Creating a Very Dark Background using Pastel Pencils

Doris has sent me her painting of the prowling tiger project and has asked me for my feedback.This is a very ambitious project and Doris has done well in its execution, however there are a few tips I can give her as to how this could be improved.The main point I would raise is that the background has not come off too well; there could be two reasons for this.Firstly, too light a base colour was used weakening the stronger colours or there was insufficient strong tones applied on top of the base colours.I appreciate this is a difficult technique but with an image like this you can’t get away with half measures. This could easily be corrected by using a generous application of say 174 dark green well rubbed into the existing background then 199 back applied on top of the green then rubbed well in with a finger.Once this is corrected the stronger tones of ochre would have to be applied to the tiger’s fur as the very dark background would show the tiger as being far too light.This ochre application would also serve another purpose, it would create a cushion between the background and the edge of the tiger, at present this area has too much contrast (see yellow arrow). I hope this helps.