On the Drawing Board: raw and unblended.
/While I make an effort to post 'in progress' photos of what I'm working on, I usually take them after I'm done working for the day, or have completed a section I am working on. It's usually a moment where I'm satisfied with how it looks, but this doesn't show what goes on in between.
So, here's a pic (on the left) that shows the first things I do when I start a section, in this case the upper part of the face. I already worked on the eye a bit. I take my pastels and fill in with a base layer of colors, they are just scribbled on, no blending. This gives me a foundation to work from, I guess it's similar to doing make-up. From here I'll blend them together with my fingers. I'll then add other colors on top, and blend those in, creating more depth, subtleties in lighting, and more tones. Even when I think it looks done, it doesn't mean I wont go back and add/blend in more colors. That's one of the things I like about working with pastels, the surface is always workable, unlike paints in an acrylic or oil suspension that will dry.
