What kind of pastels have you got? The ones I was using are an expensive imported brand called Schminke; I can't afford them, but this was a "try it for free" thing at the art supply place. Schminke are very very soft pastels, so the colors are exceptionally bold and bright.
Here's how I was working, in case it helps:
I started with a Wolff's carbon pencil, which I used to lightly sketch in my forms, especially for the eyes, ears, noses, and the general outline of the animal.
Next was my shadowy colors. For the horse I started with a dark grayish-blue; for the dog, a dark brown color, some of that same blue in spots. This wasn't all over -- just in the places where it was shadowed or the fur/hair was quite dark.
They had these nifty tools there, like oversize makeup applicators with a long handle and a spongy tip. I'd never used them before. They're smudging/blending tools. You can also use a dry, soft brush; I used both. If you look at the shadow areas of the dog, especially, you can see how they're kind of smoothed out and have a lot less of the pastel texture than the lighter parts do. That's from blending them. It gives you the appearance of a solid, cohesive foundation for your subject, instead of having bits of paper showing through and a lot of individual strokes and "noise."
The next two colors were a russet red-clay color and a yellow ochre. I blended them on the dog's little face, with the tip of the blending tool. That gave me the base fur color and then I went over it with ochre and some white for the highlight areas. Dragging the white pastel through the ochre, gently, I could get it to blend right there on the page without having to use the blender thingy.
They didn't have a black pastel out to try, so they gave me a stick of compressed charcoal which worked just as well. I put in the darkest areas with that, smudged and blended the spots that needed to recede a bit, and then got out the white last. That's a general rule with pastels: work from darker to lighter to lightest. If you put darker colors on top of lighter ones you really risk ending up with chalky or muddy colors. Also, every pastelist I've talked to will use a blending tool or a paintbrush with rubbing alcohol to created big areas of darker colors and/or shadow when they're beginning.
If you're working with something harder, like NuPastels, you won't get the same effects with those. I have them and like them, but they don't have this luscious thick juiciness that the extra-soft pastels do.
no subject
Here's how I was working, in case it helps:
I started with a Wolff's carbon pencil, which I used to lightly sketch in my forms, especially for the eyes, ears, noses, and the general outline of the animal.
Next was my shadowy colors. For the horse I started with a dark grayish-blue; for the dog, a dark brown color, some of that same blue in spots. This wasn't all over -- just in the places where it was shadowed or the fur/hair was quite dark.
They had these nifty tools there, like oversize makeup applicators with a long handle and a spongy tip. I'd never used them before. They're smudging/blending tools. You can also use a dry, soft brush; I used both. If you look at the shadow areas of the dog, especially, you can see how they're kind of smoothed out and have a lot less of the pastel texture than the lighter parts do. That's from blending them. It gives you the appearance of a solid, cohesive foundation for your subject, instead of having bits of paper showing through and a lot of individual strokes and "noise."
The next two colors were a russet red-clay color and a yellow ochre. I blended them on the dog's little face, with the tip of the blending tool. That gave me the base fur color and then I went over it with ochre and some white for the highlight areas. Dragging the white pastel through the ochre, gently, I could get it to blend right there on the page without having to use the blender thingy.
They didn't have a black pastel out to try, so they gave me a stick of compressed charcoal which worked just as well. I put in the darkest areas with that, smudged and blended the spots that needed to recede a bit, and then got out the white last. That's a general rule with pastels: work from darker to lighter to lightest. If you put darker colors on top of lighter ones you really risk ending up with chalky or muddy colors. Also, every pastelist I've talked to will use a blending tool or a paintbrush with rubbing alcohol to created big areas of darker colors and/or shadow when they're beginning.
If you're working with something harder, like NuPastels, you won't get the same effects with those. I have them and like them, but they don't have this luscious thick juiciness that the extra-soft pastels do.