Daffodils

I bought these Daffodils last weekend. These were so bright and gorgeous, I had to paint them. Its sad that they do not have long life! I used bright yellow schmincke. These soft pastels are so delicious to work with but it seems I am allergic to pastels so won't be able to work as much as I would like to with these. I plan to paint its background also but wanted to keep this version to compare.

Portrait

This was a quick portrait study and getting to know more about pastels, mixing them etc. I also used some Vine charcoal. I kind of had fun but I don't enjoy doing portraits as much. I had to do some in class and I liked the color and the character in this one.

Peruvian Lilies

Soft pastels - very challenging but sure was fun! This is from my tonight's class. Nothing fancy or detailed but I had a good time :) I do not remember I used pastels seriously ever before so I can call it my first time - definitely with soft pastels! I have very little experience with oil pastels but nothing like this. These mix so well and I feel the pigment quality is superior probably because there is very little binder in it. I used primary colors, black and white. This was a quick still life of flowers; I could not even finish in class because I am slow. I gave final touches after I got back home so light and shadow is sort of imaginary. I will experiment more with this medium this week...