I had only recently discovered drawing with charcoal, which I love, when I got some chalk pastels for Christmas. Charcoal is great for quick sketches, whereas chalk pastels are better for more accurate drawings and of course adding colour.

It did not take long to get used the pastels as I watched some tutorials to get started. There are nine different techniques of which are: blending, little strokes, hatching, cross hatching, side stokes, layered side strokes, feathering, twist and pointillism.

I really like drawing with pastels because they are so pleasing to put on paper and blend together with your finger! The affects you can get are amazing, it is so quick to get an impactful result. I did a pastel picture of a sunset this weekend from a photo I took of a sunset over East Farleigh last week.