Dancer with Fan

[digistyle]

I seem to be on a drawing/painting jag lately. This is an interpretation of photo I came across. I tried to keep the work loose, so I didn't do any blending and minimized the details. Done with soft pastels.

digistyle

[Sandi]

Love your lose & free lines... captivating the essense of your searching for your artistical expressions. The skin colors are nice, the yellow is clean and nice.
I would suggest to finish the background more.. keeping one area light and darken the others (or the opposite), and fuzz and/or squiggle the lines in the background in order to make your wonderful draw lines of the subject stand out prominantly.
The fan... doesn't work for me, but I don't have any tips to brainstorm with you. It seems 'heavy' compared to the light way you've handled the girl. It lacks unity of style and form.
I hope I'm not being too blunt. That's the only way I know how to express as I go along. (and it's MY blunt, which might not be agreeance with anyone else's blunt).
I am quite impressed with your first trys! I wish mine would have been even half as good. Keep em coming!

[billyg]

Like the movement in this and the colour. As you say, Nice and loose.
Billyg

[LDianeJohnson]

Hi digistyle,

Glad to see you on this "jag"

Sometimes we fight the surface we work on. The machined linear look of the paper you used for this painting is interfering with the nice image you tried to convey. Next time, try Canson paper (the felt, or regular side) to see how your pastel projects the subject. Then if you like the lines of the paper return to this surface.

I find that when using pastel even for a couple of years, battling the pattern of the paper can be problematic. For the delicacy of the subject you painted, lots of pastel was lost to the lines. In spite of this, you did a good job of not blending and retained the liveliness of the paint.

Diane

[digistyle]

Thanks, all!

I appreciate the input. I'll try out your suggestions in my next piece. I also plan on getting some more colors (still working with the basic eight).

digistyle