. How it feels and how the person feels. Using again brown and blue. Just to create those basic shadows to start with. Now the colours for the rich colour stage. These are Caran d'Ache brand I use. The Conti Paris range. And the Carbothel range. Starting with the rich colours. It's all about getting a sort of a blocking in again. But more of a richer colour. So I'm using this light flesh from Caran d'Ache first. Just to create a sort of richness. And then glaze over them with the vermilion. I'm using yellow ochre and green in the shadows there. And the red. And then just going over them with the pre-mixed colour. So it's just a case of just experimenting at first. Now I'm putting a bit of lemon yellow in. Which is a little bit of a tip to create the glow. Anything that when you want to glow. Just add a little bit of lemon yellow to it. Now I'm using vermilion here. With the yellow ochre and then white. Which is the Faber-Castell white. Now that's just the same as those pre-mixed colours. Because all they are is just a different variation of those colours. In different tones. So you can actually mix your own. So I tend to use something that is similar. Like those mixed colours first. If it needs it. And then just glaze over with the colours that makes that pre-mix if you like. So if you know how to mix these colours. It becomes easier to get the subtleties. If you're enjoying this video. Why not subscribe? It's absolutely free. And then you're sure not to miss any of my future videos. Using brown for the eyelashes there. They're not really dark. It's not a very dark picture really. It's a low key reference image. So keeping things nice and subtle. Sliding down to real time. So you can see how I'm doing this. You know it's very very subtly done. Putting the white. The Faber-Castell white. Just tinting the colours I put in previously. But small circles. You're creating your texture with your white. And then you're glazing over them with your red. Yellow ochre. Or whatever is needed. Just adding the rich colours over top of what I've done with the underdrawing. Makes it easier when you've done your underdrawing. Because the colours flow more when you use this canon dash on the top. Then using a pink white here. Just to create a lighter tone. And then for the shadows. Or subtlety of the shadows. I'm using green and red. I'm using a cold red for the deeper shadows here. Gives it more depth. For the teeth. I'm just lining them up first. And then just glazing over them with orange and blue. Which are complementary. It makes nice greys. So warmer greys use more orange. Cooler greys use more blue. Just like to take this opportunity to thank all my Patreons. For their wonderful support every month. Can't thank you enough. It means the world to me. If you're considering joining me on Patreon. And would like the benefit of longer, slower and more in-depth videos. Please check out the link in the description below this video. Most of the videos I'm putting on there now. Are all in real-time audio. Real-time video. So you get a real taste of how I create these portraits. So if that interests you. Please check out the link after you watch the video. Now to blend things. And to get rid of a little bit of graininess. That pastel matte sort of creates. Is to use one of these cotton buds. And just to lightly go over it. And small circles. And just to soften everything. So don't press on too hard. It's very lightly done. Now for the shadow areas and cheek there. And on the side. I'm using a lot more blue here. Just to create more of a purpley, reddy colour. And again that subtle sort of feeling. Of a reflected light onto the skin there. Just quickly showing you here. Subtling up this area. Where the reflected light is on the chin there. Is just to use the carbothello white. And the cotton bud. And again slowly but surely. Keep building it up. Blending it with the cotton buds. Using the green to desaturate the red as well. So that's important. But add that little bit of blue. Just to create more of a bluey green. Which will give you that sort of purpley colour. But you've just got to keep playing. And changing things up. It's just a case of having fun with the colours. And keep changing it until it starts to feel right. It will look a bit grainy to start with. But your perseverance is the key really with this. Just got to keep building it up. Keep changing the lights. Changing up different areas. Until it starts to feel right. If you enjoy this video. Why not give it a like. And share it with your friends. It would mean so much to me. As this would help the channel to grow. Now it's a good idea to keep everything nice and sharp. On the points when you start doing the details. So how I do this. Is to make sure the knife is not at an angle. Too much of an acute angle. Make it more or less flat. And then shaper across like that way. Rather than digging in. Because with the Caran d'Ache lead. It's very fragile and it will crack. So you have to be ever so careful. Always make sure you've got really sharp blades as well. Now with the details. It's a case of just slowing things down. And just being more accurate with it. And just move things. And be more subtle with the colours. All the blocking has been put in now. With the rich colours. It's just a case of just. Being a little bit more sort of careful. With your movements. Smaller movements. Still look at it as a whole. So I'm not going tunnel vision on one area. And putting loads of details in. I'm still spreading the view. And seeing the whole thing. There's a little trick you do. And it is actually by focusing on the reference image. And bring it into your heart. And draw it from inside your heart. And don't come out of yourself. With tunnel vision. Trying to put every little detail in. Of course it will look really tight. So to keep things nice and loose. And free flowing. Always feel as though you're drawing it from your heart. It does take practice. But after a while it becomes second nature then. Just let your instincts govern your movements. So if you feel there's an area that needs attention. Just go to it. So I'm constantly going from one area to another. I might be working on the nose as I'm doing now. But then all of a sudden I shoot over to the ear. If I see something. I just be automatic and let it go. Just slowing it down to real time. So you can have a good look at how I'm doing these subtleties. I'm using the Premix 10% there from Caran d'Ache. But you can just use red and yellow ochre. And a bit of white to create that same colour. But I like to use it because you get the subtle subtleties. But then I add a little bit of lemon yellow over it. To give it that zinginess. So that's the key thing to create the glow. Is adding that little bit of lemon yellow. You can add it to any colour. It just seems to create a glow. So that's one of my tips for you. If you'd like to know more how I create skin tone shadows. Using the complementary colours. I have a free class for you here. You're very welcome to it. The link is in the description below. So if that interests you. Please check it out after you watch the video. Now you have to put the pigment in there first. So it's a lot darker when you first put it in. But then you go over with a white to create texture. Then glaze again. And white to create texture. Using green to desaturate it. There's all sorts of things going off. But it becomes automatic after a while. Without thought. And then just keep blending as well while you're doing it. So just let yourself be free. And just go with the instincts on what's needed. You'll get to know. You'll get like a feeling. Oh I'll put a bit more red in here. Then add a bit of green. And it's just like automatic after a while. Without any thinking at all. Just slowing down to real time. So you can see how I'm doing the white of the eyes. I'm using the blue first. Just to get that correct colour. And then adding a little bit more highlight in there. To freshen it up with the Faber-Castell white. And then desaturating that blue in areas. With the orange. Which creates perfect grays for the white of the eyes. In this case I'm just working on both eyes really. Just to make sure they're both balanced up. Then this is a great tool to have. The colour shaper. Just dab in with that. And then just putting that odd little bit of darker here. But now I'm putting a little bit more burnt sienna in there. Just to warm it up. Because ginger hair. Again with the colour shaper. Just dab, dab, dab. And just keep wiping the tip of that colour shaper as well. It's a silicon tip. But if you keep it clean it don't sort of get grubby then. It just keeps things nice and clean. To get a habit of just wiping it every time you make a mark. After every mark. And in this case just balancing things up. Always work on both eyes at the same time. And just getting that sort of feel right. Just keep looking in the mirror this time as well. Just making sure everything seems okay. So if you look at it from a different angle. For reflection and mirror. You can always take a photograph with the camera. See how it looks. And then it brings out imperfections that need working on. So I tend to do that when I start working on the details. But there's a lot more details we've put in this. But that will all happen after I've got the hair in and the clothes in. That'll be the next video. Well that's the end of part one. Thank you so much for watching it right till the end. I really appreciate it. If you did enjoy it please give it a thumbs up. And share it with your friends. It would mean so much to me. As this will help the channel to grow. It's been an interesting one to do with the low-key, not very dark shadows. Be interesting when I've got everything else in there. And I can just add that little bit more balance. Any questions at all. Please leave a message in the comments section below this video. And I'll get back to you as soon as I can. In the meantime if you would like to see any more of my work. Please check out this video here. Take care. Bye.