Pastel Portrait Of My Little Niece Phoebe

Portrait Of My Little Niece Phoebe (Phoebe is a female name meaning "bright and shining")

 

Pastel Drawing

Plain White A4 Paper (297 x 210 mm)

Materials Used: Pastels, Pastel Pencils (Hard and Soft), Putty Rubber, Tortillion

 

I am not well at the moment so I decided to do a little drawing that I could sit on my lap to work on.

 

I have shown the stages of my work for my group "The Progression and Phases of Pastel Drawings" I hope you like it!

 

Stage 2

Starting with the eyes, I find that it is very importrant to start with the eyes as this is the main detail that people will look at to see if they recognise who you have drawn, the eyes are not easy and this is why they must be the first thing you tackle. After receiving advice from Anthony, I have used hard pastel pencils for this part and have found that they are easier to get accurate detail with (Thanks Anthony!)

 

When you are happy to move on, start with the skin tones, I think that I use a different method from other artists when it comes to the skin, I never put the pastel straight onto the drawing, I use a spare sheet of paper and apply smudges of pastel stick onto the paper then use a piece of tissue rolled up into a pencil shape and use this to apply layers for the skin tones. I find it easier to work this way as I can remove anything that I don't like with a putty rubber. Other artists use their fingers to blend in this stage.

Done