I've discovered soft pastels and am really enjoying playing with them. Someone asked me to do a portrait of their pet and I thought I'd try pastels as oils would take so long to dry. I had a few in the cupboard that had been sitting there unused and some pastel paper (it needs a sanded texture to hold the pigmented powder. Here's the first portrait of a Westie...
That made me want to try a still life subject:
Then another pet portrait commission came along:
and this week I've been working on a barn owl - not quite finished:
I love the light effects you can get with pastel. The pan pastels are soft and subtle but then you can add details with pastel pencils and stronger gestural marks with pastel sticks.
I've found the paper makes an enormous difference. I've used Canson Mi-Teintes Touch and Velvet. Around £5 per sheet these aren't cheap but the surface grips the pastel and allows multiple layers. The pastel sticks I have are a bit hard and scratchy so I will have to invest in some others. I'm terrible at using any money I earn from painting in buying more art supplies!