Start with Soft Pastels: Drawing a Simple Autumn Leaf

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Welcome to this step-by-step tutorial, where you’ll discover how to capture the rich colours and textures of autumn by creating a realistic leaf using simple soft pastel techniques. This tutorial focuses on building depth through effective layering on Pastelmat, making it the perfect project for beginners.

This tutorial is designed to introduce beginners to the fundamentals of working with soft pastels. It covers essential techniques such as layering, blending, and achieving soft tonal transitions. These core skills demonstrate why soft pastels are such a versatile medium. While every artist eventually develops their own unique style and approach, this guide provides the foundational steps needed to build confidence with this wonderfully forgiving material.​

Creating a simple subject like this autumn leaf is a great way to explore soft pastels and how they colour layering, subtle texture, and fine detail without needing advanced techniques or heavy blending. This tutorial guides you through the process using Prismacolor NuPastels on white Clairefontaine Pastelmat, offering a simple, structured approach suitable for beginners and experienced artists alike. With clear steps and practical explanations, you’ll learn how controlled layering on a fine-grain surface can produce crisp edges, rich tones, and natural transitions without relying on finger blending.
Whether you’re new to dry pastels or refining your technique, this tutorial provides a straightforward route to pastel art using accessible materials and a forgiving workflow.
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What you’ll learn

• How to draw a realistic autumn leaf using a step-by-step dry pastel method.
• Why Pastelmat’s fine surface helps with clean layering and reduced smudging.
• How to build detail through controlled colour layering rather than finger blending.
• How to soften early layers using a sponge
• How to correct mistakes easily by applying fresh colour over the top.

With just a handful of materials and a focus on careful layering, you’ll discover how easily soft pastels can capture depth and character. This tutorial provides an accessible foundation for building confidence and refining your approach, whether you're aiming for precision or expressive colour work.

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​​Materials Used for This Tutorial

Prismacolor NuPastels are used for this study because they are a popular option that offers excellent control. While you can use any brand you have available, choosing a firmer pastel allows for more precise marks, helping you learn the importance of detailed application. A list of colours is included for reference, but there is no need to match the shades exactly. Treat the list as a helpful guide rather than a strict rule.
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Clairefontaine Pastelmat is the ideal surface for this leaf because its smooth, velvety texture supports multiple layers without creating excessive dust or smudging. You may use other pastel papers, but please be aware that the texture and blending behaviour will likely vary.

• ​Paper Used: White Clairfontaine Pastelmat
• Pastel range Used: Prismacolor NuPastels
• Soft sponge
• Damp cloth
• Dry towel​

NuPastels

• 222 Burnt Orange
• 266 Pale Vermillion
  
• 293 Sepia
• 366 Shell Pink
• 343 Rust

• 248 Olive Green
• 238 Emerald Green
• 208 Sap Green
• 348 Endive Green
• 227 Corn Yellow

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​​​Helpful Hints & Tips

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• If you are working on a flat surface, pastels can easily get smudged by your hand. It is recommended that you keep a piece of clean paper beneath your working hand to avoid this. Glassine paper is especially useful for this. Replace if it becomes too saturated.
• Avoid muddying colours by wiping your pastels and pastel pencils on a dry, clean tissue between applications, useful to keep pale colours pure when applying lighter tones over darker ones.
• If you have full length pastels, you may prefer to break them in half. This also allows you to keep one side for fine lines and the other for applying base layers.
• To shape your pastel blocks, run the edge of your pastel over a sheet of fine sandpaper to create a thin edge for applying fine lines. This is highly recommended if you do not have any pastel pencils.​
• This medium can produce a lot of dust so it may be recommended that you wear a mask or if you will be using pastels on a regular basis, ensure you work in a well ventilated room or purchase a  filter system to eliminate as much of the airborne dust as possible.
• Develop the habit of keeping your hands clean while working. Keep a damp cloth or wipes nearby to regularly remove pigment, followed by a dry towel, to ensure you don’t accidentally transfer pastel dust to your face or mouth.

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FIND THE OUTLINE TO THIS TUTORIAL ON OUR KOFI PAGE

​Our Ko-fi page features a shop where you can download the outline for this tutorial. These outlines are completely free for our Ko-fi followers. If you're not yet a subscriber, consider joining to access all these resources at no cost or, if you prefer, you can simply screengrab the outline and print out.

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1. Building the First Layer of Colour

Colours Used: Sap Green, Olive Green, Corn Yellow and Rust

​Begin by applying your colours lightly and loosely. Pastelmat grips pigment extremely well, so there’s no need to press hard at this stage. This first pass is simply your base layer, so don’t worry about being precise. Using the image above as your guide, block in the main areas of colour with Sap Green, Olive Green, Corn Yellow, Orange, and Rust. Aim for roughly 80% coverage, keeping the surface open enough for later layers without filling the tooth too quickly.
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Products Used: Blending Tool; Sponge, Stump or Fingers

Once the colours are in place, smooth the base layer using either your fingers or a soft sponge, both are widely available from art suppliers and online. Work in a motion that follows the natural direction of the leaf veins. if using a blending stump, it is easier to use small circular movements as you go, which helps the pastel settle evenly into the fine grit of the paper. This creates a unified foundation that will support the sharper details added in later steps.

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2. Creating the Mottling and Defining the Veins

Colours Used: Olive Green and Rust

​Begin by lightly sketching in the main veins of the leaf using the Olive Green and Rust shades. This first layer is simply to establish the structure, so keep the lines soft, broken, and slightly irregular rather than drawing anything too heavy or uniform. Follow the natural direction of the veins, allowing the pastel to taper as it moves outward. You’re only establishing the pattern here, laying down a guide for further layers to integrate with.

Colours Used: Sepia and Rust

​Use the Sepia pastel to create the mottling across the leaf, keeping the shapes varied and following the natural direction of the veins. Add touches of Rust within the same areas to introduce warmth and variation. At this point, also reinforce the main veins by placing a Sepia line slightly offset from the earlier Rust layer. This adds depth while keeping the structure clear for the next stage.

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3. Developing the Tonal Transitions

Colours Used: Vermillion, Orange and Rust

​Begin applying gentle layers of Vermillion and Orange over the deeper mottling, allowing the colours to sit lightly so the pattern beneath remains visible. These two tones are close in value but different enough to create the warm autumnal shifts across the leaf. They blend naturally on Pastelmat without the need for finger blending or tools. Add small touches of Rust around the edges to deepen the warmer areas and prepare the surface for the highlights that follow.

Colours Used: Corn Yellow and Endive Green

With the warm base tones established, begin adding highlights using Corn Yellow and Endive Green. Apply these lighter colours to the transitional zones, where the vibrant green meets the emerging browns and yellows. Keep your touch light so the previous layers remain visible; this ensures the colour transition looks smooth and organic. These highlights add necessary depth and define the subtle shift in texture as the leaf begins to dry.

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4. Final Highlights and Finishing Touches

For the bottom section of the leaf where there are more mottled effects, build up the tones using the Vermillion and Rust before applying the mottled effect with the Sepia Brown, also darken up the veins again and apply any shading beneath the veins ideally with a slightly lighter tone (apply Sepia and then Terracotta to get the same effect).

Focusing on the green tones found in the leaf, start by defining the outer edge with a foundational layer of Sap Green. Work Olive Green into this area to build a richer, more realistic depth. For the paler sections on the leaf's underside, transition to Endive Yellow to capture those lighter, sun-bleached tones. To complete this section, use Emerald Green to introduce the mottled texture, applying it in small, irregular patches to mimic the leaf's natural imperfections.

​On the upper half of the leaf, concentrate on the area toward the tip where the colours begin to turn. Build up these warm tones by layering Vermillion and Rust, then use Sepia Brown to create the deeper, more pronounced mottled spots. Finally, give the leaf structure by redefining the veins with Sepia. To make them appear three-dimensional, add a soft shadow directly beneath each vein using a blend of Sepia and Rust, which creates a subtle lift from the surface.

To bring the piece to life, use Corn Yellow and Olive Green to introduce bright highlights, focusing on the areas where the light naturally catches the leaf’s surface. For the stalk, use Shell Pink at the very end to give it a soft, realistic finish.
Finally, refine the leaf's silhouette by creating a delicate serrated edge effect all the way around the perimeter. You can do this using the specific colours already established in each section for a subtle look, or opt for Sepia Brown if you want to create a darker, more crisp definition along the edges.​

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As shown in the example image, the left side of the leaf illustrates the smooth base layers. These are composed of various tones layered to create a solid foundation for the finer, coarser details seen on the right. The time you dedicate to a subject like this will depend on the level of realism you want to achieve in your work. Selecting a natural subject like a leaf is ideal because it does not require absolute precision, allowing you to learn and experiment as you develop your skills with soft pastels.
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When using firmer pastels such as NuPastels, you gain significantly more control. Because of the specific texture of Pastelmat, you can blend previous layers using a stick-on-stick application method. This means very little manual blending is required. Instead, applying colours directly onto the surface allows the pigments to integrate naturally. 

View Our Other Soft Pastel Tutorials

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