S.A.R.A: Pastel Progress

Here are some WIP shots of my current drawing in pastel. I take a photo every few steps for my own process; it helps me to spot faults.

This is my Pre-sketch. A2, charcoal and white pastel.
Concept to follow in a later blog.

The Workplace:

That thing on the wall is the biggest piece of paper I've ever seen; a 1m x 1.5m piece of 160g Fabriano

When I start drawing, I also start collecting the pastels/pencil/whatevers in my hand. This saves a lot of time.

I was unsure about jumping in with the pastels as this is the first time I've done anything serious with them. I decided to do the first chunk in black and white, just to make myself feel better about the whole thing

I then added a mid-tone over the darkest parts and the parts that the mid-tone should be. I thought that leaving the dark parts flat black would make the picture look dull.

Adding the first layer of highlights...

Fixed the inconsistent shadows and did some other things I cant really remember

Starting with the top part of the dress. Photo showing the raw black pastel lines that will become shadows

Blended (and blurry!) poked in some highlights

Added highlights, fixed some shadows...

The face:

Note: I had absolutely no idea what I was doing here. I realized that, in my 12 years of drawing, I haven't done a single portrait in colour. So I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.