Just wanting opinions

[smokie55]

I was between paintings and decided to try my first Pastel. I just bought some colors about a month ago and did a quick try of them on some fruits. they turned out okay.

This is my first attempt at a real piece. I should have stayed away from humans. I find them really hard to do. Maybe I need a life drawing class. Or portrait class. Either way, I wonder if I could get some opinions on this. I am looking to try more pastel work. I think it might help me do better painting. But I need more portrait work for practice.

Details

I took this picture from a national geo magazine. I really liked it. The girl is thinner looking in the photo. And I had trouble doing the eyes. It is hard to get the stubby pastels to do fie lines. Over all I really think it is good. Just wondering if my blending and shading are in the right direction. I know the overall realism will come with more..more..more practice.

[dennis]

For  a first pastel drawing you have done an excellent job - really impressed. It is a very different technique to normal painting as you need a lot of the tints to do proper blending. Most top artists use pastel pencil to do all the very fine details and shading.

Looking forward to see some more of your pastel drawings.

[nolan]

Looking great, you certainly are off to great start with your pastels 

[EllaNZ]

  Well done Smokey! It looks great You did a fantastic job with your colors, shading, blending! I also found it difficult to do fine detail with the stubby pastels. Went to the art shop and bought some pastel pencils and found something new. Check out the photo of my pastel collection  The round tubs are called 'PanPastel" and is similar to eye shadow make-up container. It comes with various shaped tools and very fine foam rubber tips. It is wonderful to work with. Enjoy

[nolan]

thanks for sharing your "palette" with us Ella, these kinds of insights always help a lot 

[EllaNZ]

  Most welcome Nolan. A very good friend of mine once said, if you have a query about anything or want a solution to a problem, JUST PUT OUT THE WORD and you will get your answers.  It works everytime 

[nolan]

agree. That is why I always say there is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer. By asking you may get no answer, but you may just get the answer you were looking for, so either way you will at worst be just as well off as before.

[Val]

 

[smokie55]

Thank You everyone, I love the ideas and tips along with the encouraging words. It all helps me be a better artist. I plan to do a portrait next and I hope it will teach me more about the faces.

[Val]

Look forward to seeing it.