On Being Square

I've been working on a series of 8" square pastels on canvas. This panda is the first that I'm sharing on this blog.

For now, I have to admit that canvas is my favorite surface for pastels. There is this ethereal softness that you can achieve as the pigment becomes enmeshed into the fibers of the canvas itself that I have not been able to achieve with any of the paper surfaces that I've tried. I like that the weave of the fabric remains an integral part of the composition, even though it makes some of the finer details more difficult to achieve (at least at this small a scale).

I've not signed this piece yet (digitally yes, for this presentation, but not on the original piece). What that means is that I've also not settled in on a title for the work, but I'm leaning toward Tree Hugger. I generally don't take them, but if you're reading and have a good suggestion, please add it as a comment.