Please make suggestions

I am beginning to draw portraits and love to works with pastels. Please offer any constructive suggestions. Thank you.

http://forum.portraitartist.com/imag...ges/thomas.jpg

[Lon Haverly]

Administrator's Note: The image above was not in the post when Lon made his comments below.

Hard, soft, or oil? Your choice will depend on the time you have. I use soft, because it is fast. I layout with Conte Paris pencil (burnt umber) then do broad washes of the base colors using indirect application with various parts of my hand. I then use several deep shade colors and apply bold heavy masses of color. I blend them in with flexible fabric bandaids on my fingers. No details yet. Then, I start detailing the features with Conte Paris, starting with the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, hair and background. I use a smooth 60 lb paper so as to allow the pastel to spread like water, giving it a look of transparent watercolor. I admit, I am unorthodox, but the result is satisfying to me. And you know my motto - "If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for these guys." (ha-ha!)

[Debra Jones]

I use them the exact opposite.

I rarely blend. I like to lay in big bold blocks of color and the wonderful ability of pastel to paint layer over layer and build up like pointillism true color next to true color without the mud of liquid media. Your piece is simple and relies on local color.

Pastel is excellent for using complements under colors to enrich them. People think of it as a "soft", "light" and "delicate" medium. It is so much richer and immediate when used to its fullest range to portray color, it is a shame to waste it. Just posting one of mine to show you what I mean.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/i...dydetailwc.jpg
Like I said, it is MY two cents. I am not right, just opinionated