I ran across this site accidentally (happy accidents are one of the great things about the Internet) and people seem to be so friendly and encouraging that I decided I'd join up.

A writer and graphic designer by trade, I've come at art through sort of a back door. I've not done anything but computer-based design work for quite a long time (partly because I've developed a really annoying hand tremor), but my #2 son recently purchased his first house and asked for a painting for a housewarming gift.

The subject is a photo I took of him and his two brothers, at about 1, 3, and 5 respectively, lined up and drinking water out of a gutter. (Boys will do anything.) My first instinct was that it needed a watercolor treatment, but since my background is design I'm a lot more familiar (and comfortable!) with more precise, controlled work and I quickly discovered it was going to take much more time to develop comfort and skill with a medium with a mind of its own than I had to do the painting. So I decided to fall back on pastel, which I've done a fair amount of. I've looked through the pastel forum and people seem to be very helpful, so I'm hoping to pick brains and get some ideas that will help me to avoid doing this thing six times before I get it right. I'm sure there have been some big changes in papers and such since I last touched chalk to paper (and I discovered tonight that all my Mi-Tientes paper has been water damaged and has mold--YUCK!), so I'll soak up any information people are willing to share!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to take some time every day (or two) to work on art stuff, too (as well as putting on paper some stories that have been floating around in my head for far too long). This is way beyond TMI for an intro message, so I'll halt. I hope to learn a lot from any or all of you!