Pastels are one of the most vibrant and immediate painting mediums-but they can also feel confusing, messy, and unpredictable without the right guidance. The Complete Pastel Artist's Manual is a clear, practical, and confidence-building guide designed to help artists truly understand pastels and use them with purpose.
Written by artist and long-time pastel practitioner Fee O'Shea, this manual draws on years of hands-on experience across multiple art mediums, with pastels at its core. Fee's approachable teaching style strips away unnecessary jargon and rigid rules, focusing instead on solid fundamentals, thoughtful techniques, and encouragement to experiment.
Inside, you'll learn how to choose and care for your pastels, select the right papers and surfaces, set up an effective workspace, and work safely and cleanly with pastel dust. The book covers essential techniques such as blending, stippling, scumbling, glazing, and layering, alongside clear explanations of colour theory, value, and composition. Common mistakes are addressed honestly, helping you avoid frustration and overworking your paintings.
Rather than prescribing a single "right way" to work, this manual empowers you to develop your own style, build confidence, and enjoy the process of pastel painting.
This book is perfect for:
- Beginners who want a clear, friendly introduction to pastels
- Artists transitioning to pastels from another medium
- Hobby artists looking to strengthen fundamentals and technique
- Returning artists seeking to refresh their skills and confidence
Whether you're picking up pastels for the first time or rediscovering them after years away, The Complete Pastel Artist's Manual offers practical guidance, encouragement, and clarity-one mark at a time.
Fee O'Shea is a writer, artist, and creative explorer with a deep love of colour, atmosphere, and visual storytelling. Working across both traditional and digital mediums, she enjoys helping beginners discover that art does not need to be intimidating in order to be rewarding.
Her passion for pastel painting comes from the medium's unique ability to combine softness, texture, energy, and light in a direct and expressive way. She believes that pastels encourage artists to loosen up, experiment more freely, and truly observe the world around them — from subtle shifts of colour in the sky to the texture of weathered bark or reflected light on water.
Alongside art, Fee writes across a wide range of subjects, including creativity, practical guides, and fiction. Whether writing novels, instructional books, or exploring new ideas, she is always drawn to projects that encourage curiosity, imagination, and learning.
When not writing or painting, she can usually be found travelling, reading, observing dramatic skies with entirely inappropriate levels of artistic analysis, or quietly convincing herself that she definitely does not need another box of pastels.
She hopes this book encourages you to experiment boldly, embrace the occasional glorious mistake, and most of all, enjoy the process of creating.
