In pastels. soft yet strong. Though somewhere along the road the joy of mixing and layering colors disappeared in the daily grind, they remind you of childhood sidewalk sketches. People are now flocking to this best reviewed pastel painting course, trading stories in coffee shops and littering internet forums with color explosions.

Picture this. You register, a bundle of anxieties, “Is this just for ‘naturals’?,” you ponder. But the teacher starts out with a story about unintentionally inventing the color of disappointment and combining too much purple. Stress slips away. Perfect is for printers, not artists; you are urged to smear, smudge, get your hands dirty.

The attitude is what really appeals. Lessons are not like formal lectures. One moment you are seeing a rainstorm sweep across a sunflower field, and the next you are challenged to paint your favorite snack. Someone marks pizza, grease, and all. Laughing erupts. Learning approaches you under the cover of play.

Here there is an unusual freedom. None of points for color inside the lines. Errors here? Quite rare. All welcome are splashes, joyous mistakes, unintentional canines turning into lambs. You learn what your pastel picture wants to be rather than concentrating on what it ought to be.

Communities are the secret ingredient. Random jokes about which paper grips the chalk best fit very nicely with sensible, useful information. “Unless you like confetti on your shirt,” says one participant, “try blowing on the dust instead of brushing it off.” Not under pretense. Simply makers, learning by sharing, failing, and supporting one other.

One pays close attention to attention spans. Though brief, lessons have surprises in plenty. Unexpected events abound: a color theory myth dispelled, an invitation to sketch your own shoe, or a guest artist arriving with a shortcut for backdrops.

Most classes put technique ahead of imagination. Expression rules here most of all. Not able to make hands. Sketch mitts. Do not have a whole pastel set? Loan the sidewalk chalk from your child. All are invited, either scared or pro-active. All the criteria are an open mind.

Though they stay for the fun, people visit for the art. Schoolwork dressed in joy never feels like this. Every session instead seems like a Saturday morning, coffee in-hand, ready to sketch your mood. For this reason, on a lazy day, this pastel painting course is humming more loudly than a bee. And really, don’t you wish in on the secret?