Greg's First Pastel Pencil Project - Tips to Consider

Greg has sent me his painting of the Kitten project and has asked for feedback. Although Greg has had some experience with acrylics and watercolour this was his first attempt at pastels and understandably he is pleased with the result.What has amazed me with the many of these kitten pictures I have received is that a very good representation is made at first attempts this says so much for the pastel pencils as I can’t think of another medium that could give this degree of success. There are a few points that Greg will have to look out for on his next project and I will outline these belowAlthough you can use some artistic license with the fur, ears etc. details such as the shape of the eyes, pupils and nose have to be more accurate.The other technique that can cause problems when starting out with this medium is applying the stronger colours on top of the base colours. If too much base colour is applied then the stronger colours are weakened resulting in a smudged appearance.The good news is that with plenty of practice this can be sorted out by reducing the colour layer of the base colours.As Greg is now a member he will have loads of great projects to practice on, I am looking forward to seeing more of his pictures in the future.