Help with Background Colours on an Animal Portrait

Colin has sent me his picture of ‘Amber’ and has asked for feedback in particular the background colours.Colin Has used artistic license with the colours on this picture and has pulled of a good result. The only area that could have been improved is the very light hairs over the top of the head and the ears; they stand out too much.I would suggest that Colin carefully uses an ivory colour shaper to quieten these down this would have the effect of blending the light hairs into the mid tone colours.I would use a light grey, say 270, rubbed into the whole background then add touches of 187 and 283 into this base colour here and there to add interest. I would use a slightly stronger application around the edge of the tongue.To get feedback on your pastel pencil pictures, check out Colin's membership. You can learn to draw with pastel pencils and get advice on your progress.