Create 'Beautiful Drama' in Charcoal and Pastel with Tania Potapenko
With a focus on classical proportion and expressive restraint, Tania shows how to use subtle shifts in light to create a portrait with "beautiful drama."
In this contemplative charcoal and pastel pencil portrait lesson, Finnish artist Tania Potapenko invites you into a slow, deliberate process of building form through tonal value.
With a focus on classical proportion, thoughtful composition, and expressive restraint, Tania demonstrates how to use subtle shifts in light and shadow—not color—to bring a quiet intensity to the figure and create a portrait with "beautiful drama."
Along the way, she shares her techniques for refining a reference image, constructing strong structure, and layering charcoal with precision and softness.
This is a study in sensitivity: to line, to anatomy, to gesture, and ultimately, to the emotional presence of the subject.
Ready to get dramatic with Tania? Let's get started!
