Sketching with soft pastel makes the subject come alive with brisk and rough strokes full of enrichment and color. I never enjoyed pastel until I found the perfect way to practice my sketching and realism. Using natural colored pastels like browns, greens, and shades of grey, I am able to create beautiful lines of feathers and fur. Thus, the birds fly. I can also work on the proportionality of animals such as ducks, seagulls, and cats. Now, I adore soft pastel more than every before as I have seen it shine in a ray of enlightenment. Shading with pastel is simple yet enjoyable. The overlaying of colors create a full and realistic tone while brunt strokes of white adds a touch of imperfection as is mother nature. Nevertheless, I struggle with the backgrounds because sometimes, I make them a bit too simple and thus looks incomplete. Normally, I would do a quick sketch of animals I see outside in a park, on a vacation to the beach, or at my house (I have pet cats) before transferring the drawings into pastel. When I was first introduced to Pastel art in 8th grade, I did not understand nor appreciate its uniqueness because it was messy, easy to smudge, and ineffectiveness towards drawing details. All my life, I have been taught to draw with delicacy, so I was not used to such a straight-forward way of expressing creativity. After a while, it became clear to me that, sometimes,  focusing on the bigger picture is more important than the little details.