I’m back from our trip out west and worked a little more on my pepper pastel last night.

At this stage, I’ve added more lights and darks to the peppers and I roughed in the table with the muted/colored shadows. I’ve left the pastel marks fairly rough and I am in constant battle with myself whether to blend with my fingers or not. I like the rough look so far, so my fingers are staying away for the time being.

I also haven’t decided on a background color yet. I’d like to keep it simple, so the peppers pop off the page. I’m thinking a value darker than the peppers would be good—perhaps blue or purple?