as the dust settles...

My apologies for posting a photo image twice. don't know how it happened or how to remove it :-(.
Some experimenting with black canson paper...found that the best pastels are the harder of the soft varieties like Rembrandt or the hard pastels like Nupastels. I used some limited palettes to create these. Using some workable fix in between layers helps build color on the Canson. It is interesting to see how the blue/red combination almost is looking like a photographic negative. When you use a dark paper, one of the cool things is that the paper color adds a little texture when you let a hint of it peek through the pastel.
The little vertical piece was done on a scrap of Wallis about 3x4 inches and was a very quick little study with about 3 pastels. It is a good lesson to limit pastels to 3-5 sticks and see what you can do with that.
If you haven't checked out Facebook - it's worthwhile. You can make it what you want...but it is an efficient way to network with art and artists. I have a fan page you can follow - Bonnie Griffith Landscape Artist and also manage the Northwest Pastel Society page. These will post events for artists and arts and have some interesting images posted occasionally. NPS is always looking for new members and the FB page is another tool to use. There are some really good groups one can join as well, that have discussion groups and really good information. They are hosted by Sandy Askey-Adams on Facebook. Once you join you can post images on those sites. And then of course is PastelNews.com the absolute BEST site out there for pastel artists. Mario spends a lot of time making it great and being a source of valuable information to the pastelist. So check out these sites! And...happy painting...