Wolf eworkshop

Wonderful job Lorraine. I think Vivien's workshops are helpful too. Like Degas she is not afraid of colour. Which I can see you have used to excellent use in this portrait of the wolf. Excellent. I also did the calf using Colourfix good for portraits.

You have done a lovely job! This is getting to be the most famous wolf on the gallery! I have tried velour paper and couldn't get the pastels to blend on it - any tips?

Thanks for your comments Jeannette and Thea. Jeannette I'm now working on the Tabby Cat since I'm a cat lover! Later on I would try a portrait of my own two cats! (Hopefully). Thea, when working on velour paper the pastels have to be the hard type. I usually use Rembrandt but when I used them on this paper they covered the whole paper and would not take another coating on it, so it is essential to use Conte pastels as Vivien advises.

SNAP. I did this e workshop too. Well done. Even from the same picture they all look distinctly different. I used soft pastels with no problems at all. Thea you can't blend on velour at all; Vivien clearly says that in her instructions. Use pastelmat instead of you want to blend. With velour you have to very gently layer the colours; very very gentle ;layers or it clogs. The one portrait I tried on velour was almost a disaster. I did rescue it using fixative but I wouldn't advise blending at all on this surface.

Well done Lorraine. Intend to do the workshop myself when I get round to it but I've tried the velour already and don't like it at all. Just the feel of it makes me shiver! As I've bought a few sheets though I'll have to persevere, hate waste!

Thanks Val for your time to comment. I liked the velvety feel of the paper and I think it is fantastic to use with animal subjects.

The paper certainly gives a wonderful effect for furry animals, this is again very beautiful.

I recognised the 'Velour' effect straight away and it's very striking. I recently met Vic Bearcroft who does some awesome work on Velour and his advice on using the right pastels for the job has convinced me to try it again. If I could get anywhere near this sort of finish I would be really pleased ( and more than just a little surprised given my attempts thus far). This is a truly gorgeous painting, Gary