Pastel Studies

I apologize for my long absence, but I have been without computer for a while. However, I have recently gotten a new one and am ready to post again!

As I was in my last post, I have been experimenting with pastel and trying different techniques of laying down color. The first is a quick study of apples I did a while back, using a pretty direct way of applying color. The last two self-portraits are a work in progress in which I first layed in a fairly basic value structure then am slowly adding color to. This is very early into it and I am planning to get much stronger color, but it shows the idea behind it. I'm hoping that this technique will help me keep a good sense of value while my color evolves, since this is one of my major weaknesses. (Sorry for the angle of the last picture)