Agile & Precise

Sandra Bartels moves swiftly between pastels and pastel pencils, focusing separately on each area of her subject

- By Sandra Bartels

Splash, Softpastel and pastel pencils on pastelmat, 10 x 10 (26 x 26 cm)

For this drawing, I chose to keep the gray pastelmat color as the background since it contrasts well with the brilliant colors of the duck's head.

Photo reference: Jan-Willem Mantel.

I've always loved animals, and this love was steadily growing, so my husband and I chose to travel to areas where you can find animals in their natural habitat. It was wonderful to see how they behaved and how they hunted. We went to South Africa, Botswana and Zambia, as well as Norway, Sweden, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Nature was the key focus of our trips. For the last few years, we have been returning to Bonaire, where the underwater world is amazing.

Whenever we travel, I always take my camera. I love using my photography skills to capture the natural beauty and maybe to inspire my next drawing.

Venturing Out, Softpastel and pastel pencils on pastelmat, 10 x 10 (26 x 26 cm)