I did this pastel of my daughter-in-law’s dog at her request from a photo she contributed. I’m very pleased with how it came out and since she’s going to eventually get it for free, I’m going to hang on to it for a little while and see about putting it in some shows.

I put some progress shots below:

The block/wash in. I used some soft pastels to get some of the lights and darks and basic color blocks. I pushed the pastel into the sanded paper (I’m using Uart 500 grit from a huge roll I ordered recently) with an alcohol wash and a bristle brush.

I tackled the eyes and nose first and went from there.

I deliberately did some energetic work in the background because this little guy is a ball of energy and I wanted to capture that enthusiasm.