Art and the Tech World

I've been fighting with my computer for the last 24 hrs.  It seems to think it's on vacation.  I may need to have my tech expert clean its clock. So, I have been working on my pastel homework assignment.  It is supposed to be a landscape with leanings toward the abstract.  I am not sure if it is as abstract as Pat had in mind.  It is much more abstract than I would usually work.  When I get a handle on the uploading thing I will start putting pictures of my work up so you can get an idea of some of my struggles. One of the things I am trying to get used to with pastel is working from dark to light.  In watercolor you work in the reverse of that.  You have to save your whites; protect them at all costs because you can never get them back once the paint is touched to paper.  With pastel, I fight with the idea that you work your darks first.  What is the policy when your darks are in the foreground and your lights are in the back?  It then becomes counter intuitive for me.  This is the reason for the blog.  I am looking forward to having feedback when questions arise. I also need critique on my work since most of us become myopic when we get creative.  Not sure if I will have time for new posts next week since I have family coming for a visit.  But I will have my homework ready, even if my house isn't spotless.