Makings and Musings Community

Last week I did Irene's free course. I'm very proud of what I made and so I decided to join the club😁

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Last night’s session was part of our Nature’s Patterns theme, and we spent some time exploring the beautiful, intricate patterns found in peacock feathers. I went into it thinking this might be a fairly gentle and straightforward subject… but, as sometimes happens, it turned out to be a little more involved than I had anticipated. There is something about repeating patterns and colour layering that asks for a bit more patience and trust in the process.

The recording is now available here in the library - it is the first video in the folder Pastel and Crayon Classes

I worked primarily with wax & oil pastels, although as always, you are very welcome to follow along using whatever materials you have to hand. I mostly used my Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons as a base, building up layers of colour, and then added some of my softer Sennelier oil pastels over…

This was such a joyful, colourful class, and I am really glad I can still share it with you, even if the recording is a little different this time.

Just a quick note before you begin: this session was recorded through Zoom rather than my usual setup, as I ran into a rather classic “full hard drive” moment. So the quality is slightly lower than you might be used to from me. That said, the heart of the class, the teaching, and the atmosphere are all very much there, and I truly think it is worth watching.

You can find the recording in the library - its the first video in the Pastel and Crayon folder: Here.

In this session, I guide you through creating loose, vibrant floral pages inspired by spring flowers. We explore a range of materials, including soft pastels, oil pastels, and wax crayons, and I show…

In this class I take you through a relaxed and colourful still life drawing.

I work from a winter themed reference photo and I show you how I break it down into simple shapes and playful lines. I focus on enjoying the process rather than getting things perfect, so you can feel free to be a bit wobbly and expressive in your own work.

The artists I showed you art the start are:

Susanne Rose: https://www.instagram.com/susannerose_sketchbook/

Sandi Hester: https://www.instagram.com/sandihesterart/

This week, I led an art session exploring sunset-inspired drawings using oil pastels, coloured pencils, and other media.

We focused on blending, layering, and creating gradients, with a relaxed pace so everyone could experiment and share their work. I demonstrated techniques for texture and colour harmony, and we discussed how different materials—like baby oil or Vaseline—can help with blending.

We also spoke about the history of oil pastels, and I shared tips for adding silhouettes and reflections to create depth.

Oil Pastel Blending & Lavender Field Drawing Workshop

In this joyful and colourful session, I shared lots of oil pastel techniques with you—from how to blend colours smoothly, to creating vibrant skies and dreamy lavender fields.

Watch Here:

We explored ways to mix and layer colour to build depth and atmosphere, using both oil pastels and wax crayons.

You saw me demonstrate how to use cotton buds, tissue paper, and even the back of a pencil to blend, shape, and highlight. We talked about layering light colours first, how to approach tricky tones like purple, and how to play with texture to bring your scene to life.

In the survey I emailed around recently you creatives asked me for short sessions with quick results. Naturally I wanted to create loads of those immediately and this quick oil pastel drawing sessions is the first.

Let me know if you enjoyed drawing along with this one and please share your creations with us in the homework gallery!

Watch here: