New here

[Virgo63]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. Gaka sent me over from the WC forum. I'm new to pastels. I've been drawing in graphite, with some charcoal and carbon at times. I decided to branch out into pastels, as I saw so many things I wanted to draw that would only look good in color. I'm still in the process of getting a feel for using pastels. This is my first attempt. I decided to do a greyscale for the first attempt as I didn't want to invest too much into pastels just yet without knowing if I really wanted to work in this medium. Plus, being a graphite artist, greyscale is more familiar to me. ;)

Anyway, this is my first attempt... La Luna. I still have some tweeking to do with the tones before I get to doing much detail.

[Gaka]

Hi Virgo63

Welcome to the Scribble Talk forums, lovely to see you here and great to see that you are taking on a different medium. :clap:

Could you please tell me the size of your artwork, the paper colour and the brand name.

Gaka

[Toni]

Welcome to ST Virgo!

La Luna is very nice, I can understand why doing a greyscale is easier to start with. I"m sure you'll branch out into lots of color soon.

Picking up a new medium is so exciting! I remember going from graphite to color.. wow what a rush.

keep up the great work

TJ

[Virgo63]

Hey there Gaka,

I'm using 8 1/4 x 11 3/4 (21 x 29.7 cm) Fabriano Tiziano black paper, using the 'wrong side'. I have a couple of sticks of Faber Castel and Nupastel, and some Faber Castel Pitt pencils, in white and a couple of shades of gray.

Toni,

Thanks for the welcome. How did you find the transition from graphite to pastel? Was it easy? I find it similar except for the dust, but it seems the technique for blending and shading is a bit different. I think I'll get the feel for it with practice though. I attempted using colored pencils at one time, but didn't really like working with them. The technique is completely different.

Anyway, I'm glad to be here and hope to learn a lot from those of you with more experience. Gaka's work is absolutely amazing, so I'm sure I'll learn a lot from him as well as the other pastel pros here. :)

[Debee]

Welcome
I'm a lurker in pastel as I work in cp myself, but I have a love for the look of pastel. LaLuna is great. I can already see the color in my mind, elusive hint of yellow glow and blue undertones. Barely any change to what you already have. :D Lurk in colored pencil and you'll see COLOR there are some over there that are simply crazy for it :D :bye1:

[Toni]

Well........

I went from graphite to colored pencil (about 15 yrs ago), and went nuts with the color.

The pastels I picked up more recently. I still consider myself a beginner with them. I find needing all the pastels and the delicate surface a little daunting. (versing cp which you layer for colors and values and sturdiness of a finished CP painting)

As a graphite artist, you know about values, and now you'll have to transfer those to pastell, should come easier, as you already know the basics.

Gaka is a great mentor, one cannot go wrong following his work.

TJ

[Dorell]

La Luna is looking lovely :clap: .
It will be interesting to see how you deal with the colour. I had been comfortable with graphite for years before I took the plunge and tried out the cp's. I'm finding them challenging enough, and couldn't think of using pastel just yet, but that won't stop me lurking to see what the pastellers are doing :D

Dorell.

[lucky]

Your value transitions look really great Virgo! What a great way to get started with pastels. Looks like your going to do fine, especially with Gaka's expertise!!! ;)

[Virgo63]

Thanks everyone!

It's just about finished. I'm just adding in some more cracks, crevices and craters. Depending on how motivated I am, I should have it finished today. I'll post it when I'm finished.

I'm a bit nervous about attempting to do one in color. I'll have to pick something out that's somewhat simple, with basic colors. I don't know much about color theory beyond the basics, and haven't really felt motivated to study it, lol! I have a picture of a Native American I'd like to do in sepia tones, so I may try that next.

[ex-limey]

I agree with everybody else! You must try adding color! I know when you try it, you will like it, and be hooked on working with Pastels!
Jean

[Virgo63]

Well I managed to get it finished yesterday. I was going to add more detail, but felt it would overwork it, so I just added enough for realism without going overboard. I must say the dust absolutely kills my sinuses and gives me a headache though. I even wore a mask. :annoyed:

I may just pull my colored pencils out and give those a try again to get more feel for working with color before I go crazy and spend a lot of money on pastels.

Anyway, here is the finished La Luna.

[lucky]

Turned out great Virgo! Yeah, now lets see some color!!! :)

[Virgo63]

Thanks lucky. :) Right now I'm playing around with my colored pencils to get a feel for working with colors, as I already have a full set of those. In the meantime, I'm going to play around with the few pastels I have and try some of Gaka's techniques on some scrap paper to get a feel for that. It's like learning all over again. :rolleyes:

[Amazingreys]

Have fun and play! :) I haven't a clue what I'm doing :p You obviously have the talent so create and enjoy!
I am looking forward to seeing your work. La Luna is great.