Stage One – Sketch subject using vine charcoal. Use very light strokes and rub out or erase as needed.  Proportions and composition in this stage are critical. Details here are not important.

Stage Two – Block out large areas of color, using pastel with light strokes.  Paint a small amount of Turpenoid over these areas. Don’t worry too much about overlapping shapes a bit. Not a big deal.   Turp lightest values first. Bright hues are fine. Mine are neutrals. Yours don’t need to be. However, don’t go too heavy on the pastels. This layer should be translucent.   You can also underpaint with watercolor, or by adding water or rubbing alcohol to the pastel.

Stage Three – Using mostly the side of the pastel stick and starting with the darkest values, color in the SHAPES (not lines) in your b&w photo. Now, use a natural hair brush to lightly sweep over the entire image.  The example at left show only one layer—the darkest before brushing.   Repeat the process for the medium values, and then the lightest. Address the background minimally. Focus your attention on the face / figure.

After applying your darker values, you may also want to “lift” some lighter values with your eraser. After adding all of your values, darkest to lightest (you may want to use your pencils too), give this entire underpainting a light spray with SpectraFix.   This is a good time to wear a face mask and keep a humidifier or ionizer going to prevent you from breathing pastel dust.

Stage Four – I’ve now completed my underpainting and all of the lights and darks are set. I’m moving onto my skin tones. Remember, skin is never just brown, beige or tan. It’s green, red, blue, purple…  Train yourself to look for these tones.   Also, match the hue value to the underpainting value to prevent colors from muddying.

Stage Five – Although you’ve been doing this all along, sit down and study your finished product. Make adjustments. “Push” whatever statement you’re making to the limit. This image portrays calm, so I darkened the room and applied monochromatic hues. Because the covers enveloped her in the original image, I eliminated those on the upper left and lightened the values around the face. Also, the yellow hair shouted, “Look at me. I don’t belong,” so I chose a less saturated hue, which fits better.