This week I decided that I would like to build upon the previous week's session but this time use coloured pastel instead of charcoal. As a student, I had had some success in using pastel on coloured paper, I liked the way that the coloured ground could help with the midtones in a drawing.
Because I was using colour, I wanted to carefully consider the model's skin tone, not just the areas of light and dark, to inform the drawing. This was soooo difficult!! It was so long since I had analysed a surface for its 'composite' colour - I struggled to see it. I was worried in case I'd lost that ability. I left the session with a headache and a couple of drawings that I wasn't particularly proud of BUT I had been reminded of the difference between looking and seeing. I felt that I had to relearn how to see the subtle diferences in shade and tone of the skin's surface before I could make this technique work the way I wanted it to.