Like me several of my extended family enjoys the company of animals, cats and dogs in particular. And knowing how much I love to sketch and draw one of my cousins sent me several photographs of their dog, cats and kittens. So, I began doing small sketches of the bunch, but instead of pencil I used oil pastel.
I love the immediacy of pastel and I love the buttery texture as the pastel slides across the paper. A pastel stroke can have as much energy or softness to it as a pencil, pen stroke or a brush stroke of paint. And a simple curve or rigid straightness of the drawn pastel line can suggest direction or maybe even form. The pressure with which you apply the pastel can determine how much color is transferred onto the paper or board surface. Yes, I love pastels.
Here is a page of pastel sketches of a dog, cats and kittens done in oil pastel. I did them quickly as if I was sketching from life and I didn’t worry too much about detail because I was more interested in the gesture of the model. My goal was not only to get a recognizable figure but to have fun with pastel.