Iryna Shek - Step by Step EASY - SOFT Pastel Pomegranate Tutorial - Real Time Full Video with Text Instructions

In this tutorial you’ll get everything you need to draw this pomegranate with soft pastels - whether you’re a beginner or already confident with the medium.

Materials list – all the tools and swatches of pastels used in this lesson.

Short step-by-step photo guide – perfect for those who prefer working from photos and need only clear, structured instructions.

Full real-time video with detailed instructions – ideal for beginners who want to follow along slowly and understand every layer and decision.

This tutorial comes with English subtitles and no voice-over. You can follow everything step by step at your own pace, without distractions - just clear visuals and simple guidance

List of Required Materials

Paper:

Strathmore paper.

The original artwork was created on Strathmore paper, but you can use whatever pastel paper you already have on hand. Great alternatives include Clairefontaine Pastelmat or Canson Mi-Teintes Touch.

A comfortable size to work with for this piece is approximately 20 × 20 cm (8 × 8 in). You can increase the size while maintaining the proportions. However, I would not recommend going much larger, as the composition may begin to feel too open and require considerably more detail to fill the extra space effectively.

When working with soft pastels, paper is an extremely important part of the final result.

The surface determines how many layers you can build, how smooth your transitions will be, and how luminous your colors appear.

Choosing the right paper truly makes a difference

Gloves

Gloves are not mandatory when working with pastel on this specific paper, but I personally always use them.

For this artwork, I recommend latex gloves, as they provide better tactile sensitivity and allow more precise control of pressure and touch.

Of course, you can paint without gloves at all.

I use size XS - it’s very important that the gloves fit tightly, like a second skin.

They should sit snugly on your hand - without extra folds or “loose fingertips” that could interfere with your movements or leave unwanted marks.

This is especially important in artworks where precision and clean touch matter

Cleaning Cloth

You will also need a special cloth to remove excess pastel from your fingers or gloves while working.

I personally use a microfiber glasses-cleaning cloth. It absorbs pigment very well and helps keep your fingers clean during the process.

If you don’t have one, you can use regular dry tissues - but you will need quite a lot of them to keep your hands clean.

The microfiber cloth is reusable. After finishing your artwork, simply wash it with warm water and soap. Once it dries, it’s ready to use again


Soft Pastel Pencils

The soft pastel pencils you use are important, but how you use them is just as important. One of the biggest differences between beginners and more experienced pastel artists is pressure.

If your pencil doesn’t seem to leave a visible mark, try increasing the pressure by two or even three times. Soft pastel pencils are designed to be used with confidence, and applying firmer pressure often makes a significant difference in how clearly the line appears, especially on an abrasive surface.

For this tutorial, I used a black charcoal Marie's pencil and additionally a red Caran d'Ache pencil, but this is completely optional. Of course, you’re welcome to use other brands. Based on my experience, Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencils and Koh-I-Noor Gioconda Soft Pastel Pencils are also good alternatives.

Color Chart - Soft Pastel Palette

This artwork was created using soft pastels from several professional brands. The color palette includes shades by Henri Roche, Terry Ludwig, Sennelier, Art Spectrum and Schmincke. Additional colors were applied using Mount Vision, Unison, Blue Earth and Rembrandt.

Feel free to choose the colors that work best from your own collection. If you find that you’re missing some colors or values as you paint, simply introduce additional ones as needed.

Now Let’s Move from Materials to Practice

Step 1 - The Sketch

Start by gently mapping out the shapes using a pencil. You may use a light red pastel pencil too if you wish. Keep your hand relaxed and focus on the main forms of the whole pomegranate and the wedge resting beside it. Outline a few loose seeds in the foreground. Keep the lines loose and simple without worrying about perfect accuracy at this stage.

Step 2 - Blocking the Base Color

Next, we build the vibrant foundation for the main fruit. Take a regular red pastel like Shchminke 069D and fill in the circle. Apply a generous layer of pigment so the paper is fully covered and smooth. On the far left side, add a stroke of bright pink like Sennelier 325 and blend it seamlessly into the red base.

Step 3 - Building Volume with Shadows

First, place a deep burgundy like Henri Roche 2451 just behind the front wedge and curve it upward along the right side of the whole fruit. Leave a thin gap of bright red along the outer right edge for a future reflected light and completely blend this color into the red base for a smooth transition. Next, apply the darker Terry Ludwig R 200 over the exact same shadow area, but do not blend it. Leaving these darkest strokes untouched gives the pomegranate realistic weight.

Step 4 - Highlights and Reflected Light

Create texture on the main body of the fruit by applying a brighter lighter red like Henri Roche 3211 over your base layer. Focus this bright color mainly along the upper left plane leaving small gaps to let the darker base color show through.

Apply a bold stroke of deep blue Terry Ludwig V 220 at the bottom left curve. Add touches of soft blue Unison BV4 and pale lilac Blue Earth V5A along the lower right edge for reflected light. Place crisp, sharp strokes of pure white Sennelier 525 on the upper left side to capture the glossy highlights.

Step 5 - Painting the Crown

Turn your attention to the top of the fruit and block in the crown. Use warm earthy browns and a touch of golden yellow for the delicate tips. Keep the strokes sharp and varied to mimic the textured feel of the crown. Deepen the core shadow of the pomegranate using black to make the fruit more contrasting and voluminous.

Step 6 - Shaping the Slice

Move over to the pomegranate wedge. Outline the outer skin with your bright red and fill the thick inner rind with a warm cream shade from Art Spectrum. Leave the center empty for now. Notice how the thickness of the rind varies.

Step 7 - Filling the Pith

First, use the warm cream Art Spectrum shade to draw the inner white membranes that branch out inside to create separate sections for the seed clusters. Next, fill the spaces between these light shapes with a medium red color like Henri Roche 2339.

Step 8 - Defining the Seeds

Now comes the beautiful work of creating the seeds. Using a darker red, gently draw the individual round shapes of the arils clustered inside the wedge. Let them overlap and vary in size. Leave some of the lighter red base showing through.

Step 9 - Adding the Sparkle

First, use the dark brown to fill the tiny gaps between the individual seeds. This deep shadow creates high contrast and clearly defines each piece. Next, bring the seeds to life by adding sharp dots of white. Vary the size of these highlights to naturally mimic light reflecting off the juicy surface. Finally, paint the two loose seeds that have fallen to the bottom left using your red base color, brown shadow and bright white highlights.

Step 10 - Details and Contours

Add the dry, textured tip to the right edge of the wedge using a warm, earthy tone like Unison Grey 21. To emphasize and sharpen the shapes carefully add thin black contours and deepen the shadows using a black Marie's charcoal pencil in select areas under the seeds and along the bottom edge of the slice.

Step 11 - Blocking the Cast Shadow

Begin shaping the cast shadow stretching to the right of the fruit. Use rich blues and apply them to establish the direction of the light and create the dark base of the shadow on the surface.

Step 12 - Refining Shadows and Contrast

Apply the light blue Unison BV4 over the edges of the cast shadow to soften it and create a smooth transition into the grey paper. Finally, add the darkest accents directly under the whole pomegranate, the wedge, and the individual seeds using black. This will completely separate the fruit from the background and firmly anchor the entire composition.

The full video process with text instructions is at the top of this post.

Hope you enjoyed drawing your pomegranate today

See you in the next tutorials

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