Demonstration painting pears with pastel

These pears have been bumped a bit, but with a strong light and a good imagination they will do.

I am recycling a gently used piece of Kitty Wallis Belgian mist sanded paper 9 x 12.  I begin the painting with a sketch done with vine charcoal.  I brushed the sketch with an old oil painting brush to remove most of the charcoal so it won't darken the pastels.

I have blocked in large shapes with light, mid and fairly dark values.  I will add the lightest values at the end.

The finished piece isn't this garish.  Please click on the image so you can examine the pastel strokes more closely.  After a while I stroked the lightest peach pastel over the lavender area on the far right....there was just too much interest in the contrast between the background and tablecloth where they meet.