I don’t really work with chalk pastels very often in my current business, but the way they mimic my acrylic work with the layering of shades and shapes with SUPER bright and bold strokes served me well in preparing for acrylic pieces. My chalk portraits were a tool to practice color combinations, line work, and shadow before I dove into large acrylic pieces. I would start with a light lined charcoal layout of the person’s proportions and would dive in the challenging colors that forced me to think out of the box.