Sheine Mae - Stage Three

Here, I had completed my usual background "wash" - on which I would build up my colors and details in layers. In this case, "wash" is the correct term because I did in fact use a brush dipped in water, in order to spread my initial strokes of pastel around and to blend them together a bit. (I often use water for this - rather than a finger - especially when I am painting the sky or water...)

Before going any further, the painting was sprayed with fixative and left to dry for a few minutes. (Without using fixative, at this stage, it would be very difficult to apply further layers of pastel, without them "muddying" together.)