Autumn in Pastel – Techniques for Capturing the Season

An Autumn food market with beautiful golden light

After my last studio update, I thought it might be nice to follow up with some autumn pastel tips. The colours outside the studio door have deepened into that familiar, fleeting mix of golds, russets and soft greys. It’s a season I always find inspiring — full of subtle light and rich contrasts — and pastel is the perfect medium to respond quickly to it before everything fades into winter.

Have a read, get inspired and then have a go at my Autumn Art Competition here in the Drawing Challenge Group.

Colour and Mood

Autumn invites a slower, more contemplative approach. The light is lower, shadows are longer, and colours seem to hum rather than shout. When I’m starting an autumn piece, I often pull out a limited selection of warm earths, ochres and muted violets, then add just a few bright accents — maybe a golden yellow or a scarlet red — to lift the harmony.

Try building your palette around a few related hues rather than grabbing every colour you see outside. For example, a soft greyed green will make a warm orange sing, while a violet underlayer can give surprising depth to golden leaves. Autumn colour is rarely flat or literal; it’s about suggestion, atmosphere and how light moves through the landscape.

Choosing Your Surface

A good surface makes all the difference, especially when you want to layer and blend. I’ve been using Pastelmat and Canson Mi-Teintes Touch recently — both have enough texture to hold multiple layers without becoming muddy. For smaller, looser sketches, a toned paper such as sienna or warm grey provides an instant sense of mood before you’ve even begun.

If you tend to overwork your pastels (and most of us do!), try limiting yourself to just three or four layers. That gentle restraint can actually help you capture the freshness and spontaneity of the season.

Techniques for Autumn Textures

This is where pastel really shines. A few strokes can suggest an entire woodland if you vary pressure, direction and edge quality.

• Scumbling: Lightly dragging a stick of pale colour over a darker layer can mimic mist, sunlight through leaves, or distant fields.

• Broken colour: Allow two or three colours to sit side by side without blending — it keeps the energy alive and gives that lovely shimmering effect you often see in autumn foliage.

• Blending: I use it sparingly, usually just with the side of my little finger or a bit of kitchen towel, to soften distant areas and keep the focus on crisper details in the foreground.

• Mark-making: Don’t underestimate the expressive power of varied strokes — a quick flick can describe a twig, while a heavier, diagonal sweep might suggest a gust of wind moving through trees.

  
  

Light and Atmosphere

The challenge of autumn light is also its gift. On grey days, everything becomes soft-edged and tonal; on bright ones, there’s a fleeting glow before the sun dips. Try to decide early whether your painting is about light or shadow, and simplify your values accordingly.

One trick I use is to lightly sketch in a warm underpainting (a thin wash of ochre or burnt sienna) before adding pastel. It gives a subtle warmth that shows through the cooler layers and helps unify the painting.

Finishing Touches

Less is often more at the end stage. Step back frequently and resist the urge to “fix” every detail — the looser marks are usually the ones that carry the most life. I rarely use fixative except for a very light spray between early layers; it can dull the brightness if overdone.

When framing or photographing your pastel, take advantage of soft natural light — the same light that inspired the piece in the first place. A gentle sidelight will reveal texture beautifully without harsh reflections.

A Note from the Studio

Pastel is such an immediate, tactile medium — it suits the fleeting nature of autumn perfectly. I’ve been experimenting with small studies on coloured paper as warm-ups for larger work, and they’ve been a joy to do. If you’re inspired to try your own autumn pastels, I’d love to see them — you can share them in the forum on my website (in the Drawing Challenge group for a chance to win a set of brushes) or tag me on social media. @joanlawsonart too.

There’s something grounding about working with your hands at this time of year, watching the seasons turn, and letting colour and texture lead the way. Whether you’re standing in the landscape or tucked up in the studio, pastel can help you hold on to a bit of autumn’s warmth long after the last leaves fall. Enjoy!