Where do I even start with Soft Pastels?

Kerri Dixon Author

Ever sat down to draw and thought “where do I even start?” Let’s break through the overwhelm and make starting simple again.

How Do You Even Know Where to Start with Soft Pastels? (And How to Get Over Blank Canvas Fear)

You sit down.
You’ve got your pastels ready.
Your paper is in front of you…

…and then nothing happens.

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at a blank page thinking “Where do I even start?” — you’re not alone.

This is one of the most common things I hear from artists, especially those coming back to art later in life.

And here’s the thing…

👉 It’s not because you’re not talented.
👉 It’s not because you can’t do it.

There’s actually something else going on.

🧠 Why the Blank Page Feels So Hard

When you look at a blank surface, your brain is faced with infinite possibilities.

• What should I draw?
• Do I have the right colours?
• What if I do it wrong?

That’s a lot to process all at once.

So instead of starting…

👉 you overthink
👉 you hesitate
👉 or you avoid it altogether

It’s not laziness — it’s overwhelm.

And the more you think about the finished piece, the harder it becomes to begin.

🔑 The Shift That Changes Everything

If you’re stuck, this is the most important thing to understand:

You don’t need more ideas. You need a smaller starting point.

Most people try to start too big.

They sit down thinking:
“I’m going to draw a realistic animal.”

That’s not a starting point — that’s the end goal.

✏️ Start Smaller Than You Think

Instead of tackling a full artwork, try this:

• Draw just an eye
• Focus on a nose
• Practice a patch of fur
• Study a few feathers

One small section. One simple task.

When you shrink the starting point, you remove the pressure — and that’s when things start to flow.

🎨 Keep Your Materials Simple

Soft pastels can feel overwhelming at first — so many colours, brands, and choices.

But here’s the truth:

You don’t need:

• 100 pastel sticks
• every surface available
• a full studio setup

You just need:

• A small set of pastels
• One surface
• One simple reference

That’s it.

More choices don’t make it easier — they slow you down.

🚫 The Biggest Mistake Beginners Make

Trying to do everything at once.

A full animal.
With colour.
Detail.
Background.
Lighting.

It’s no wonder it feels hard.

You’ve given yourself too many problems to solve at the same time.

⚫ Start with Greyscale

If you want to simplify things even further, start with greyscale.

This removes the pressure of choosing colours and helps you focus on what really matters:

👉 light and dark

Once you understand values, everything else becomes easier.

I have a great beginner lesson over on my Youtube Channel to draw this snail in graphite.

🧩 A Simple Starting Process

If you’re sitting there thinking “okay but what do I actually DO?”…

Here’s a simple process:

Show lemur drawing in its stages

1. Start with your reference – only use copyright free, so pixabay or your own images
2. You can freehand sketch your outline or you can trace your outline, but that’s the first thing to do, get your outline onto your drawing paper
3. Background with sticks
4. Block in your base values – this should start to give your drawing form
5. Build up your layers with pencils eg. Fur
6. Add detail LAST

Not first. LAST.

That alone will fix so many frustrations.

🔓 How to Get Past the Blank Canvas

Now let’s talk about actually getting started — because this is where most people get stuck.

⏱️ Set a 10-minute timer

Tell yourself you’re just going to do 10 minutes. No pressure to finish.

Starting is the hardest part — once you begin, it’s much easier to keep going.

🎯 Decide everything before you sit down

Pick your reference, your colours, and your subject ahead of time.

Less decision-making = less resistance.

🎨 Let it be messy

Your first marks are not meant to look good.

They’re there to map things out, explore, and build the foundation.

🔁 Create a simple ritual

This could be:

• putting music on
• swatching your pastels
• making a few loose marks

Something that signals to your brain: “we’re doing art now.”

🧠 Confidence Comes After You Start

A lot of people wait until they feel confident before they begin.

But it doesn’t work that way.

Confidence comes from doing — not before it.

Every artist you admire has made plenty of awkward, messy, frustrating pieces along the way.

They just kept going.

🎯 Final Thought

If you take one thing from this, let it be this:

You don’t overcome the blank canvas by thinking more…
you overcome it by making the first mark.

Start small.
Keep it simple.
And give yourself permission to learn as you go.

If you’d like a step-by-step way to follow this process — with tutorials, reference images, and guidance — you can explore The Creative Barn membership here:
👉 https://www.thecreativebarnmembership.com

Categories: : artist, beginner, fundamental