Pastelists help

Yes! looks like you got a little carried away Brian! Were you intending to blend? I would put down dark colours first, blend in , then mid tones, carefully blend into edges of dark tones, then add lighter colours in same way. You need to keep a wet and a dry cloth to hand so you can wipe your fingers or you will soon 'muddy' the painting. Your watercolours look lovely so you should do fine. You can always, brush off excess pastel with a small dry brush. The stain which is left gives you a good underpainting base.

Thank you very much Jennifer for the advice. Much appreciated.

Well, I rather like the wildness of the thrashing waves! I also like the way you've done the foreshore. It's immediate.

Thank you Gudrun.

There's a lot I like about this, Brian. I like pastels where you can see the marks; I'm not necessarily a fan of blending. My suggestion is that the line of waves / spray is too even. I want to see the distant hills and the sea beyond the waves so that there's a sense of distance to the hills. I would drop the spray (maybe in the middle) so that it forms a curve; rather than a straight line, and lets us see through the part where the foam is lower. (If that makes sense.) Don't change too much. Hope this helps.

Yes, thank you Roger, makes sense.