I decided pastels were just not for me so got my collection of pastels, pencils and paper photographed them and posted a For Sale on Sues Website….. I had lots of replies not to buy but to encourage me to have another go using Sue Kerrigan-Harris Beginners Course. I did my first Seascape, followed by the tigers eye . A couple of weeks later I did the Puffin with amazing results!
I am so pleased I give this a go, the tutorials were easy to follow , lots of tips and advice along the way then a lovely group in Facebook to share my results with. I’m so glad I did that original post and so glad I didn’t sell them.

Finding Sue is giving me so much pleasure in learning and creating.  I’ve tried to learn how to use pastels properly for years by:
# trial and error: way too much error which I found costly and disheartening
# through books: real waste of money I found, too many unanswered questions and assumed knowledge
# YouTube : condensed 12 minute videos left out the ‘how’

Then… I came across Sue Kerrigan-Harris!

This Beginners Course assumes no prior knowledge. It goes through, in patient real time, everything you need to know from choosing your materials and how to hold your pastel right through to techniques and several beautiful finished paintings .
Sue constantly provides advice in various ways and her dedicated Facebook group is available for extra advice and encouragement.

At last I’m beginning to feel I can have fun with being creative rather than frustrated at not able to transfer ideas to paper. And rather than puzzling away over something.

Sue’s beginner tutorials set beginners up for success 😁. When you follow Sue step-by-step you’ll have portraits to be thrilled with!

I’d never done a sea-scape, but I felt confident having watched Sue and it was very liberating using my pastels without worrying about making a mistake, as I realise that this really is okay. I got a bit carried away while doing it (putting sails on boats haha) and that’s a good way to feel! Plus I discovered perspective in this beginner’s seascape 😁.

Sue is very dedicated towards helping you to understand how and why you make the marks you do. It’s all in real time and a joy to watch and good fun when you start to pastel.

I was a little worried about posting my attempts on the group, but Sue was very encouraging and kind ❤️. Thanks Sue 🤗 and I was very grateful for the lovely compliments and responses from the members. Thanks guys 😉

I’ve done the tiger eye too in this beginner’s course and am amazed at the result! Just follow the tutorials and surprise yourself too!

I can’t wait to do the rest of the course and I recommend it very highly, because a tutor that sets you up for success puts you on a joyful road where you can enjoy pastelling as a hobby or working professionally.

I signed up to this beginners course having no previous experience in pastels or working in colour (my experience is in graphite and charcoal pencils). Thanks to Sue’s step by step in depth tutorials I was able to immediately produce such incredible pastel paintings. I would absolutely recommend this beginners course. It teaches you so much and even covers what to do if you make mistakes. Sue herself is so supportive and encouraging; an excellent teacher.

I would like to thank you for your wonderful tutorials in the beginners course. These tutorials are excellent. You have a clarity of communication that is second to none, and a knack of knowing the difficulties faced by beginners and most importantly, a way of de-mystifying the arcane art of pastelling. For me, pressure has always been an issue and although I have watched a range of pastel tutors, none have demonstrated such a clear and simple solution. Thank you so much

I am delighted with the progress I have made doing this beginners course with Sue. The tutorials are very detailed and Sue talks you through all the preparation and techniques. The video is real time and not edited so you can see how Sue deals with any mistakes. Sue uses a beginner set of soft pastels and gives suggestions and ideas for alternative colours so you don’t need to spend lots of money on the more expensive soft pastels. The support from Sue and members of the Facebook group is fabulous and I have learnt so much about this lovely medium. Thank you!