A Delicate Balance

I found a wonderful new paper; it feels like sandpaper and is great for soft pastels. It's a fairly neutral gray and quite wonderful to work on. Actually the paper is just so gorgeous with out a mark on it. The only down side to the paper is that it eats the pastels, so I am trying to do a lot of planning before I put pastel to paper. Not the way I usually work but I am enjoying this more methodical approach. And because I need to use fixative, I can work on several at a time, leaving the others pinned up on the wall as they dry. And of course they speak to each other so that another and another emerges. The bottom photo is a digital composite of 2 works from the wall. I am going to need more paper.

A Delicate Balance,  24 x 18, soft pastel, 2013

Between, 2013