Among the different papers in the SAA trial pack of pastel paper is a sheet of Hahnemuhle Velour. This was a completely different surface to the ones I was used to for pastels and I quickly found that it doesn’t really work with most pastel pencils as they tend to scratch the surface. Hard and soft pastel sticks need to be used instead. Without any experience of the paper, I needed to find some guidance and turned to the SAA workshops of Vic Bearcroft, who loves using Velour paper for his wildlife and animal art. This painting is my version of his workshop of a dog called Dudley, which I painted along with online to understand how this pastel painting surface worked.

Medium: Pastel
Size: 38 x 28 cm
Materials: Hahnemuhle Velour paper. SAA soft pastels. Faber Castell hard pastels
Mountboard Colour: White