You will be provided with a supply list when you sign up for the course. A basic assortment of soft pastels and hard pastels are needed. I recommend NuPastels as a great value for a hard pastel set that works well for portraits. Then, if you don’t have any yet, you will need a set of soft pastels. I recommend beginning pastel artists get a set of Sennelier half sticks as they are a great value for a variety of soft pastel colors.
Then you will need coated or sanded pastel paper. My preferred surfaces are UART 400 and Pastelmat papers. You will need 4 to 5 sheets for the course, and can cut some to various sizes. There is a materials recommendation with links for beginners in the supply list of the course.
If you don't yet have any pastel supplies, don't worry! You can use what you have and add to your materials as you go along, using sketch paper or less expensive Canson Mi-Teintes paper for pastel studies.