Penguins, wip day 1

The experiment continues! The pastel is going on well. My interest is in the movements of the birds, and to capture the animation of the sea. Its a sweet scene the penguin on the far left looks like he's sticking in a toe to test the water! I'm determined not to over work the details on this, I have been advised by a parrot not too, yes I did say parrot, but I trust his judgement ( long story).

Getting experimental

Its been a week since I've posted, the Summer hols have started so I've been busy with the boys. I have however had a project in the back of my mind. Again its from the photos my parents took in the Antarctica. This time its penguins. I am going to make it mainly a study of greys, and the textures and reflections. Today I just taped a piece of A3 pastelmat to a board, and applied a wash of gouache paint. Im crossing my fingers that it stays flat as it dries, pastelmat is almost like card. I've had a play on a swatch so am hopeful the texture or tooth of the paper can take the water from the wash. The test piece I used kept a good tooth, and still took multiple layers of pastel. Anyway let it dry and see what happens!