"Woodland" oil pastels, 1 hour. (19in x 8 in)

This piece was an attempt to practice pastels. I used a branch as a reference for the trunk of the tree, although I changed the placement of some shadows and added on the upper right branch. I began by working with one color, and then transitioning to the next part of the branch, blending as I went. The stag was added afterwards, which I did not use a reference for. The same is true for the bird. I would like to use references for the animals if I were to do it again. The background is a result of trying to cover up the pastel smudges on the paper. I placed small dots of pastel and then smeared them with my finger, as well as smearing the edges of the tree, to create the effect.