Fantasy portrait in soft pastel ✨my painting process

Hi everyone! I would like to show you today this pastel painting that I did while I was in Spain and explain a bit of my process when it comes to soft pastels. I know a few of you have asked for a tutorial but even though this is not it I hope it will be still helpful. If you have any questions after watching this you can leave them below and I will reply. The paper that I use is I used to buy them in blocks but now I buy large sheets and then I cut them to size. As usual I started by doing my drawing on a separate piece of paper or papers stick together in this case and then on the back I apply normal graphite pencil but you could also use some carbon tracing paper and like this I transfer the drawing to the final surface so to the pastel mat. I like to use a colored pencil or even a normal pen to do this just something that I can put pressure with and that is a different color than the graphite so that I can easily see what I have left. I like to paint vertically so that the pastel dust falls down as much as possible because as I told you in another video I'm pretty sensitive to the dust and I still have to wear a mask. I always start going loosely through the drawing again with a pastel pencil especially on the face and in those small details that I don't want them to get lost and after that I grab some sticks and start looking in very loosely and without applying much pressure because I like working very thin layers mostly. I like to build my painting slowly working on the whole thing at the same time if possible. I try not to have a very finished part and the rest completely unknown. At this stage I'm alternating between sticks and pencils depending on the color so if I'm doing the blocking but I don't have a particular shade but I do have it on pencil form then I would just grab that. Of course I'm a bit more careful on the face and around her features mostly like the eyes so there I use more pastel pencils. After I have most areas with a light layer I focus on the portrait. I need to have the faces more or less defined quite early to know if they work or they don't work and once I have them then I feel like I can continue with the rest of the painting. Because I know that I'm gonna get asked I will tell you about my materials. The pencils that I use are from Caran d'Ache, Faber-Castell I got them all open stock and I never bought a full set so I pick and choose the colors that I need as I need them. And my pastel sticks are all from Rembrandt. I cannot compare with other brands because these are the only ones that I've used but I really like them. I think I work in soft pastels and oil pastels very similarly. I know they are different mediums but I don't feel that they are so different. I apply them thinly, I blend with my hands most of the time and to do that smoothly I need to have enough paint on the paper and with soft pastels you will occasionally see me using a q-tip to soften something very lightly like on the ends of the eyelashes so that they feel like feathery. And with oil pastels I kind of do the same by using a paper stamp. I also use the paper stamp for blending much more but I don't feel them that different. I didn't want for this painting to have a lot of detail other than the face and a little bit on the hair. First because maybe it could be too much or so I told myself and second because I didn't have the time at all. I wasn't even sure I would be able to bring it to this stage so I'm very glad I did because it was my mom's birthday and she got to keep it. And also I'm trying to loosen up a bit more and it's taking quite a bit of work. On my side I'm used to putting lots of detail in any medium that I work in and so yeah I have to keep practicing. And I think both type of pastels are good for that as long as I don't reach for the pastel pencils too much because they are kind of chunky in nature so it's harder to make details than to apply them thickly or loosely. It's a shame I cannot paint more often with soft pastels because I absolutely love that velvety finish. It's so pretty so so pretty and so soft but yeah I cannot unfortunately. Well I think I'm gonna leave it here for now. You can continue watching the process till the end if you want to and just let me know what you think. Thank you for watching and have a nice day. Bye bye!