ART III Monochromatic Portrait Color Studies

Advanced Art III students work with Oil Pastels and restricted Color to create stylized portraits, focusing on building form and capturing likeness through layered Color and Value. Students work with a “thick over thin” approach, beginning with darker values gradually developing depth and dimension as they progress towards lighter values.

This project emphasizes smooth value transitions, accurate representation of facial structure, color blending, and the technical discipline of layering thick over thin layers. Through the careful addition of color and with precise blending, students develop control over the Oil Pastel medium and a deeper understanding of how value and form work together to create realistic self-portraits.

Materials: Sakura Cray-Pas Expressionist Oil Pastels, Canson Mi-Teintes Heavy Paper

Steps:

STEP 1 - Color Selection - choose a color

STEP 2 - Pencil Sketch - the foundation. A detailed sketching to establish accurate details, placement, and proportion of the portrait. Accuracy and set up is the most important here – be careful not to overdo this step, we want to keep authentic work for the actual project.

STEP 3 - Underpainting using Dark Values - thinly apply and blend out Prussian Blue (depending on color, I might use a Dark Rose instead) and Sepia to the shaded areas to establish depth and structure.

(ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - Post Malone using Rose Grey, 2022)

STEP 4 - Reestablishing Darks - reapply the darkest shadows in a slightly thicker layer using the blue/brown color mix – only focus on areas of the composition with the darkest values.

STEP 5 - Mid-Tones - build up the mid-range values using the variants of the chosen color in progressively thicker layers (color temperature doesn't matter as much as value here). This step gradually develops form and volume, allowing for a more realistic rendering of the forms of the portrait. *Depending on the chosen color, that hue might find itself in this stage.

(ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - Timothee Chalamet using Cerulean Blue , 2024)

STEP 6 - Blender Layer - introduce a unifying tone to blend the earlier layers together – I like Pale Orange, Salmon Pink, Neutral Grey, or Naples Yellow. This is going to create a cohesion between the values from earlier, as well as introduce a lighter value and will help soften the transitions between the various hues.

(ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - Tyler the Creator using Permanent using Permanent Green , 2024)

STEP 7 - Light Values - adding lighter variants, highlights, and values of the chosen color in increasingly thick layers to help contour and build dimensionality, emphasizing areas where light naturally falls. *Depending on the chosen color, that hue might find itself in this stage

(ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - COVID Selfie in Mask using Yellow Ochre, 2021 )

STEP 8 - Pure Black - with a deliberate and thoughtful approach, add pure black to the portrait in the darkest areas of the composition – I also like to reinforce some of my earlier drawing here, trying to shape the more important details. *Note a light touch is crucial, and can be overdone

(ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - Timothee Chalamet using Cerulean Blue , 2024)

STEP 9 - Pure White - as with the pure black, only add white to the brightest areas of the portrait, this will draw attention to key features, and add that sense of three-dimensional form. This will be the thickest and final layer of pastel.

(ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - Self-Portrait in Crown using Phthalo Green , 2023;ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - Chappell Roan using Turquoise, 2025)

STEP 10 - Background and Finishing - using the chosen color, fill the background to complete the composition.

(ABOVE: IN PROGRESS - COVID Selfie in Mask using Yellow Ochre, 2021 )

OPTIONAL STEP 11- Sgraffito - a completely optional stage where a pointed tool is used to scratch out layers of pastel to reinforce drawing and detail. Personally, I like to use a well sharpened pencil.

(ABOVE: Facial Feature Demonstrations using Sap Green, 2022 )

You just made art. Maybe it’s amazing, maybe it’s not. But hey, you created something. Every mark you made taught you something and that’s all part of the process. That’s how you get better – keep making, keep learning.