
In my search through Instagram I found a couple of gorgeous black and white photographs of nudes. Their bodies looked lovely and strong, but they contained more detail than I had been working with up to now. I decided to tackle one of these on a sheet closer to A3 so that I could include more detail using my soft pastels.
Normally I start a maiden in a very loose style. Typically I use the side of a pastel to create a sweep of shoulder and go from there. Due to the complexity of the pose and the detail I began this one with a light pencil sketch and really took my time to get the proportions right.
I started this work on Friday, then completed it on Saturday. Blending was done with either fingertips, cotton buds or (near the end), cotton wool balls. These create a lovely smooth finish which helps on my less than ideal paper.
I was really pleased with the initial sketch and my colour choice. Especially as I was quite nervous taking on something this size with so much detail. Now it's just a matter of not buggering it up.
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