pencils & pastels

An in-process photo of the week 4 lesson in my art journal course, where we are making an insert for our journals. The lesson is about pastels, so the papers have been brushed with gesso first to give them some "tooth." That coating creates a good surface for the pastels & watercolor pencils. 

The next step is to put the pages together either in a mosaic like collage or a long strip that you would fold to fit into your journal. I think I'll opt for sewing the pages together into a long strip. I'll also add some other collage elements to the pages once it's sewn together. I hope to share it here, once it's completed. 

The main theme of the lesson was working in the present moment without much thought of what the results would be. The pastels are a good choice for this as they are impermanent without fixing. We were encouraged to enjoy their characteristics while playing with what they could do! I do enjoy doing art in this way, but don't know a lot about pastels so it was a perfect time to play. I look forward to seeing what it looks like later tomorrow!