For those who celebrate it, I hope you are enjoying the Easter weekend! Little One is also having a wonderful time, especially since Covid restrictions have been lifted in the Netherlands a few months ago. For the first time in two years, we are now free to celebrate this special holiday wherever we want and with as many people as we like. And now she’s ready to go to a party with some friends and so excited she is that she decided to dress as a cute little pink rabbit! How adorable is that. And of course, I had to draw about it.
Pencil Sketch
I was in the mood for some change and decided on a medium I haven’t used in a while. It has indeed been sometime since I last used pastels, more precisely Pan Pastels. Seeing that I’ve been painting more lately or going for the iPad, I felt returning to pastel drawings would be a wonderful change! The piece begins with a sketch using my Stabillo pastel pencils in the colors I chose for the rest of the painting. Had I started in black for instance, I would have the risk of ruining the drawing when filling in with colors. Pastelmat by Clairefontaine is my favorite paper of choice for this purpose, although it could be a bit pricey. Here I experimented with some tan paper.
Color Her Beautiful
It has indeed been a while since I last used soft pastels, more precisely Pan Pastels. More practical and less messy than pastel sticks, they come in compressed forms in pans and are applied with dry sponges, giving an even and solid finish. Another advantage of them is that they are easier to blend too. For finer details like eyes, though, pastel pencils or the edges of pastel sticks come quite handy. So pleasant to go back to pastel work! Once done, I made sure to seal the drawing with a good fixative spray (Sennelier makes a good one). And look how adorable Little One looks here!
I quite enjoyed working with pastels again, and Pan Pastels are definitely the way to go. The results turned out quite stunning I have to say. For one, look at the cute soft velvety finish of them! I also forgot how strong and vibrant the colors turn out, especially against the tan background. This is definitely one medium that I tend to overlook often, and I really need to work them more. Let’s see what other kawaii drawings I can come up with. Meanwhile let’s enjoy our Easter weekend!
My Kawaii Quarter 