Playing with Chalk Pastel

One of my students came back from a trip to Mexico, and shared a journal he had purchased.  It had some pretty cool original art work on the front and back.  It reminded me of street art, and I thought my art students would enjoy this type of expression.  

Inspiration for the project:

I had several boxes of chalk pastels that I had never used, but wanted to.  I chose to use brown construction paper as the canvas (originally I thought to use brown paper bags). The darker paper made a nice contrast for the bold colors.  

I had never used chalk pastel (I'd only ever played with oil pastels) and was pleasantly pleased with how pigmented and bold the colors were, as well with how nicely the colors blended.

Here's the unfinished product of my play:

Below are a few of my 6th-8th grade students' pieces: