**Update from My First Try:**

After getting the 400-grit sandpaper, I completed my very plump robin. I'm happy with my first real attempt at pastels and feel confident that I will try more, especially with Heather's guidance. Although the sandpaper wasn’t ideal, it did work, and I really enjoyed the process of working with the pastels. I've taken the plunge and ordered some Pastelmat to work on next.

It was definitely easier to work on sandpaper compared to my first attempt with the Canson Mi-Teintes Pastel 98lb paper, which, in my opinion, was a failure. Even on sandpaper, I still didn’t like how the Ohuhu Pastels performed, so I didn’t use them. Instead, I made the best of the colors I had, following Heather’s well-guided instructions.

I tried every tool for blending on the sandpaper; however, everything I used just erased the pastel instead of blending it, so I ended up using my finger. I noticed that the tip of my index finger was sore the first day, so the next day, I used latex gloves. However, there was no way to keep the gloves clean. While working with dirty gloves, I found myself rubbing in unwanted colors, and the gloves were so baggy that I couldn't blend well around the edges of the bird and the eye and beak were a challenge lol….

I don’t think sandpaper holds enough layers before everything starts looking a little muddy or before it wipes away color. If you had been watching me during this process, you might have found it quite comical!

After all is said and done, it took me quite a while to clean up the mess. I’m just wondering what other pastel artists do to manage the amount of chalk dust flying everywhere?  Oh, and what do add to the painting so you don’t keep smearing it when it’s touched?

2nd Attempt on Sandpaper

Below: First Attempt unfinished project (scrapped this project as it didn’t work)

Hi Heather!

After hearing Carmen's great review, I decided to pull out my pastels and give it a try. However, I quickly realized that the materials I was using weren't up to par. I started with Canson Mi-Teintes Pastel 98lb paper and soft pastels from both Ohuhu and Faber Castell, but the blending was really disappointing.

I switched from Ohuhu to Faber Castell since the first Ohuhu stick seemed to disappear after just a few swipes and didn’t blend at all. Unfortunately, the Faber Castell pastels weren't much better; I struggled to blend the colors and couldn’t achieve any softness.  After a bit, I just tried to get some blending happening and wasn’t really trying to create a finished piece. 

I’m hoping the issue lies mainly with the paper rather than the pastels, as I can't justify purchasing more pastels if I'm not committed to using them. However, I really want to make it work! 

So my question is, do you think the paper is the bigger issue, or could both the paper and the pastels be at fault? I understand that my inexperience plays a role as well. It reminds me of when I started with watercolor—my first painting using student-grade paints and paper wasn't great, but once I invested in higher quality materials, the difference was astonishing, and I’ve been happy since.

I’ve attached the unfinished project so you can see my struggles. Unfortunately, it doesn't capture just how poorly things were going in terms of blending. I love your teaching style and would really like to try again; I just need more guidance on the tools I have on hand. 

The photo is after trying to blend (using some packing noodles).

Thanks for your help!