Lavender Chalk Pastel Art Tutorial

This Lavender Chalk Pastel Art Tutorial that I bring to you today…it has very few colors, yet the colors are brilliant and bright.  The Uinta Mountains are in the state of Utah, far away from our home in the southeastern part of our country…but some of the family lived there for years and I have visited this region several times.

This is a simple painting of lavender plants with the Uintas in the background.  The lavender is in full bloom, and I can imagine the wonderful fragrance! You will need the following pastel colors: purple, gray, light tan, medium yellow and light green.

Lavender Chalk Pastel Art Tutorial

Begin by turning your paper horizontally. Pick up your purple pastel and start your mountain range a bit more than half-way down the paper. Draw the mountains from left to right and make them craggy and not smooth. Turn your pastel on its side and fill in the color; make sure that  you color some of the mountain range darker in areas closer to the ground and lighter the higher the mountain rises up. You can smooth the color in with your fingers, or “fist” it smoother until you have the shades that you like.

The closer hills are a golden color with bits of green areas to show that the lavender is growing almost up to the mountains. The lavender plants up close to the viewer are not difficult to draw because we are painting an “impression” of the plants. The mountains are the star of this painting. Start by using your gray and your purple to show that this is a mass of color and then you only have to draw a few plants for the viewer to really see.

The lavender is in an almost pod shape and you may take your purple and dot some lavender, make the pods rise up from the dark undergrowth in a stem shape. The light will be on the lavender from the left side, and you may want to use your light tan to show the light on the tallest lavender pods. Take your light green and make some stems from the ground for the lavender to grow on.

Let’s not forget the sky…it is an over cast day and clouds make the blue sky not visible at all. Take your gray pastel and make some cloud shapes and smooth them in…you can actually smooth up some of some of the dark purple from the mountains to add to the color of the clouds.

Remember, this is your painting, and you can create whatever you prefer! There are lavender bushes to the right in this painting, but it is up to the artist as to what is to be included!

What a great painting you have done! All of your colors are fresh looking and it looks like you could almost hike up into the mountains!

And the lavender! Can you smell it? Be sure that you sign your name in the corner, turn the painting over and name it and date it.  Be sure to share it with your family and friends…and…remember, you ARE an artist!

Special thanks! Many thanks to Naomi Hedglen who inspired this lavender art tutorial with her fantastic photo, above, taken at the Young Living lavender farm in Utah. Thank you to our friend, Jenny for sharing the photo and pointing it out. And special thanks to Jodi McKenna as well – for her suggestion to share a series of chalk art on God’s creation and the source of essential oils. You might want to use her suggestions for oils to inspire art!

Lavender Essential Oil

• See how we enjoy lavender essential oil in A Day in the Life with Essentials Oils or 100+ Every Day Uses for Essential Oils.
  
• See how to Get Your Start in Essentials Oils.
• My Essential Oils Pinterest Board.

Do you learn best with a video art lesson? Be sure to check out Nana’s The Art of Essential Oils.

You Are An Artist!

• A note on chalk pastels: Pastels are an easy, forgiving medium. Fun for children and adults alike! Details on the pastels and paper we use, how and where to purchase, and links to all of Nana’s other pastel lessons (100 free lessons now) are all contained in the post Pastels plus links to tutorials plus the video The Very Few Must Have Supplies for Chalk Pastel Art. A simple set is very affordable. Nana also teaches acrylic lessons.

• The practical aspects of a mess: Pastels are blessedly messy. We always have baby wipes close by to wipe hands. We wear something we don’t mind getting stained or don a smock.
• Encouragement: You Can Be an Artist! 10 Day series and Art for All Ages 10 Day series
• Be sure to subscribe to our Hodgepodge YouTube channel for free video art tutorials!

-originally published September 2014