Canna Pastel Demo

Pink Canna Lily

4.5" x 6"

pastel

Another pastel demo experiment!   A lot of people ask about my process.  It's not easy to demonstrate, because I work in many ways, depending on time and mood.  And changing mediums and methods challenges, and hopefully sharpens my skills.  I had pictured something completely different for this little drawing, and after fighting with it, let it go in its own direction.

Step 1 and a half:  Used blue pastel pencil on white Wallis sanded pastel paper to do rough sketch.  Then watercolor underpainting (*It's sand paper!  Use an old or retired synthetic brush for this.  Wore the point off a good WN series 7 red sable before I remembered!)  Worked out dark and light areas.  Paper was taped four sides before painting to keep it from warping too much.  Put it in Floridian sun to dry in a few seconds, or use a hair dryer.  

Step two:  Roughed in local colors of background and leaves with soft and Nupastels.

Step three:  Wasn't happy with background and bottom right leaf.  Brushed off pastel with stiff, old bristle brush.  Took the background back to the watercolor layer and decided it worked better.  Worked with pastel pencils to define flower petals and finish the painting.  Here it is again: