Ansleigh In Soft Pastel

I thought I’d better have a go at a figure with soft pastels today. I’ve used them for a landscape and a portrait, so only fair that they should be given a chance at a figure too. And, whisper it but, I have a sneaky suspicion that I’ll not only enjoy painting figures this medium but that this will also loosen me up a bit. It’s a second successive appearance for Ansleigh as the model, in a pose that I’ve deliberately picked out for its simplicity.

I started by putting down an outline in orange coloured pencil. I used a grid to do this but was more freehand than normal, not bothering to use a ruler to measure exactly where contour lines crossed the edges of the grid squares. A good sign. And then I put on the colour. I think I added four or five layers in total, each time checking whether I was happy with the result before smoothing out the colour with a paper towel. The very last layer was almost there, so I only did a little smoothing with my finger before calling it a day. And that was me done.

I think this is a decent painting, especially as it’s my first attempt at a figure with the soft pastels. There’s nothing that jumps out at me as being brilliant but then again there’s nothing about it that bugs me, and that’s unusual.

Enjoy the bank holiday Monday, people.