Using Pastels!

The past couple of weeks have been difficult ones for me.  I've been pretty tired and exhausted.  I never realized that cancer of the blood can actually make someone this tired!  I've been working on a mixed media collage still life, but I've had to put it aside until I can concentrate on it!  The good news is that we have started the testing and process for a possible stem cell transplant.  I go tomorrow morning for blood work and my two sisters and brother are also getting their blood tests done tomorrow. 

I was getting pretty bored with laying in bed!  I decided to check out some YouTube videos and came across a great tutorial on a simple still life.  I often use pastel to do colour and composition studies for my non-objective abstract paintings and collage, so I thought I would give it a try!

To do my study, I used an 8x8 canvas. I would normally use watercolour paper but I was too lazy to cut it and prepare it!  I then did a simple grey background wash in watercolour and added a coat of Dry Ground Medium.  Then I followed the tutorial and this is what I came up with!

 

I know I do not like the background colour!  So, that will change when I sit down and actually paint this in acrylic.  But overall, I am happy.  It's not ment to be realistic or to have a lot of detail.  It is a simple, loose way to test out composition and colour before I do an actual painting.  

The pastels I used are a cheap brand I picked up off Amazon.  I think I am going to invest in a more expensive, artist quality set.  I really enjoyed doing this.