Pastel Portrait_ Woman in Lemon Shawl

I saw this woman in Rishikesh on my last trip to India earlier this year.She was one among many who flock the banks of river Ganga, seeking peace and embracing spirituality. She was not beautiful in a traditional sense but I liked her weather beaten face and world weary expression.

Woman in Lemon Shawl

Pastel on Pastel Mat 48x34 cm

About a week and a lot of effort was spent on this portrait. I used layer upon layer of pastel pencils to create smooth skin textures. The goal was to create a life like portrait. It was a disappointing moment when I learned that it was rejected by Federation of British Artists for their upcoming Pastel Painters exhibition in London.I was in fact quite hopeful for it.
This is my second rejection from this body and now I don't feel like entering anymore.May be I don't have what they are looking for. A friend suggested that I visit the exhibition to see what kind of work gets selected; but I have my doubts - should I be painting what the judges like to see, or should I follow my heart? I don't know.

Little Girl Pastel Portrait

10"x14"

Pastels on Canson Me-Tientes paper

This morning I decided to paint something small.True, its 10"x 14"- still I am calling it 'small' because I did it entirely using the side of my soft pastel sticks, no use of pastel pencils.Its tough to let go the control of the pencil, but I managed some how :) The paper was red toned so I chose the subject with a dark skin tone. It took me about two hours.The piece is loose but presentable, what do you say?

Man from Ladakh_Pastel Portrait

Soft Pastels on Pastelmat

15"x22" 

I am so excited to share this new work- I sort of like this; though my husband thought it looked 'dark and unfinished'.......I would like to gather a vote from all of you over this subject, as I am thinking of entering this in a pastel contest.I have used Pastelmat for the first time, and I liked it very much. Pastelmat is velvety, heavy paper but it grabs colors so easily that there is hardly any dust- and virtually no need for a fixative...a huge problem solved.Thus, I am going to repeat this paper in future, though its expensive as compared to lighter paper which are three times cheaper.

I have been so busy painting that I have not been spending much time on blogging; I hope all my friends out there would forgive me for not visiting as often; I will be there, eventually...

Young Monk

Soft Pastels on Canson Paper

20"x14"

The long awaited pastel painting...I am not very happy with this,though.It will take a lot of time to be able to tame this medium.I think I used too much pigment...should have kept some background color showing through.May be..I am so new at it- I just don't know what should I do! Artists use this medium in lots of different ways and I will have to find out what appeals to me the most.The core problem,however, is,how  to store these works.I don't want to spray them with fixative too much for the fear of spoiling the color.Will I need to frame each of them? Advise anyone? Hilda?...