New Animal Portrait in Graphite...bye bye pastels, for now anyways...

I love working with pastels but it is the tremendous surface area  required that I dislike (that and having to clean the dust). I am talking about the surface area required to lay out my numerous pastel chalks, sticks and pencils so that finding the exact color I need can be done at a glance. This also means that my pastels are left laying around collecting dust and taking up precious room. But even worse is the potential for breakage should one roll off the top of a table or chair, or whatever else surface I have them sprawled over.

Logically, I knew one day I would require a storage unit for them; you know, one that has numerous, wide but shallow drawers that allow for easy storage, viewing and sorting of my precious pigments! These taborets as they are sometimes called, can be expensive but I am fortunate to have several family members involved in the woodworking profession. Both my husband and my father are avid woodworkers; my father being retired, was the prime candidate for my next project, and he wholeheartedly agreed!  Once the unit is finished and set up in my studio, I will be posting a follow up with lots of photos, so stay tuned!

Now that my pastels are stored away in their respective containers on the shelf and I have cleaned my studio and work easel of the colored dust, it was safe to take out my virgin white paper and graphite pencils to begin my next project. It may not look like much at the moment, but I take it that some of you will readily guess the silhouette of the featured animal.