Lionness in pastel pencils

I am woman, hear me roar.

For this drawing, I tried something different. The reference photo had that light halo on top of the lion, and I figured it would be hard to get that hazy effect with pastel pencils, so I used Panpastels instead. I used the small applicator and the outcome was a little blotchy so I used a piece of tissue paper to dab and blend.

The light and shadows on this picture is most fascinating. Getting the contrast right was key. I used Carbothello and Faber-Castell Pitt pastel pencils for the lion.

Am happy with the final outcome. Somehow the photos aren't as accurate as I would like, the camera doesn't know how to focus on the extreme contrast. In person, the lines are a lot crisper and the colours with a more yellow tint rather than orange.

I love the Clairefontaine Paint On black paper so much, I'm going to buy a full pad of it. It works really well for pastel pencils.