This past winter my wife & I did some house sitting for some friends while they were on Christmas vacation.  Our friends had a number of animals that needed some attention over a 3 week period.  It snowed just about every other day so we had to dig way to the barn yard. 

We took a few photos during the animals feeding time especially the mother hen and her chicks.  Later back in the warmth of my studio I decided to brush on some thinner on vellum paper and limited my pastels to a few hues.  The pastels slid across the paper with an oil painting feel to it.  I plan on experimenting with this approach on various types of papers over the next 6 months on and off.

I read somewhere that Mary Cassatt would dip her pastels in fixative or thinners to help the pastel to stick to the surface better.  Anyway here it is...one is a detail close up.