Combining Chalk and Oil pastels

Hi Bill. I’ve never used oil pastels but use soft pastels. I stared with Inscribe pastels a few years ago which are very chalky and dusty,and relatively hard. I’ve invested a lot in Unison pastels which are expensive but full of pigment and vibrant. Having said that I do still at times use some inscribe pastels alongside Unison. It’s usually recommended to work from dark to light, putting highlights on last. If you have different makes of pastels, harder ones are used first with the softest last. I think your flowers need more tones of differing shades and look very similar to each other,whereas they would differ dependant on shade and light. I have also found that the paper you use makes a big difference. Clairefontaine Pastelmat, Canson mi-teintes “touch “ are two which have a great “tooth” and mean you can put lots of layers of pastel on without using fixative. I hope that helps a little! I must admit I’ve never mixed soft and oil pastels, but have used pastels over watercolour or acrylics .

Hi Bill , liked the way it turned out. In your opening statement, you asked the question, is it a painting, or is it a drawing?  I have been told , in a couple of classes I have attended, that it is a drawing if you can see a lot of the original surface it the end product, It becomes a painting if everything is covered in pastel.  How true this is I don’t know, but that is how it was explained to me. I believe the same applies to a sketch and a drawing.

I'd be strongly inclined to step away now!  You're in danger of giving the foreground and middleground equal prominence - Alan B is better at explaining this than I am, but I would say nonetheless that if that blue in the water were a bit more tonally restrained, it would fit in better with the overall warmth of the picture.  I'm not entirely convinced by the ripples, either - but that's just the sort of thing I have most trouble with myself, so perhaps I've looked at the painting and isolated a bit of it to suit my own insecurities... As for painting-or-drawing - the distinction doesn't really matter, but if you're applying solid blocks of colour, that's painting.  

You can definitely overwork a painting, I try and avoid this myself, but I’ve been guilty of it in the past! Less is often more… ridiculous statement I suppose, but it’s something I’m trying to adopt of late! Definitely, as my learned colleague has pointed out, the blue water does need toning down a bit, quite a bit actually! The ripples are probably too pronounced, but acceptable. One of the problems with working and painstakingly copying from a photograph, and is something that crops up regularly on here, is that photos are generally devoid of any tonal contrast… it’s the nature of the beast… they can be flat looking and lifeless ! I’ve taken the liberty of converting the painting, or drawing if you like, into greyscale. There is no better way of assessing your progress or evaluating the final result. It does look a bit similar in tone… I won’t elaborate as you can see for yourself. Saying that, the finished product is very commendable, I’m just nitpicking, it’s all minor stuff, but only to help, and certainly not to be derogatory in any way  - critique can be invaluable if it comes from the right source, Robert is one of those sources that I always welcome!

You are right Bill, I have always taken advice from members on here and especially Alan and Robert since I began painting because I really didn't have a clue about anything. Constructive criticism is a welcomed part of the learning experience. Taking advice from the experienced members definitely helps you develop and grow.