Free Resources
Updated: Oct 2, 2020
Hi everyone!
This was a post previously published in my old website in 2019. Reposting it here since I find it still relevant and useful to day!
This is my very first blog post as Heart In Hand Atelier and a very hearty welcome to you!
To introduce myself, my name is Caihui, a chronic daydreamer and a visual storyteller rolled into one. I found pastel art sometime in late 2018, in particular Pastel Nagomi Art, got hooked and it led me to Flower of Crystal Art, got hooked and now finally this led me to found my own home studio to spread the seeds of art and creativity in the hope of creating a supportive pastel art community that is growing in Singapore.
As part of a concerted effort to spread the love and joy of pastel art to everyone, I have taken the liberty to compile some free resources that was instrumental in building my skills and interest in the early days of learning pastel art. My background in Japanese meant I was able to search more accurately in Japanese. My participants have shared their frustrations on the lack of information online when they searched in English as search engines mainly churn out information that are more related to pastels as a fine arts medium.
Honestly, there really isn't too much information out there currently so here's presenting the first installation of free resources - I'll be adding on more as I go. If you have found something useful that will benefit the community, drop me a DM and I'll be glad to update to my list (and a shoutout to thank you too!)
If you have just gotten your hands on the Faber-Castell Soft Pastel Starter Kit, what I will be sharing will keep you hooked for a while!
Here we go!
(Italics are my comments on the resources, if any)
Youtube
パステルアートチャンネル (Pastel Art Channel)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPdCUEtPwHXeTXIsgpPHCHQ
This is the most content heavy free resource I have ever found. I relied heavily on this channel when I first started on pastel art. While the video is in Japanese, I think the instructions are pretty self-explanatory. I like that the instructions are simple and easy to follow and the simplest of tools were used to create the art. If there's any queries on any particular video, DM me and I'll try my best to help and translate.
applenaru
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3khuCtYbw5JON3L0po1CtQ
YumenoArtTV
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxUB6Fcptw4JimFocyYAmog
This Japanese artist has tutorials for oil and soft pastels. Some of her soft pastels are more fine arts (direct drawing with pastel sticks) but her creations are really beautiful!
Nanairo Pastel なないろパステル
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBbY0V289t6miJ8dieak0g
Yuko is a pastel art instructor who has an active IG account too. Her tutorials are tailored for senior citizens, making them very easy to follow. Refer to my Instagram resources for her IG account.
heartinhandatelier
https://www.instagram.com/heartinhandatelier/
Sneaky, sneaky! You saw that coming, don't you! Well, I am really sincere in sharing any available free resources out there, including my own insights, tips and tricks. I have a Story Highlight called "Tips and Tricks" and will be adding more to it over time! Also, sharing my creative process is something I think could help some of you out there who might get stuck in an artist's block (we all get that from time to time, don't we?)
nanairopastel
https://www.instagram.com/nanairopastel/
Yuko's IG account where she sometimes share free stencils for public download (limited time period only) and does IG live of her painting using these stencils she created.
kokoro_smile_
https://www.instagram.com/kokoro_smile_/
Kokoro Smile does the CUTEST pastel art design! He has regular IG live (every Friday, 8pm Japan time). When I first watched his live story, i had a shock - what hairy hands this lady has! Then I realised I was making a wrong assumption that the artist has to be a female!
These are mainly artwork inspirations and not tutorials. However, looking at beautiful art creations was instrumental in shaping my creative experience and I hope it does the same to you too.
heartinhandatelier
https://www.facebook.com/heartinhandatelier/
Not again! Come on, show some love, guys! Over at my Facebook page, you can see my latest events and easily share my posts to your friends. Some folks are also more comfortable with the FB platform so - follow me and share my page with your friends too!
Flower of Crystal Art Singapore Interest Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1101292433584521/
This private Facebook group was created by Heart In Hand Atelier to share the joy of Flower of Crystal Art.
Pastel Nagomi Art Singapore
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2309273602425182/
This closed Facebook group was started by Dawn from Finnart, a fellow Pastel Nagomi Art Instructor. It serves as a platform for all pastel art enthusiast to gather and share their love for this art form. You can get updated news on workshops and events by our pastel art instructors and I highly recommend you to join this group, if you haven't done so!
Rumi Ishimaru
https://www.facebook.com/rumi.ishimaru?fref=ts
Founder of Flower of Crystal Art Academy, Rumi's facebook account documents the artwork she paints during her lessons. Before I started learning Flower of Crystal Art from Rumi, I followed her account for a while and was incredibly inspired by the flower blooming art she created. Never running out of creativity, Rumi is a fine example of how creativity begets creativity.
Pastel Shine Art Page
https://www.facebook.com/JPSAA21
Similar to Pastel Nagomi Art, this is also a healing Japanese pastel art form that uses fingers as paintbrushes.
Emura Shinichi
https://www.facebook.com/emura.shinichi
Found of Pastel Shine Art
Website
Not so much of free resources on website, if I come across more I'll continue to update here
Nijiiro Pastel Art
This is the category of free visual tutorials using 100yen pastel sticks. I think the pictures are pretty self-explanatory but if you have questions on any parts that are only explained in Japanese, DM me with a screenshot and I'll try to translate.
Sharing is caring - if my content is useful to you in anyway, please feel free to share them and tag and credit me so we can build this community with a common passion!
And if you like what you see in my account, don't forget to show some love and follow me on IG and Facebook!
Do check out my Upcoming Events to register your interest in my workshops!
Now for the fun part - if you have created your artwork using any of the resources I have mentioned above, tag me @heartinhandatelier on Facebook and/ or IG and I'll feature you in my account!
Don't forget to hashtag #HIHAkampong (created this hashtag for our community collaboration!)