I had not imagined that I would spend one and half hours of my life viewing the pastel painting course video to the end. I normally skip about, trying to find the significant. This time I did not touch the timeline at all. Learn more for more explanations!

There is something that draws you in about it.

It starts slow. Unimposing, some pastel sticks, a white paper. then the marks are made first–wide, almost careless marks. None, none, no sketch. Just color applied with confidence that it is rather suspicious like the artist knows what to happen.

Probably it is one of the reasons why it makes it so hypnotic.

You are witnessing a sham of a thing. At first glance, it does not seem to be that much. The shapes, the patches of color, which do not appear to belong. Then shadows appear. Edges become sharp in some areas and remain soft in other spots. And there is no specific time when it clicks and then the picture is in focus.

It strikes you out of the blue.

The pastel course painting which I observed was highly reliant on layering. Not in a complex sense, as it were,–not colouring like a wave,–but producing colour like a wave. A darker tone will be loaded then a lighter one will be stuck on the top, partially mixed but not fully. It makes this depth which is almost accidental, though obviously it is not.

I was staring at the leaps. How a shade passes to another without turning into a mud. It is not that conspicuous, but it makes you interested more than it ought.

Something physically inquisitive is nice, as well. A lot of fingers are in use by the artist. Smearing, knocking, or even just smearing pigment into the surface. It is dirty and that is even better to watch. The texture can be felt nearly through the screen.

And there is pastel dust everywhere.

This type of course is not just sticky due to the final result. It’s the pacing. Nothing is hurried and nothing is draggy. One step provides a sufficient change to maintain your interest. You are thinking, one more minute, and all of a sudden ten minutes have passed.

I understood that I started expecting the next move. Darken up here, smooth that side, there. I was correct on some occasions and others not. Anyhow, it held me interested in a silent manner.

It is not trumpet-tongued. No dramatic reveals. And sweetly slow motion that is queerly soothing.

I even stopped a video at some point and looked at my previous work. It felt… overworked. Too tight. Seeing the ease with which one could work with pastels, made me feel the extent to which I am over-controlling.

It is, perhaps, the best of that change of thinking.

A good course in pastel drawing is not just one that exhibits technique. It changes your viewing process, your consideration of trivial judgments and your thoughts of when to stop. And yet, in a way, it manages to do all that and makes it surprisingly easy to watch.