I have recently added pastels to my medium list. I LOVE LOVE LOVE pastels. How I haven’t used them before now seems crazy and I am so excited for 2020 and the commission I get to do with them.
For my commissions where necessary I will create many layouts and various mock ups for my clients to see how their portrait will look and enable them choose their favourite.
Pastels
For my pastel portraits where backgrounds are possible these layouts are really quite important. You get to get a pretty good idea what will work, what colour compliment the subject, getting the composition right and knowing where best to place the subject. Sometimes an idea you have in your mind which you think will look great may turn out to not look so effective when on the paper or canvas. So to save time, materials and stress this process cuts that out.
This is a mock up of a portrait I have on my easel now. This is a Greyhound called Star and the lighting in the photo is stunning. I love this pastel colour paper and the background we decided on for this was a soft light glow with some darker shadowing towards the bottom of his chest.
Doing this layout first enabled me and Star’s mum to decide if that would be the best option.