Rocks in pastel, Capraia Island

This relatively large pastel (50 x 70 cm) was made in 7 hours under changing light conditions and won the second prize in an ex-tempore painting competition held saturday on the tiny, wild island of Capraia, Tuscany. I'm very happy for this recognition since many good painters were in the challenge.
The theme was to render the spirit of the island, and I was well placed, though it was my first visit.
The volcanic rocks take on many colours as lichens mottle their surface and oxydes show their tinges.
Maquis covers everything, and this spring it was still very green and delicate.

Giraffe pastel-Concetta Flore

I really love soft pastels and they seem to me an ideal media for atmospheric situations. I was pondering on a photo I took in Namibia, of this solitary giraffe in a vast, flat stretch of land with no trees. An eerie image for an animal that is architectural in its proportions and strict geometry, massive and graceful. So I thought of rendering the scene in a slightly dramatic light, and proceeded to do so on sanded paper (the kind made for pastels ). I just had to get it out of my system; so here it is, not from nature direct, but from my second trip through my pictures.
On second thoughts, maybe I overdid it...

Different strokes

These sketches are a bit of a change from my normal "sketching in nature" posts. I worked from photos I took locally of horses belonging to friends and sketched them in the studio using soft pastels.