Pastels - Find Your WOW! Factor
with Lyn Diefenbach
9–15 August 20275 days tuition | Soft Pastel | Florals & Portraits | All Levels
Spend five immersive days exploring the extraordinary possibilities of soft pastel with internationally recognised artist and Eminent Pastellist Lyn Diefenbach.
Working with both florals and portraits, you’ll explore luminosity, colour, character and impact while developing the technical skills that help transform a painting from simply accurate to something with real presence.
Residential retreat at Greenhills Art Centre, Western Australian Wheatbelt
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5 Days Tuition
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Soft Pastel
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Florals & Portraits
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All Levels Welcome
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Maximum 12 Participants
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Residential Retreat
Pastels — Find Your WOW! Factor
Spend a week revelling in the joy of pastel with one of Australia’s most highly recognised pastel artists.
Over five full teaching days, Lyn Diefenbach will take you through the essential building blocks of successful pastel painting while helping you discover how to create work with greater luminosity, character and impact.
The retreat will be divided between two of Lyn’s favourite subjects:
2½ days exploring florals
followed by
2½ days exploring portraits
Rather than simply showing you how to copy a subject, Lyn will help you understand the decisions that sit behind a successful painting — line, value, colour, edges, surface, application and the subtle adjustments that create the illusion of reality.
Through clear demonstrations and individual attention at your easel, you’ll be encouraged to work at a level that challenges you without feeling overwhelmed.
You’ll use your own reference material, allowing you to choose subjects and a degree of difficulty that suit your experience and interests.
The aim?
To give you the knowledge and confidence to create paintings with your own unmistakable WOW factor.
During the Retreat You’ll Explore
Line & Drawing
Develop a stronger understanding of the underlying structure of your subject and the importance of accurate, confident drawing before colour is introduced.
Value
Learn to see and organise light and dark values to create convincing form, depth and structure.
Colour
Explore colour relationships, temperature and intensity, and learn how subtle colour choices can dramatically change the mood and impact of a painting.
Edges
Discover how hard, soft and lost edges can direct attention, create atmosphere and help give a painting a convincing sense of space.
Luminosity
Explore Lyn’s approach to creating light, richness and luminosity in pastel while maintaining freshness and clarity.
Pastels & Surfaces
Gain a better understanding of different pastel types, surfaces and how their characteristics influence the finished painting.
Application
Learn how pressure, layering, mark-making and handling of the pastel itself can create very different effects.
Creating Impact
Move beyond simply reproducing your reference and begin making deliberate choices that bring character, presence and visual impact to your work.
Florals in Pastel
2½ Days
The first half of the retreat will focus on flowers.
Floral subjects provide a wonderful opportunity to explore colour, luminosity, edges and the interplay between delicacy and structure.
Lyn will guide you in looking beyond individual petals and details to understand the larger shapes, values and relationships that give a floral painting strength.
You’ll explore how to capture the character of your chosen flowers while creating a painting that feels luminous and alive rather than overly laboured.
Using your own reference material allows you to choose a floral subject that genuinely excites you and work at a level appropriate to your experience.
Portraits in Pastel
2½ Days
The second half of the retreat turns to portraiture.
Working from your own reference material, Lyn will guide you through the process of developing a portrait with convincing structure, skin tones, character and presence.
You’ll explore the relationship between drawing, value, colour and edges while learning how subtle changes can transform a likeness.
The emphasis will not simply be on copying a face, but on understanding how to create the illusion of form and capture something of the character of your subject.
Lyn’s demonstrations and individual guidance will help you identify what your own portrait needs as it develops.
Your Retreat Schedule
Monday 9 August
Arrive at Greenhills Art Centre from 4pm.
Settle into your room, meet Lyn and your fellow participants and enjoy dinner together before the workshop begins the following morning.
Tuesday 10 August
Workshop Day One — Florals
Wednesday 11 August
Workshop Day Two — Florals
Thursday 12 August
Workshop Day Three — Florals to Portraits
Floral painting during the first half of the day before beginning the portrait component of the retreat.
Friday 13 August
Workshop Day Four — Portraits
On Friday evening, we'll head to nearby Lake Kimberley Bar & Grill at Whitegum Farm for a relaxed dinner together.
Friday dinner and drinks are not included in the retreat price and are paid directly by guests at the restaurant.
Saturday 14 August
Workshop Day Five — Portraits
Sunday 15 August
Breakfast followed by departure.
About Lyn Diefenbach
Australian artist Lyn Diefenbach has painted professionally in oils and pastel for more than 30 years. She has had many sold-out solo shows throughout her career. Her works have been featured in a host of international and national exhibitions including the International Guild of Realism Museum Masterworks Touring Exhibition, as well as group exhibitions in China, the US, the UK, France and Australia.
Her paintings cover a myriad of subject matter, including portraits, seascapes, still life and florals — all consistently receiving accolades and awards across the globe.
A fascination for the world within worlds of reflections has been an ongoing theme, allowing Lyn to express her own story emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Pursuing masterly quality and technique is a high priority for Lyn. Her work is imbued with a lifetime of practice and is a celebration of her faith and of life.
Lyn’s ability to communicate her ideas has entrenched her as a respected and sought-after tutor worldwide, with teaching engagements both face to face and online.
Follow Lyn
Keep up with Lyn's work, workshops and painting practice:
Instagram | Facebook | Website
Meet Lyn
See Lyn at work and gain an insight into the knowledge and technique she brings to her pastel painting.
The Greenhills Experience — More than a Workshop
A retreat at Greenhills gives you the opportunity to step away from everyday responsibilities and immerse yourself completely in your painting.
With accommodation and the studio all in one place, and meals and refreshments provided at Greenhills apart from Friday dinner, your days can revolve around learning, painting and spending time with other artists.
There’s no need to pack up and drive home at the end of each class.
Instead, you can continue thinking about your work, return to the studio, share meals and conversations with the group and enjoy the slower rhythm of several uninterrupted days devoted to art.
The quiet Wheatbelt setting, historic homestead and spacious studio provide the perfect environment in which to focus, experiment and learn.
Your retreat:
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six nights private accommodation at Greenhills Art Centre
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five full days tuition with Lyn Diefenbach
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all meals and refreshments at Greenhills, except Friday dinner
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morning and afternoon tea
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welcome dinner on arrival
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studio access throughout your stay
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demonstrations and individual tuition
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all linen and towels
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maximum 12 participants.
On Friday evening, the group will dine at Lake Kimberley Bar & Grill at Whitegum Farm. Friday dinner and drinks are at guests' own expense.
Who Should Attend?
This retreat is suitable for artists at a range of experience levels.
Because participants work from their own reference material and receive individual guidance from Lyn, you can choose a subject and degree of difficulty appropriate to your experience.
The retreat will particularly suit artists who would like to:
develop greater confidence with soft pastel
strengthen their understanding of line, value, colour and edges
create greater luminosity and depth
improve their handling and application of pastel
understand pastel surfaces and materials more fully
develop floral paintings with greater impact
improve portrait structure, colour and character
learn through demonstrations and individual tuition
spend five uninterrupted days immersed in pastel painting
and, of course, discover how to give their work that elusive WOW factor.
Materials
Lyn has prepared a detailed materials list covering recommended pastels, pastel surfaces and other equipment required for the retreat.
The complete materials list will be provided to participants following confirmation of booking.
You are welcome to bring pastel materials you already use and enjoy.
Your Retreat
$2,980 per person — private room
Price includes GST
Your retreat includes six nights private accommodation, five full days tuition with Lyn, all meals and refreshments at Greenhills except Friday dinner, and studio access throughout your stay.
A 20% deposit secures your place. The full balance is due eight weeks before the retreat. Monthly payment plans are available by prior arrangement.
Coming with a friend?
Save 10% each when sharing one of our limited twin rooms, subject to availability.
Twin Share — $2,682 per person
Independent Stay option
For participants who live locally or prefer to arrange their own nearby accommodation, a limited number of Independent Stay places are available, subject to availability.
You'll still join us for tuition, meals and refreshments at Greenhills, studio access and the social side of the retreat — you simply arrange your own accommodation or bring an approved self-contained caravan or motorhome.
Independent Stay — $2,260 per person
Price includes GST.
Friday dinner and drinks at Lake Kimberley Bar & Grill at Whitegum Farm are at guests' own expense for all accommodation options.
Find Your WOW! Factor at Greenhills
Five full days of pastel.
Two beautiful subjects.
Florals and portraits.
A small group and individual tuition with one of Australia’s most highly recognised pastel artists.
No everyday distractions.
Just time to paint, learn, experiment and discover how to bring greater luminosity, character and impact to your work.
9–15 August 2027
Maximum 12 participants.
Book Your Greenhills Retreat
Complete the form below and we'll send your deposit invoice to secure your place.