Working with pastel.

If you've never worked with pastel before then hopefully you'll see something new.  If you're a seasoned 'pasteler' then I hope you'll simply enjoy watching my little video clip and checking out my first blog.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Video: Baby Portrait- Creating a wool/fur collar on a coat.

What's happening here:

After rubbing some Gallery black pastel onto a piece of scrap paper, I'll use a blending stick (or tortillion) with the pastel to create a light woolen collar for the little girls coat.

The basics of how to get from a blank page to a finished portrait:

Capturing the image with basic lines and shapes.

Using a pencil to capturing the image with basic lines, shapes and shaded areas.

Adding in facial features.

Adding in the facial features using pastels and prisma colored pencils.

This artists tip: use a soft, shortbristled paintbrush for blending pastels.

Working on the clothing.

Working on the clothing details, focusing on texture.

This artists tip: use pastels to lay down some base tones and use coloured pencils to accent the details.

Setting in the background.

Setting in the base for the background (blanket) using pastel.

With the finishing touches.

....and the finishing touches!

It's story:

This 8 1/2x11 was commissioned through my shop by a lovely lady from Massachusettes as a Christmas gift for her mother.

Thank you for checking out this photo tutorial.