I love teaching kids

Today's project was using soft pastels for the first time, and focusing on colour since our last few lessons have been on value with charcoal.
My art student Ioanna is 9 years old and this is our 8th class. I like to draw in tandem with my art kids, as they learn a lot by example and there is a beautiful connection created and shared by working together. My drawing is the boring one on the left!

Our reference was a golden retriever, so we distinguished that
the fur colour would have a mid-tone and also a highlight and shadow tone. We chose to use a complimentary colour for the background space. The decision to also use the Iron Oxide colour in the background is brilliant as it ties in with the shadow colour used in the dogs fur, and makes the space interesting. And she did that instictively! Her skills are awesome, and she has recently received some recognition in her class at school, from her teacher & peers, which makes me sooo happy!