Twenty-seven women painters participated in a training course on painting pastels organized by the Hail Plastic Arts Society at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cultural Center in Hail recently.

Salma Al-Afnan a well-known painter trained the participants over a four-day period which concluded Friday.

Saita Al-Sabhan, the supervisor of the committee said that the program familiarized the participants with the techniques of pastel painting.

Randa Al-Musalmani a trainee said she was an amateur painter and attending the program had enabled her to learn the basics of pastel painting. “The program has instilled in me a desire to achieve real skills in pastel painting,’ she added.

Another trainee Muna Al-Hershan said, “The training course was outstanding and as far as I am concerned this kind of painting is new to me. I have learned how easy it is to apply the pastel paints and how elegant the end product can be.”

In a statement to Arab News, Al-Sabhan said, “We couldn’t perfect the skills of all the trainees in the art of pastel painting because of the short time duration of the training. However, they got a basic idea of the technique and it opened the door for those who wish to become professional pastel painters in the future.” She added that the trainees were taught about the raw materials from which pastel is made, its colors and how to apply them to bring out the light and shade in art works.