Painting White Without Flatness: Expressive Beards & Fur in Pastel
Art in Action: Live Class Replay
Course Summary
White subjects are some of the trickiest to paint — especially hair, beards, fur, and fabric. In this pastel lesson, we focus on creating rich, dimensional whites using temperature shifts, layered color, and expressive mark-making rather than heavy pressure or pure white everywhere. Using this Santa portrait as inspiration, you’ll learn how to build believable texture, soft edges, and depth while keeping the piece lively and painterly. This lesson is ideal for artists who struggle with white areas feeling chalky, stiff, or overworked.
Course Takeaways
How to paint white hair and beards with depth and variation
Using warm and cool undertones to keep whites alive
Layering pastels to suggest texture without over-detailing
Creating contrast so whites read bright without overpowering the piece
When and where to use pure white sparingly for impact
Lessons Learned
Why white needs color to feel believable
How temperature changes create form in white subjects
Letting edges and lost lines do the work instead of detail
Seeing shadows inside white, not just highlights
Balancing realism with expressive pastel marks
Course Curriculum
