Feb 21 & 28th - First Brush with NuPastel

The 3rd week of class on Feb 21st Zin had us break out the nupastels and toned paper for the first time. We attempted a ~2hr figure study. If I thought I was discouraged last week...well, at least I was prepared. New paper, new medium, new struggles on so many fronts. I was *really* disappointed with the results.

This was not going to do. I resolved to do more gesture exercises at home and noodled around with the nupastels some more. It was getting a little bit better, but it still wasn't quite clicking, so I asked around work for a little bit of help. My friend Albert showed me some of his stuff when he was at the academy, and pointed me toward a tutorial from William Maughan. My 2nd study was much better, a 2.5hr study done during Tuesday night workshop for homework.

By the time class rolled around on the 28th I was gaining confidence and am now feeling much better about nupastels. Here is my 3rd attempt at nupastels, a 3hr study done during class.

From despair to progress, so visible in just 3 attempts. It's quite strange how the brain learns. Must keep at it, and not give up. My motto for 2013, and what keeps on repeating in my head: Any progress is good progress. Cheers.