Pastel - Giraffes

"Stand Up Straight!" - soft pastels on UArt sanded paper, approx. 12" x 14"

I took a beginners pastel class today, instead of meeting the group for plein air painting. Meredith Martin of Sunbear Studio, in Center Village Ohio taught the class. I had a great time, although it was super super hot in the studio. Today was a scorcher in Ohio - we've had a fairly cool summer, so today was a bit uncomfortable for me.

Even though I have worked in pastel most of the year, I felt it important to take a beginner's class so that I could learn how other artists use the medium. I did learn quite a few good tips. I hope to take her advanced class in two weeks.

I was able to almost finish two pieces today. I am posting the first here and hopefully will finish the other tomorrow.

This is painted from a calendar photograph, so I really can't claim this as original composition. But I really love how this turned out. We used UArt sanded paper. I haven't been happy using sanded paper in the past, but I hadn't used this brand before. This brand has a finer grit and I think that helped quite a bit.