[Amy Otteson]

I haven't posted in a while, and I'm not sure if this is the place for colored pencil drawings, but here it is anyway. This is my daughter Chloe with one of her chickens. I decided to try colored pencil as a medium. It seems to work okay, but might be more tedious than I like. After taking this picture to post, I realize that her face is flat and needs a deeper value on the shadowed side. I think I was afraid of mud- making with the pencils, but I think I'll try to fix that. Any other comments would be appreciated.

I would like to use pastels and haven't used them for a portrait since college 20 years ago, and I need some help getting started back into pastel. I think that it would fit my usual style better than colored pencil, as I like to be more spontaneous. Is there a book or something that would give me some pointers on what type of pastel to use, ground etc.? Thanks Amy O