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Pastel Portrait Secrets: Paint 2 Lifelike Portraits With Likeness, Form & Personality

Portraits have a way of exposing every weakness in your painting.

The likeness almost lands … but something feels off. The face has the right features … but looks flat, like a mask instead of a person. The skin tones start with promise … then turn muddy as the layers build.

In Pastel Portrait Secrets, acclaimed Australian pastelist Lyn Diefenbach gives you a clear, repeatable process for building pastel portraits that feel dimensional, expressive, and alive.

You’ll watch Lyn paint two complete portraits from start to finish:

• The Great Outdoors — a male portrait in warm, bright light, with facial hair, strong features, and reflective sunglasses
• The Inner Sanctum — a self-portrait painted under the dramatic warm-and-cool light of an ancient rock-cut cathedral in France

Two different subjects. Two different lighting situations. One practical portrait method you can use again and again.

Learn Lyn’s Pastel Portrait Method

This course is not just about watching a master artist paint.

It’s about learning how Lyn thinks through a portrait — from the first drawing marks to the final finish.

You’ll learn how to:

• Capture a convincing likeness using the “lines of length” technique Lyn learned from portrait master Daniel Greene
• Create Lyn’s bold “blood flow” underpainting to keep skin tones glowing through every layer
• Sculpt the face with line, value, color, edge, and stroke instead of blending everything flat
• Preserve the tooth of the paper so you can layer, correct, and refine with confidence
• Paint challenging portrait details including eyes, facial hair, reflective sunglasses, skin, hair, clothing, and backgrounds
• Use Lyn’s four-part framework — line, value, color, edge — to diagnose and solve problems as the portrait develops

You’re not just learning a few tricks. You’re learning a complete way to approach the face in pastel.

Why Two Portraits Matter

One portrait can teach you the steps.

Two portraits show you how the method adapts.

In the first demo, Lyn tackles warm outdoor light, masculine features, stubble, and reflective lenses. In the second, she shifts to a more intimate self-portrait with dramatic warm-and-cool interior light.

Different subjects. Different challenges. Same underlying process.

That means you’ll see how Lyn makes decisions, corrects problems, simplifies complexity, and brings each portrait to life — so you can apply the same thinking to your own work.

What This Course Includes

• Two complete start-to-finish pastel portrait demonstrations
• The Great Outdoors full demo
• The Inner Sanctum full demo
• Materials review and pastel organization guidance
• Lyn’s “lines of length” likeness method
• Lyn’s “blood flow” underpainting approach
• Instruction on eyes, nose, mouth, ears, skin, hair, facial hair, sunglasses, clothing, and backgrounds
• Lyn’s four-part problem-solving framework: line, value, color, edge
• High-Speed View™ versions of both demos for your reference
• Exhibit of Works featuring Lyn’s pastel paintings
• Interview With the Artist with Eric Rhoads and Lyn Diefenbach

About Lyn Diefenbach

Lyn Diefenbach has been painting and teaching professionally for more than 30 years and is recognized as one of Australia’s most respected pastelists.

Her credentials include IAPS Eminent Pastelist, Master Pastelist of the Pastel Society of Australia, Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, and Juried Member of the International Guild of Realism. Her work has been featured in International Artist, Pastel Journal, Pratique Des Arts, and Australian Artist magazines.

But what students remember most is Lyn’s clarity. She explains not just what to do, but why it works — including the adjustments, corrections, and decisions many artists would never show.

Chapter Breakdown

Introduction

The Pastels

The Key to Capturing a Likeness

Male Portrait: Underpainting

Male Portrait: Sculpting the Forehead

Male Portrait: Sculpting the Nose & Ear

Male Portrait: Sculpting the Sunglasses

Male Portrait: Sculpting the Lower Face

Male Portrait: Sculpting the Neck & Facial Hair

Male Portrait: Painting the Hair

Male Portrait: Painting the Clothing

Self-Portrait: Proportions & Placement

Self-Portrait: Underpainting

Self-Portrait: Sculpting the Face

Self-Portrait: Painting the Eyes

Self-Portrait: Developing the Face & Neck

Self-Portrait: Painting the Hair & Clothing

Self-Portrait: Painting the Background

With Pastel Portrait Secrets, you’ll sit down to paint a portrait with a real plan — knowing how to begin, how to build form, how to preserve color, and how to correct problems before they take over.

It’s more than two beautiful demonstrations. It’s a practical pastel portrait process you can return to again and again.