Inspiring examples of shading with pastels for beginners and beyond

When people ask for the best examples of shading with pastels, I always start with two basic shapes: a sphere and a cube. They’re like your shading gym—quiet, repetitive, and incredibly effective.

Take a soft pastel in a mid-tone color (say, a middle blue) and draw a simple circle. That circle becomes your test sphere. Add a light source in your mind: maybe the light is coming from the upper left.

On the sphere, the lightest area is the highlight on the upper left. The darkest area is the core shadow on the lower right. Between those two, you get a gradient of mid-tones. Underneath the sphere, you’ll place a cast shadow that anchors it to the ground.

Here’s how this example of shading with pastels might play out step by step:

• Block in the entire sphere with your mid-tone blue using light pressure.
• Darken the lower right with a deeper blue or even a violet, keeping your strokes curved around the form.
• Add a touch of very dark blue or charcoal to the very deepest core shadow.
• Use a lighter blue or even a pale warm gray to build the light side.
• Finally, tap in a tiny highlight with white or very pale blue.

You can blend with your finger, a blending stump, or leave the strokes visible. This one simple exercise gives you one of the clearest examples of how shading with pastels turns a flat shape into a three-dimensional object.

Do the same with a cube: three visible planes, each a different value. The top plane is lightest, the side away from the light is darkest, and the front is somewhere in between. These two shapes are real examples of how value and direction of light drive everything else you’ll do with pastel shading.

Landscape skies: soft gradients as examples of shading with pastels

If you want examples of shading with pastels that feel relaxing instead of technical, look at skies. Modern pastel artists on platforms like Instagram and YouTube (search for pastel sky tutorials from 2024 and you’ll find plenty) are obsessed with soft, blended sunsets for a reason: they’re forgiving and satisfying.

Imagine a sunset sky going from deep blue at the top to warm orange near the horizon. This is a perfect example of shading that relies on color transitions rather than just light and dark.

You might:

• Start with a deep ultramarine at the top.
• Shift into a lighter blue, then a soft pink, then a warm orange or peach near the horizon.
• Use horizontal strokes and blend gently where colors meet.

What makes this one of the best examples of shading with pastels is the way you create a gradient without losing the vibrancy of the colors. You’re not just blending everything into mud; you’re carefully softening edges while keeping some streaks and variation.

If you want to push this further, add clouds. The underside of a cloud near sunset is darker and warmer, the top is lighter and cooler. That difference in value and temperature becomes another example of shading with pastels that adds depth to your landscapes.

For color theory basics that support this kind of work, it’s worth skimming an art education resource like the National Gallery of Art’s education pages, which often discuss light, color, and perception in approachable terms.

Portraits: subtle skin tones as real examples of shading with pastels

Portraits are where shading with pastels really shows off. Skin isn’t just “peach” or “tan.” It’s a mix of warm and cool, soft and sharp, and faces are packed with tiny planes that catch light differently.

When artists share their best examples of shading with pastels in portraits, you’ll notice a pattern:

• They build skin with multiple layers of color (warm ochres, cool violets, muted greens) instead of one flat tone.
• They reserve the lightest lights for the forehead, the bridge of the nose, cheekbones, and maybe the tip of the chin.
• They keep shadows softer around the cheeks but sharper under the nose, under the lower lip, and in the eye sockets.

A simple example of portrait shading you can try:

• Start with a mid-tone paper (like a warm gray).
• Lightly sketch the head and main features.
• Block in a mid-tone skin color everywhere.
• Add warmer tones (soft reds, oranges) to cheeks, nose, and ears.
• Add cooler tones (violets, muted blues) to areas that turn away from the light: under the jaw, sides of the nose, eye sockets.
• Use a lighter pastel to pull out highlights on the forehead, nose bridge, and upper cheekbones.

The magic is in restraint: save your brightest white for the tiny highlight in the eyes or the most intense shine on the skin. Those tiny spots are some of the best examples of how selective shading creates realism.

If you’re interested in how the human eye perceives faces and light, research from universities like Harvard’s Vision Sciences Lab can give you a science-backed appreciation for why subtle value shifts matter so much in portraits.

Still life: fruit and glass as classic examples of shading with pastels

Still life setups are timeless examples of shading with pastels because they combine different textures: matte fruit, glossy ceramic, transparent glass, and reflective metal.

Think of a simple arrangement: a red apple, a white mug, and a glass jar on a table.

The apple gives you an example of soft, rounded shading:

• Darker red and even a touch of dark green or purple in the shadow side.
• A bright, crisp highlight where the light hits the shiny skin.
• Softer reflected light on the shadow side, bouncing up from the tabletop.

The mug gives you a more solid, slightly harder-edged example of shading:

• The side facing the light is a lighter gray or off-white.
• The side turning away from the light is a darker gray.
• The cast shadow under the handle is sharper and darker.

The glass jar is one of the trickiest and best examples of shading with pastels because you’re actually shading what’s behind the glass, plus the reflections on its surface:

• Use very light pressure and soft grays, blues, and a bit of the background color.
• Suggest reflections with broken, vertical strokes.
• Keep a few sharp, bright highlights to show the glass’s shine.

When you put all three objects together, you get several real examples of how shading with pastels changes depending on material and surface: soft and velvety for fruit, matte and solid for ceramic, sharp and delicate for glass.

Metal and reflective surfaces: dramatic examples of contrast

If you want dramatic examples of shading with pastels, metal is your friend. Chrome, silver spoons, steel teapots—these surfaces live on strong contrast.

Unlike a soft sphere, where shading is smooth and gradual, metal often has abrupt jumps from very dark to very light. That jump is what makes it look shiny.

A simple example of metal shading:

• Draw a silver spoon lying on a dark cloth.
• Use deep charcoal or dark blue for the darkest parts of the spoon and its cast shadow.
• Add medium grays where the metal turns toward the light.
• Drop in sharp, almost pure white highlights where the light hits directly.

You can even pick up some of the cloth color inside the spoon’s bowl to show reflection. This is one of the best examples of shading with pastels for understanding reflected color: metal doesn’t just reflect light; it reflects the colors around it.

This kind of observational practice echoes what many art education programs emphasize: training your eye to see value and contrast. Sites like The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “MetKids” and educator resources often show historical paintings with highly polished armor and metal objects that you can study as reference.

Atmospheric depth: landscape layers as examples of shading with pastels

Another powerful example of shading with pastels is atmospheric perspective—the way distant objects look lighter, cooler, and less detailed than those up close.

Picture a landscape with a foreground field, middle-distance trees, and faraway mountains.

• In the foreground, your greens are rich and dark, your shadows are deep, and your strokes are more detailed.
• In the middle distance, your greens become slightly lighter and cooler, and your shadows soften.
• In the far distance, your mountains might shift toward bluish grays and soft violets, with very gentle transitions.

This layered approach becomes one of the best examples of how shading isn’t just about a single object—it’s about the entire space. You’re shading the air between you and the subject.

By changing value and contrast as things recede, you create realistic depth. Many contemporary pastel landscape artists (especially those featured in societies like the Pastel Society of America) rely on this strategy to get that immersive, walk-into-the-picture feeling.

Modern trends: bold color blocking as new examples of shading with pastels (2024–2025)

If you scroll through pastel art on social media in 2024–2025, you’ll notice a shift: a lot of artists are moving away from ultra-smooth blending and leaning into visible strokes, bold color blocking, and graphic shapes.

This gives us newer, more stylized examples of shading with pastels:

• Instead of perfectly smooth gradients on a face, artists use patches of color: a block of warm red on the cheek, a flat violet in the shadow, a sharp patch of yellow for a highlight.
• In landscapes, skies might be built from stacked bands of color rather than fully blended transitions.

These real examples of shading with pastels show that you don’t have to blend everything. You can suggest light and shadow with clear, intentional color shapes. The values still matter, but the edges are more expressive.

If you’re teaching yourself, it can be helpful to mix both approaches: try one study where you blend everything softly, then another where you leave your strokes and blocks of color visible. Those side-by-side drawings become your own personal examples of how different shading styles change the mood.

Practical tips to create your own best examples of shading with pastels

Looking at examples of shading with pastels is great, but the real learning kicks in when you start making your own. A few practical habits will help you build a strong shading practice:

Work from dark to light
With soft pastels, it often helps to lay in your mid-tones and darks first, then gradually add lighter values on top. This mirrors how many traditional pastel painters work and gives you control over contrast.

Use the side of the pastel, not just the tip
The side of the stick is perfect for broad, soft shading. The tip is better for accents and edges. Switching between them can give you both smooth gradients and crisp details in a single piece.

Test blends on a scrap
Before committing to a sky or a face, test how two colors blend on a separate piece of the same paper. This quick test becomes an example of how those specific pastels interact—some brands blend like butter, others are drier and more textured.

Mind your health
Pastel dust is real. Many artists use a mask, work vertically so dust falls off, and avoid blowing on the paper. For general information about respiratory health and dust exposure, you can check resources from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or CDC on art and occupational safety.

Photograph your process
Take photos at different stages: block-in, first shading pass, final details. Over time, these photos become your personal archive of real examples of shading with pastels. You’ll see patterns in what works for you—and what doesn’t.

FAQ: examples of shading with pastels

Q: What are some simple examples of shading with pastels for total beginners?
Start with a sphere, a cube, and a cylinder. Use one color plus white and black (or dark gray). Shade one side darker, one side lighter, and add a cast shadow. These basic shapes are the best examples of how light behaves and will make every later subject easier.

Q: Can you give an example of using only three colors to shade with pastels?
Yes. Pick a mid-tone blue, a darker blue, and a light blue. Draw a simple object—a mug or an egg. Use the mid-tone for most of the form, the dark blue for shadows, and the light blue for highlights. You’ll see how much depth you can get from just three sticks.

Q: Do I need to blend with my fingers to get good shading?
Not at all. Many of the best examples of shading with pastels in 2024–2025 show artists using visible strokes instead of heavy blending. You can soften edges by layering lighter colors over darker ones, or by using tools like sponges or blending stumps.

Q: What are examples of good paper for shading with pastels?
Look for papers with a bit of tooth: sanded pastel papers, textured pastel pads, or heavyweight drawing paper labeled for pastels. The tooth holds multiple layers, which is important for building up shaded areas without them turning slick.

Q: How can I study real examples of shading with pastels from professionals?
Visit museum collections online, check out pastel societies, and look at educational content from art institutions. Many museums and universities share high-resolution images of pastel works on their sites, letting you zoom in and see exactly how artists layered and shaded.

If you treat each drawing session as a chance to create new examples of shading with pastels—whether it’s a quick apple sketch or a full portrait—you’ll build confidence faster than you think. Keep your experiments small, your expectations realistic, and your curiosity high. The more you play with light, shadow, and color, the more your own best examples will start to appear right there on the paper.