Online art class – Start here
Online Soft Pastel Class Guide – Start Here
Find your course
Online Soft Pastel Class Guide
Welcome to my online soft pastel class guide. This page brings together everything you need to find your course, join a Live workshop, watch your recordings and get ready to paint.
Already booked? Find your course
There are two easy ways to find your course. Both take you to the same course area on my website.
1. Use the link in your email
This is usually the quickest route.
After booking, you’ll receive a confirmation email from my website. Scroll down to Course details and click the course title.
This will take you directly to your course. You may be asked to sign in first.
If you can’t find the email, have a quick look in your spam or junk folder.
Option 2 — Sign in to your account
You can also find everything you have booked from your account on my website.
Once you are signed in, choose Courses from your account.
You’ll see the Orders, workshops (courses) connected to your bookings. If you have booked one of my Spring or Autumn Series, the individual workshops within the series will be listed there too.
Both routes take you to the same place, so simply use whichever feels easiest.
A warm welcome from me
When you first come to one of my in-person art classes, I take you straight into the kitchen of our village hall in Holt, near Wimborne in Dorset.
It’s small but perfectly formed.
We make a cup of tea or coffee, perhaps share a biscuit or two, and take a moment to settle in. Because with art, feeling welcomed and comfortable matters.
This warm virtual welcome will have to take the place of the tea and biscuits ☕️
One part of feeling comfortable is knowing you have what you need to get started, so the notes below are here to guide you.
If you ever have questions, please do get in touch, the human side of teaching is one of the things I value most. As much as I love teaching soft pastel, it’s the people I meet that I enjoy too.
How my online workshops work
My Live online workshops take place on Zoom.
I demonstrate my process step by step, taking an artwork from the first marks through to the final layers of pastel.
You can paint along with me Live, watch and make notes, or work from the recording afterwards at your own pace.
I usually run two main series of online workshops each year, one in Spring and one in Autumn. You can also choose from my collection of recorded workshops.
Browse my online soft pastel workshops
Joining a Live workshop
I send the Zoom link by email before each Live workshop, usually the day before.
Your course page will also contain the reference image and any notes, materials information or colour suggestions you need for the session.
If you book very close to the start of a workshop and haven’t received the Zoom link, please email me and I’ll happily help.
Watching a recording
I record each Live workshop, so you can catch up afterwards or revisit parts of the demonstration.
After the Live session, I prepare the recording and add it to your course page, usually within a day.
To find the recording again, simply use either:
- the course link in your email, or
- Courses inside your website account.
The recording plays directly within the course page.
The video controls allow you to:
- pause the workshop
- replay a section
- move backwards and forwards
- enlarge the video to full screen
- adjust the playback quality if needed
Don’t worry about experimenting with the controls — you can’t break anything!
If you get in a muddle, simply return to your email or account and open the course again.
What you’ll find inside your course
Depending on the workshop, your course may include:
- session information
- reference photographs
- materials information
- colour suggestions or colour charts
- downloadable notes
- the workshop recording
- additional information connected with the project
Everything relating to that particular workshop is gathered together in its course area.
Your course will show the access period included with your booking, so you have plenty of time to work at your own pace.
Signing in and passwords
If you are asked to sign in, use the account connected with your booking.
If you have forgotten your password, use the password reset option on the sign-in page.
Password reset emails can sometimes take a few minutes to arrive, so it’s best to wait before requesting another one.
Repeated attempts in quick succession can sometimes trigger website security, so take your time.
If you still can’t get in, please get in touch and I’ll help.
Getting your materials ready
You don’t need an enormous collection of materials to get started with soft pastels.
Good paper and a carefully chosen selection of pastels will take you a long way, and I’ll let you know about any particular colours or materials needed for an individual workshop.
If you are new to soft pastels, I’ve put together a simple guide to help you get started:
READ MY SOFT PASTEL QUICK START GUIDE
Don’t feel you need to buy everything at once. Build your collection gradually as you discover the materials and colours you enjoy using.
A note about finding time
While I can teach you skills and techniques, one of the biggest things you’ll bring to your painting is time.
Regular practice helps everything begin to settle and grow — but life has a habit of getting in the way.
Weeks can fly by. I find this myself too.
So if you miss a workshop, don’t finish a painting or fall behind with a series, please don’t be hard on yourself.
You can return to your recording and work at your own pace.
Sometimes the most useful thing is simply to pick up your pastels again and start with the next workshop.
Need some help?
Technology is useful when it behaves itself, but occasionally things don’t quite work as expected.
If you can’t find your course, haven’t received a Zoom link or are struggling to sign in, please get in touch.
I am always happy to help.
Nina