H&H2: Pastel Portrait 1

Here is my first pastel portrait for my Heads and Hands 2 class. I had fun using soft pastels for this life-size portrait from a photo of a model who posed for this class assignment. It was fun to experiment with colors and to explore the different textures within the model's head and hair.

Lesson Learned: Do the underdrawing of a pastel portrait in full-value charcoal. Get a very accurate drawing with all of the shadow shapes carefully blocked in in black charcoal first. Then, when you go over it with colored pastels, the value will be darker and the color duller where the charcoal lies underneath, making those areas naturally fall into shadow to create form on the head.