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I'm into oil because it plays to all (well, not every one) of my neuroses. If it's not right the first time, I can fix it, and fix it again. And there are so many ways to apply it -- alla prima and impasto and layers, glazes and drybrush, scrubs and washes. Scrape or sand it off later if you have an entirely different take. Lovely stuff.
But if I had the time and instructional opportunity, I think I'd love to develop proficiency in pastels. How much fun it was to identify the color and temp you wanted and pick it up and lay it down, eliminating the intermediate mixing mystery. That works best, of course, once you have a huge array of pastels. Master pastellist Daniel Greene's pastel taboret is the size of a barn door, and he uses a lot of it. His art income is greater than mine, so the barn door is always full.
And there's nothing prettier than a pencil drawing well executed. It's the highest art form, in my estimation. There's no compromise, no hedging, it's on or it isn't, and when it's on, it's the best. You can color it later, but if the drawing isn't there, the portrait isn't there, whatever the colors.
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