Rocky

I recently completed another pet portrait.  I used colored pencils and pastels on Stonehenge paper for this project.  It is not common to use drawing paper with pastels, but I find that it works quite well.  Stonehenge paper has enough tooth to hold the pastels, but it also works great with colored pencils.  Most of the time using paper that is meant for pastels, like Pastelmat, doesn't give me the look I want to achieve with my colored pencils.   However, by using Stonehenge paper, I can draw the detailed portions of the drawing with the pencils and the other areas with the pastels.  Another advantage of the paper is that it comes in very large sheets that can be cut down.  This drawing is the biggest one I've done to date, and I needed a large sheet of paper.  Pastelmat is harder to come by in large sheets, and it is also much more expensive.  Deciding on the combination of materials also depends on the subject matter.  If I were to draw a smaller, furrier animal like a cat, without any detailed collars, bridles, etc. I would consider Pastelmat.  I hope I honored the memory of this special horse!

Until next time!