Winter Coffee Break

This was from a reference photo I took while visiting Bryant Park in NYC at Christmas time. I cropped the photo to highlight the two figures and eliminate the busyness of the picture. I used the dark Pastel Mat paper and sketched in the figures, then used hard pastels to block in the shapes and put in the basic color. I then layered colors with Terry Ludwigs and Mount Visions, and also some Richeson and Townsends. I used General and Derwent Pastel Pencils to finish off any hard edges and to put in small details. I tried to keep the bushes in the background soft, used different shades of green to indicate them. I wanted to use a bright red since it was Christmas time and the plastic chair on the right was perfect for that. I hope people look at this and wonder what the two women are talking about as they drink their coffee.