Showcase: The Boxer Evolution - John Rodwell
I Joined the Roche Art Group in September 2021 after chatting with Bernard at the Rochford Hundred rugby club Fun Day a week or so before. My first serious piece of work after joining was a portrait of my son's family boxer dog 'Beau'. It was my first attempt at any kind of artwork in pastel pencils although I had enjoyed using pastel sticks many years ago.
As I had not done any real artwork at all since dabbling with some 'Bob Ross' wet-on-wet oil techniques in the late 1990s, I was pleasantly surprised at how this boxer doggie portrait developed. It was made from a photograph which I traced onto some Clairefontaine Pastelmat paper (as recommended by most You Tube pastel artists). As the work progressed, I took photos below to post onto my Facebook page
Notes on technique:
Pastelmat paper is recommended for pastel work as it has a 'tooth', like a very, very fine sandpaper. Because of this you can lay down colours in layers, rubbing down each layer until the tooth of the paper is filled. In theory, you can lay down quite a few layers, and also able to put dark colours over light and light over dark to a degree.
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I found this layering really difficult to do, and in actuality, didn't do it. In this picture of Beau I tended to go too much too early and filled-up the tooth of the paper much too quickly. I had to 'scratch-in' new colours on top of others to get the effect I wanted. Having said that, I did eventually get the effects I wanted.
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For me, working to a photo was vital. To get anything like a realistic look to the picture meant concentrating on a section, like an ear, and dividing this up into smaller sections, and copying the colours and tones that I could see in those smaller sections. On stepping back and looking at the results - it looked like the whole ear!
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I am only just getting the hang of 'gently does it' with building up layers of pastel. As with most things, it's all a matter of trial and error, then hopefully, trial and success.
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