Studio Work - Playing in the Shadows

I took sick time from work to go to a doctor's appointment and decided to stay home. Not too sick - I got into the studio!

I wanted to try my hand at dappled shadows. Shadows are HARD to paint!! I worked in pastel today on a sheet of Wallis Museum paper. I did a quick layout with hard pastels:

 Then I used denatured alcohol to melt the pigment into the grit. I have used regular alcohol in the past, but the denatured dries much quicker:

 This shot was early in the process. I like the freshness of this version:

 Trying to get that shadow on the path correct! HARD.

 This is how I finished.

"Playing in the Shadows", 8x10 pastel on Wallis paper