Illustration with Pastel and Coloured Pencils
A course by Elena PancorboIllustrator
A course by Elena Pancorbo, Illustrator
Discover creative manual techniques for realistic and delicate drawings
Looking for more ways to capture true beauty in your art? Join illustrator Elena Pancorbo, who creates female portraits rich in sensitivity and emotion, as she takes you through the ins and outs of the pastel technique and working with colored pencils.
In this online course, she shows you her entire process when drawing a realistic illustration and how to master the pastel technique to give your work an exciting creative edge.
What will you learn in this online course?
14 lessons & 13 downloads
Search of photographic references
3 minutes, 4 seconds
Selection and composition of our idea to illustrate
2 minutes, 16 seconds
My materials
5 minutes, 16 seconds
recommendations
3 minutes, 28 seconds
Sketching, fitting and drawing
12 minutes, 43 seconds
Lights and main brightness
4 minutes, 11 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start off by getting to know Elena Pancorbo as she tells you about the path that led her to become an illustrator, with commissions from some of the biggest names in the publishing world. She also shares some of her greatest influences.
Next, she explains her creative process when it comes to doing her illustrations. She shows you how to look for photographic references to serve as a guide for your portraits and takes you through the materials required.
Once you've got your image, she shows you how to sketch it and draw the outline in order to apply the pastel.
Work first on the lights and brighter parts, then apply the skin tones and look at how to blend the colors so that the result is more natural. Next, work your way through the contrasts and shadows.
Once the pastel phase is finished, use colored pencils to outline the edges. Work on volume and other details like tattoos and hair.
Elena wraps up the course by showing you how to use a pastel fixative to finish off your piece.
What is this course's project?
Create an illustration using the pastel technique and colored pencils. You decide what level of detail you want to achieve by applying more or less pastel.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Illustrators, designers, and anyone interested in learning to work with pastels and colored pencils.
Requirements and materials
Previous drawing experience is recommended, although not essential as Elena teaches you using a photograph that you trace.
As for materials, you need charcoal, a pencil, an eraser, a brush, pastels, colored pencils, a spray fixative, and special pastel paper.
Reviews
- 8 days ago
Ich bin total begeistert von diesem Kurs! Abgesehen davon, dass Elena wunderbare Pastelkunstwerke erschafft und eine großartige Lehrerin ist, macht der Kurs sehr viel Spaß. Ich male am liebsten Portraits und dies in der Regel in Aquarell. Nachdem ich kürzlich einen tollen Charcoal Kurs gemacht habe, dachte ich Pastell könnte auch etwas für mich sein. Und ich muss sagen, mir gefällt es extrem gut. Man kann so schnell die Essentials erschaffen und dann ganz in Ruhe in die Details gehen.
- 10 days ago
Un estilo único en arte y en explicar.
- 2 months ago
Me encanta el trabajo de esta profesora me inspira muy buen curso
- 5 months ago
Hola me gusto mucho y aprendi tecnicas, me gustaria otro de animales o botanica.
- 8 months ago
L’autrice si definisce solo grafica, ma per me è riduttivo perchè ritengo abbia un raffinato talento artistico. Ha un modo molto personale di creare e interpretare il corpo umano ed il ritratto che per me è stato spunto di grande riflessione, e inoltre questo corso è servito ad approcciarmi per la prima volta all’utilizzo dei soft-pastels, che neanche conoscevo. Torno spesso a rivedere le sue lezioni, mi piacciono moltissimo le sue opere
She studied fine art and trained as an illustrator, and has worked for publishers such as Planeta, Penguin Random House, Anaya, Nocturna Ediciones, and Alfaguara, to name just a few.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- U2
Image file
- Search of photographic references
- Selection and composition of our idea to illustrate
- U3
Materials and we start with the sketch
- My materials
- recommendations
- Sketching, fitting and drawing
- U4
We start with the pastel and crayons
- Lights and main brightness
- Skin tones
- We blur and melt. Contrasts and shadows
- Outline the shape and volumes 1
- Outline the shape and volumes 2
- Details, tattoos, hair ...
- Cleaning and fixing the illustration
- FP
Final project
- Illustration with pastel and colored pencils
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
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FAQs
You’ll learn how to create realistic editorial illustrations using pastels, graphite, and colored pencils — from gathering photo references to composition, color application, anatomical details, and techniques for cleaning and fixing your artwork to preserve it.
This course is aimed at intermediate-level artists who already have basic drawing skills and want to deepen their knowledge of pastel techniques, composition, and digital editing for editorial illustration.
You’ll need soft pastels, colored pencils, graphite, pastel paper (like Canson), fixative spray, erasers, soft brushes, and access to Photoshop or similar software for digitally editing your illustrations.
You’ll learn how to select and combine reference images, adjust proportions, and blend elements in Photoshop to create coherent and original compositions in your artwork.
Yes, the course teaches you how to scan, clean up, and edit your illustrations in Photoshop — removing smudges and enhancing details to present your work professionally.
The course covers blending with fingers and tools, using earth tones, mixing shades to create volume, and avoiding black to achieve rich, natural darks.
Yes, you’ll do pastel portrait exercises focusing on female subjects, covering anatomical details, lighting, shadows, and composition to create realistic works and illustrated covers.